Take your cue from her!

JAM

JAM

I am the storm
Silver Member
Dark, seedy pool shark, at your service.

People's perceptions of professional pool players may still include an image of smooth-talking, fast-playing billiards men in a "sort of very dreary place"...But the formation of professional billiards organizations, industry-wide standards and even occasional star personas capturing general interest via television broadcasts are working to lift that image.

The former Vallejo resident, Hyred Makibali, said she's doing her own work to help change prejudices against a sport that began for her as a necessary therapy after a life-altering car crash.15 years ago turned into a bittersweet and formative experience for Makabali.

Makabali, then just barely 18 and living in Vallejo, was paralyzed from the waist down in the blink of an eye. The accident, with her then boyfriend driving and her sister riding in the back seat, left Makabali wheelchair-bound and withdrawn from many of her friends, seeking only some sort of solace.

It even pulled her away from her art, something in which she had long been deeply interested.

Picking up a pool stick, shooting a rainbow array of balls across a felted table, practicing every shot over and over, memorizing the physics of the balls' movement -- all that became Makabali's new art.

Makabali, a Filipina found herself spending more and more hours at the now-closed Palace Billiards on Sonoma Boulevard; She eventually worked her way up from pool halls and bars to small tournaments

"In the past, people have looked down on people who have played pool, that there's always a hidden agenda, that they're on the hustle, that they're trying to make money," said Makabali by phone from her San Diego home.

The 33-year-old, who moved to Vallejo as a teenager from her native United Kingdom, not far from London, only became interested in pool after becoming wheelchair-bound.

"With me, it's even more of a spectacle, a woman, in a wheelchair, and you play pool -- that's also been fuel over the years," Makabali said while trying to explain her place in the sport.

Source: Times-Herald Retrieved 16 February 2009

I mean, anybody who has Jimi Hendrix music on their website is okay in my book! :thumbup:: Hyred Makibali's website

I'd love to meet this lady someday. I remember writing about her on this forum in the past. I'll bet she's fun to hang out with. What a cool pool lady. :)
 

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In 1997, she moved to San Diego where she joined a women's pool league, which led her to become the first woman on the board of the National Wheelchair Poolplayer Association. In 2002, Makabali became the first wheelchair-bound woman to compete in a professional tour event, through the Women's Professional Billiards Association.

If it sounds as though these experiences are in Makabali's past, it's because at least part of it is. While she still practices regularly and plays in small local events, Makabali has shifted her focus to a freelance makeup business specializing in weddings and special effects.

But she's still in the pool hall every day, perfecting her shots.

I like her. I like her a lot! :p
 
I've read about her before too. It's always good to hear that pool HELPED someone instead of hurt someone.

I don't know why their isn't more in print about how pool can and has helped thousands a people rehahab after various types of surgery. Every rehab nurse and Ortho Doctor knows about it, and many use it in their rehab programs. Pool is also a great work-out for the eldery that have joint pain or need to build up their bodies and keep them limber. I was in charge of an ACLF (a retirement home where most of the residents are with the program but to weak to be on their own. Another reson is they are abanded by their kids. I talked corprate into letting me put an 8-foot pool table in for the residents to rehab from and for their recreation. In a few short months the ones that played, both men and women were walking better and had a lot more range of motion with most parts of their bodies. I know pool keeps me youg. Johnnyt
 
Johnnyt said:
I've read about her before too. It's always good to hear that pool HELPED someone instead of hurt someone.

I don't know why their isn't more in print about how pool can and has helped thousands a people rehahab after various types of surgery. Every rehab nurse and Ortho Doctor knows about it, and many use it in their rehab programs. Pool is also a great work-out for the eldery that have joint pain or need to build up their bodies and keep them limber. I was in charge of an ACLF (a retirement home where most of the residents are with the program but to weak to be on their own. Another reson is they are abanded by their kids. I talked corprate into letting me put an 8-foot pool table in for the residents to rehab from and for their recreation. In a few short months the ones that played, both men and women were walking better and had a lot more range of motion with most parts of their bodies. I know pool keeps me youg. Johnnyt
Click to expand...

Pocket billiards is also used by NASA astronauts as a training tool to enhance their hand-and-eye coordination. :)
 
JAM said:
Pocket billiards is also used by NASA astronauts as a training tool to enhance their hand-and-eye coordination. :)
Click to expand...

I think I heard that. Why the hell don't we here about these things at all, and hear about all the bad parts about pool over the years?:angry: . Johnnyt
 
I know there are a few more nurses that post on here. Would they care to post on this? Johnnyt
 
Wow!

JAM said:
Dark, seedy pool shark, at your service.

People's perceptions of professional pool players may still include an image of smooth-talking, fast-playing billiards men in a "sort of very dreary place"...But the formation of professional billiards organizations, industry-wide standards and even occasional star personas capturing general interest via television broadcasts are working to lift that image.

The former Vallejo resident, Hyred Makibali, said she's doing her own work to help change prejudices against a sport that began for her as a necessary therapy after a life-altering car crash.15 years ago turned into a bittersweet and formative experience for Makabali.

Makabali, then just barely 18 and living in Vallejo, was paralyzed from the waist down in the blink of an eye. The accident, with her then boyfriend driving and her sister riding in the back seat, left Makabali wheelchair-bound and withdrawn from many of her friends, seeking only some sort of solace.

It even pulled her away from her art, something in which she had long been deeply interested.

Picking up a pool stick, shooting a rainbow array of balls across a felted table, practicing every shot over and over, memorizing the physics of the balls' movement -- all that became Makabali's new art.

Makabali, a Filipina found herself spending more and more hours at the now-closed Palace Billiards on Sonoma Boulevard; She eventually worked her way up from pool halls and bars to small tournaments

"In the past, people have looked down on people who have played pool, that there's always a hidden agenda, that they're on the hustle, that they're trying to make money," said Makabali by phone from her San Diego home.

The 33-year-old, who moved to Vallejo as a teenager from her native United Kingdom, not far from London, only became interested in pool after becoming wheelchair-bound.

"With me, it's even more of a spectacle, a woman, in a wheelchair, and you play pool -- that's also been fuel over the years," Makabali said while trying to explain her place in the sport.

Source: Times-Herald Retrieved 16 February 2009

I mean, anybody who has Jimi Hendrix music on their website is okay in my book! :thumbup:: Hyred Makibali's website

I'd love to meet this lady someday. I remember writing about her on this forum in the past. I'll bet she's fun to hang out with. What a cool pool lady. :)
Click to expand...

She's very pretty too!

Ray
 
Johnnyt said:
I think I heard that. Why the hell don't we here about these things at all, and hear about all the bad parts about pool over the years?:angry: . Johnnyt
Click to expand...

Gulfport Doc is not really a nurse but he recommends that all his patients play him some pool for their bill (double or nothing), kind of like the way Corvette treats his landscape engineers.

JoeyA
 
JAM said:
Pocket billiards is also used by NASA astronauts as a training tool to enhance their hand-and-eye coordination. :)
Click to expand...

Beer is part of my 'healthy' diet because it's made from barley and oats, and pool is part of my 'healthy' lifestyle because it improves my hand/eye coordination!!!!!!

That's MY story...... and I'm sticking to it! :grin-square:

td
 
I was lucky enough to attend the 2002 WPBA Spring Classic in San Diego, California, in which Makabali played, and caught some of her inspirational play. She got to the hill in one of her matches, narrowly failing to win a match. She is, indeed, an attractive lady.
 
sjm said:
I was lucky enough to attend the 2002 WPBA Spring Classic in San Diego, California, in which Makabali played, and caught some of her inspirational play. She got to the hill in one of her matches, narrowly failing to win a match. She is, indeed, an attractive lady.
Click to expand...


She is- I have seen her many times. She is the 6-ball over that picture.
 
JoeyA said:
Gulfport Doc is not really a nurse but he recommends that all his patients play him some pool for their bill (double or nothing), kind of like the way Corvette treats his landscape engineers.

JoeyA
Click to expand...

Man, that's pretty funny :)

I can picture a bunch of sleeveless landscape engineers busting their cookies in for 8-hours in a 100 degree Georgia sun just to try to parlay with their boss (thinking they can play) just to get Vetted-up. That's gotta suck.

The very first job I had was cooking Chinese food at the mall at a dump called Manchu Wok. This was when I was first discovering pool halls and gambling in general. My boss was a huge, disgustingly fat, bald guy who said he was a gambler. Well, he heard I was learning to play pool and was a gambler myself so he asked if I wanted to flip a quarter for our paychecks.

To prove how much heart I had, I told him to "fvcking flip-it nithead." Well, he did and I lost. The next week was a REALLY long week - my mind ticking on my bad fortune. The moment I got my check I went right up to him and told him to flip it again. Well, he did and I lost. I chilled out on the coin flipping for a while - just wanting to cash my future checks and play in the after hours poker game at the pool room (where at least I had a few hours of play from my check before my ignorant non-poker-playing azz would lose it anyways.

I saw that guy years later and he pulled me aside to tell me he had a two two-sided coins --- one in each hand. He told me to call it, I did like a moron, and then he'd flip the appropriate coin. I laughed pretty hard, because it was funny years later (funny at how helpless, defenseless, ignorant and naive you are when you first get into pool and gambling).

It's also a good lesson...... if you work a manual labor job and someone wants to take your action when you wanna bet your paycheck... the odds are, you're beaten before you even begin.
 
i used to play in palace billiards in vallejo in 88-89, good room. a guy i named "Smiley" worked there(i will tell that story another time).

Its great that she plays, funny thing thats how I got back into pool, a life changing operation that didnt work that has me crippled up. Had I not had the back/heart problems i did I would still be in the gym. Its cool to read a story like her's, thanks JAMMIE!:)
 
Great story, she is beautiful on the inside as much on the outside with strength and character to boot. I hope others with disabilities see this article and use it for the inspiration that it holds, awesome website too.

People have asked me how the spinal cord injury affected my pool playing, citing that pool must be bad for it since there is so much bending involved. The opposite is true, the balance required helped my recovery and bending all the time strengthened my back rather well.
 
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