Do you imagine Pool in School?

[Chicagoplayer]

In China, Pool/Billiards is part of the school curriculum.

"These championships were played at the Shanghai Huimin Middle School for the second time having been played there last year as well. The winner of the U/19 Division, Long Ze Huang is a student at this school, and joins his school mate Kong De Jing who was successful in winning the U17 world title last year. Quite extraordinary that the same school can produce two world champions in consecutive years."

From the AZB article:

http://www.azbilliards.com/news/stories/12372-three-junior-world-champs-crowned/

If you can imagine Pool/Billiards in school- tell them what you envision!
http://xqsuperschool.org/

 

[one stroke]

In China, Pool/Billiards is part of the school curriculum.

"These championships were played at the Shanghai Huimin Middle School for the second time having been played there last year as well. The winner of the U/19 Division, Long Ze Huang is a student at this school, and joins his school mate Kong De Jing who was successful in winning the U17 world title last year. Quite extraordinary that the same school can produce two world champions in consecutive years."

From the AZB article:

http://www.azbilliards.com/news/stories/12372-three-junior-world-champs-crowned/

If you can imagine Pool/Billiards in school- tell them what you envision!
http://xqsuperschool.org/

Well they do have golf for the non athlete so why not pool

1

 

[MiscueBlues]

It's kind of sad pool isn't bigger in schools. Just imagine how many kids would get addicted to improving at the game instead of drinking and smoking weed.

 

[DaveK]

It's kind of sad pool isn't bigger in schools. Just imagine how many kids would get addicted to improving at the game instead of drinking and smoking weed.

Well maybe stop teaching drinking and smoking weed at schools ! .... oh wait, that's extra-curricular ... never mind :lol:

Dave <-- thinks pool halls may teach drinking and smoking weed in many instances

 

[MiscueBlues]

Well maybe stop teaching drinking and smoking weed at schools ! .... oh wait, that's extra-curricular ... never mind :lol:

Dave <-- thinks pool halls may teach drinking and smoking weed in many instances

Sure, but anybody who really wants to get better figures out pretty early that drinking and weed only get in the way... Some might see the guys drinking and smoking and having a good time laughing around the table and decide they want that. Others will see the shots they miss.

 

[JAM]

They tried it in Texas in 2009 --> http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=163470

 

[Pidge]

They don't teach it as such in school in the UK, but when I was in school my exams in physical education consisted of practical sports that the kids were into. Most chose football or rugby but I chose snooker. I was allowed 3 hours per week out of school to practice. All that for 10 minutes for a teacher watching me play and not having a clue if I was any good and giving me an A just so they could leave early and head to the pub. I wasn't complaining.

I think in the UK it will never be part of the curriculum. It's too expensive to buy a table and schools here don't have much money to play around with.

 

[Bella Don't Cry]

Pool can be gotten into schools and I dare say 'Quite easily'.
The stumbling block is having the right personnel, with the right experience, and the contacts that can make it happen. :thumb:

 

[bdorman]

I think in the UK it will never be part of the curriculum. It's too expensive to buy a table and schools here don't have much money to play around with.

Same problem here in the U.S. Most schools can't afford up-to-date textbooks and classroom supplies, much less a pool table and equipment. Music and Art classes have been cut; they're probably the first that would get any new funds.

There are probably a handful of wealthy school districts who could afford it but the parents in those districts aren't the types who grew up playing pool; to them, pool is Paul Newman in The Hustler.

 

[Shawn Armstrong]

It would work in different parts of the world where kids respect public property, but it will never fly in North America. Too many little buggers in schools that don't respect school property. The tables would be messed up in no time. Becky would sit on the edge of the table trying to look sexy for Jimmy. They'd destroy the cloth. The 8 ball would go missing the first day.

In Asia, children are brought up to respect things, because some of them come from nothing. They'd think of a table and nice cues as a gift. They'd clean the table daily, as part of their chores, and the table would look immaculate. Cues would be in great condition. Etc.

 

[Banks]

Same problem here in the U.S. Most schools can't afford up-to-date textbooks and classroom supplies, much less a pool table and equipment. Music and Art classes have been cut; they're probably the first that would get any new funds.

There are probably a handful of wealthy school districts who could afford it but the parents in those districts are the types who grew up playing pool; to them, pool is Paul Newman in The Hustler.

I agree with Bella. It wouldn't be that difficult, but the people in the position to do something just aren't interested. That is, the vendors and pool companies that could later benefit from a wider and younger audience just don't care enough. I'm sure it could be written off to some extent, too. Heck, just the used table market alone would be enough to equip many schools.

 

[Shawn Armstrong]

Pool can be gotten into schools and I dare say 'Quite easily'.
The stumbling block is having the right personnel, with the right experience, and the contacts that can make it happen. :thumb:

Not even close. The stumbling block is the kids themselves. The discipline problems will ruin it for the kids that would want to use it.

You could have the best people, with the right experience, and all the contacts in the world. You're dealing with a generation of kids that don't seem to have the same respect for people/things as when I was growing up. It will work in a society where the kids have the proper respect for the things they're given. Asia, yes. Third world, yes. Because the kids would be thankful for having something they'd otherwise never have access to.

 

[Shawn Armstrong]

I agree with Bella. It wouldn't be that difficult, but the people in the position to do something just aren't interested. That is, the vendors and pool companies that could later benefit from a wider and younger audience just don't care enough. I'm sure it could be written off to some extent, too. Heck, just the used table market alone would be enough to equip many schools.

I'm guessing most, if not all of you, haven't been involved in schooling, or the educational system. You seem to think that 100% of kids WANT pool in their schools. Stop trying to force your agendas onto the youth of this world. If someone can make a case for why pool should be included in an educational system, aside from "well, I really like pool, and I think kids should play pool, too", I'm all ears. But I'd rather kids actually learn something that will be meaningful in their life, rather than pool. There's no euchre classes at school. No dart boards, either. No lawn bowling. I understand this is a forum for pool, but schools are having enough problems these days without trying to slide billiards into their curriculum.

 

[PhilosopherKing]

Forget about "pool in school."

If pool follows the Martial Arts/Combat Sports model, it will thrive.

 

[bdorman]

I agree with Bella. It wouldn't be that difficult, but the people in the position to do something just aren't interested. That is, the vendors and pool companies that could later benefit from a wider and younger audience just don't care enough. I'm sure it could be written off to some extent, too. Heck, just the used table market alone would be enough to equip many schools.

Maybe it's because the vendors and pool companies are stupid.

Or, maybe they've analyzed the best ways to grow their business...and trying to convince nearly-bankrupt school boards is a losing proposition. (BTW, I love people who say "But it's a write-off!" like it doesn't cost anything :grin.

But Shawn hit the nail on the head: The kids don't want it. The parents don't want it. The school boards don't want it. The first rule of selling is "Qualify your prospects." Do they want your product? Can they afford your product? If not, find better prospects.

 

[philfrom]

When I was at the University Of Maryland in the 60's we had a student Union that had a poolroom with about 12 9 ft tables. Students with IDs were charged to use the tables, there was no particular problem other then the occasional ones. It was managed by a hired person. We had tourneys and so forth. It was not apart of the colleges elective sports for credit. We had about 30,000 student enrollment. Universities have no business being involved with pool and other sports like this unless they are profitable, like football, baseball or basketball where the public can be charged to see the activity, Education is the purpose of an University. Their budgets are not big enough.:smile:

 

[BasementDweller]

I don't know...

I'm started to question why we ever coupled sports with education in the first place. There's a day of reckoning coming within the college ranks. The amount of revenue college sports programs are generating is going to force some changes sooner or later. Big time division 1 college football is for all intents and purposes a professional sport, it just happens to be one where the players do not get paid. I see a day sometime in the future but maybe not in my lifetime, where college sports lose their affiliation with their university and we shift to more of a club model.

At the high school level, I think soccer is paving the way. In this sport playing club soccer is more important than is playing on the high school team and I think all the best teams are found within the club ranks.

So why do we need pool in school? As much as I love the game -- I'm not sending my kid to school to learn how to play it anymore than I would want them to spend time learning how to play badminton. If we want the game to grow we need to stop looking for the magic bullet and instead just take the time to teach some young kid how to play the game.

 

[michael4]

you cant even carry a cue on an airplane, no way schools will allow it.

And, as mentioned above, the balls will be stolen the first day at most high schools

:angry::angry:

 

[Cameron Smith]

I don't know...

I'm started to question why we ever coupled sports with education in the first place. There's a day of reckoning coming within the college ranks. The amount of revenue college sports programs are generating is going to force some changes sooner or later. Big time division 1 college football is for all intents and purposes a professional sport, it just happens to be one where the players do not get paid. I see a day sometime in the future but maybe not in my lifetime, where college sports lose their affiliation with their university and we shift to more of a club model.

At the high school level, I think soccer is paving the way. In this sport playing club soccer is more important than is playing on the high school team and I think all the best teams are found within the club ranks.

So why do we need pool in school? As much as I love the game -- I'm not sending my kid to school to learn how to play it anymore than I would want them to spend time learning how to play badminton. If we want the game to grow we need to stop looking for the magic bullet and instead just take the time to teach some young kid how to play the game.

You bring up an interesting point. Although I'm not sure there should a class dedicated to playing pool, I think the addition of pool as an extracurricular option could be beneficial. I believe that hobby's are an important part of life, and having as many opportunities available for kids to discover a hobby they are passionate about can only be a good thing.

As far as competitive sports in schools, I don't really know. There is research that shows that competition doesn't benefit nearly as many kids as we think. Alfie Kohn speaks a lot about this, however he talks mostly about competition in general between kids, academic awards etc. You could argue though that it develops a sense of school pride and community though.

 

[MiscueBlues]

So why do we need pool in school? As much as I love the game -- I'm not sending my kid to school to learn how to play it anymore than I would want them to spend time learning how to play badminton. If we want the game to grow we need to stop looking for the magic bullet and instead just take the time to teach some young kid how to play the game.

High schools in the US have badminton and all kinds of other clubs/teams already. I think all it would take is some kids starting up a club and challenging nearby schools and it could grow from there. There have to be kids interested in it though. I wish I had thought of this back in high school... if there was a school team/club that competed against other schools I know so many kids that would have joined in a heartbeat and gotten really competitive about it!

High schools already have golf and bowling teams, why not pool?