Do you imagine Pool in School?

[hang-the-9]

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.

This is actually a great point, there is a crappy table at a youth center, during a weekly Friday night thing kids have there I was a chaperone and was watching the kids around the table. Those that were not trying to stuff as many balls into one pocket where tossing them around the table and some where fiddling with the box the balls came in by ripping the sides and breaking the interior holder in pieces.

The US population just has no respect in general, which is why there are so many a-hole drivers and people tossing trash on the roads. Every day I see cigarette butts fly out of car windows, tossed in the street, lottery tickets tossed on the sidewalk, etc...

 

[BmoreMoney]

You can go to college on a Billiards scholarship so it would be nice if they had one in schools and even had competitions.

What are some of the schools participating other than Mark Wilson's school? Not being smart just honestly curious cause I've heard nothing of it.

 

[Island Drive]

What are some of the schools participating other than Mark Wilson's school? Not being smart just honestly curious cause I've heard nothing of it.

There was one in San Francisco, Bob Jewett probably can help ya out.

 

[hang-the-9]

Actually funny timing for this thread, my son just told me a few days ago he is talking to his gym teacher about getting pool tables in for them. He is going to talk to the guidance counselor about it, his goal is to teach other kids about the game, one of the things he wanted to do when we got our home table was do instructional videos for kids.

 

[galipeau]

It's a TOUGH sell in the US....because of our past. My daughters were in two sports, and were born/raised in the same town & left for college their sr. year our name had ALLOT of credibility within our school district. I knew most every teacher/principal and they knew me and my involvement with my daughters thru BB and Soccer and the youth pool room I built. I brought in literature, trophies, my background and a plan etc. it fell on deaf ears. Pool table does not bring thoughts of anything good to most in the educational field. .

Sorry to hear that. Glad you tried to though! Any pics or links to your pool room? Id be interested to see your setup.

What are some of the schools participating other than Mark Wilson's school? Not being smart just honestly curious cause I've heard nothing of it.

It's mostly self organized clubs by students from what I understand. Not many real "teams" that have a coach. This was at least my perception from a couple years ago.

 

[galipeau]

It shows how little you know about boosters and sports programs at universities. Ever noticed the big teams that recruit the big players, and spend all of that money you're talking about WEAR THE SAME SHOES? The teams are sponsored. And there are these people called Alumni. They contribute to their schools. And boosters. Trust me, the athletics program at a good Division 1 school pays its own bills, and with TV rights and tournament game monies, they're also putting money back into the school's educational programs.

Respectfully, I think you've missed my point. I'm not arguing about whether or not sports programs are profitable, as much as I'm arguing about whether they should even be promoted to the degree that they are. University's are a place for people to learn things and explore knowledge, not to create miniature NFL players....

I think it's fine that students in college want to join a team to participate in whatever sport they love. But athletics shouldn't be the point of going to college. Learning should. I hope that I was able to clarify this point of view from my original post that you quoted.

 

[BRussell]

This is actually a great point, there is a crappy table at a youth center, during a weekly Friday night thing kids have there I was a chaperone and was watching the kids around the table. Those that were not trying to stuff as many balls into one pocket where tossing them around the table and some where fiddling with the box the balls came in by ripping the sides and breaking the interior holder in pieces.

The US population just has no respect in general, which is why there are so many a-hole drivers and people tossing trash on the roads. Every day I see cigarette butts fly out of car windows, tossed in the street, lottery tickets tossed on the sidewalk, etc...

Maybe you'll believe it or maybe not, but in a whole lot of ways kids today are more responsible than kids of the several previous generations - crime is down very significantly from the peak in the 1980s, teen pregnancy is down, drug use, smoking, and drinking are all down. Yeah things were better (for some of us anyway) prior to the 1960s, and then things went to shit for a few decades, but things really are better now!

Anyway, a big part of any pool class is going to be etiquette. You'd teach them to respect the equipment.

 

[ElCorazonFrio]

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.

What you say is true, but I do know of a different perspective that shows how pool could be helpful.

This isn't a hypothetical, it is a true thing and I know the person who runs the following very well:

I got into playing competitive foosball for a period of time...enough so that I was playing at least three tourneys a week with nationally/internationally ranked players. One of our foosball players is the principal of a middle school. He solicited donations, found tables and set up a foosball club that has three meetings per week.

Now, this is not part of the curriculum, but he is able to promote the club and organize functions.

He has a lot of kids coming to every meeting, generally at least 20 students. Some of these kids started coming out to the normal tourneys when they are held at a place kids can compete. The organizers of the tourneys in the area now have enough kids wanting to play that they run events for the youngsters, including youth singles/doubles, Geezer/minor doubles and have prizes for best placing minor in amateur events.

My friend, the principal, said that when he started the club he only had one table, so he only opened it up to kids he thought would benefit--those who weren't great at normal sports. He said that the confidence they gained through learning foosball has unilaterally helped them in their scholastic and social lives.

So, no, it shouldn't be funded by schools, but if there were a way to get the pool community involved through the schools, it could work and would likely do some good.

 

[Shawn Armstrong]

Respectfully, I think you've missed my point. I'm not arguing about whether or not sports programs are profitable, as much as I'm arguing about whether they should even be promoted to the degree that they are. University's are a place for people to learn things and explore knowledge, not to create miniature NFL players....

I think it's fine that students in college want to join a team to participate in whatever sport they love. But athletics shouldn't be the point of going to college. Learning should. I hope that I was able to clarify this point of view from my original post that you quoted.

Less than 1% of the athletes that receive a scholarship to play a sport at a school will become a professional athlete. That means 99% of them go on to be rocket scientists, and doctors, and lawyers, and other tax paying citizens. So....what's your point?

 

[one stroke]

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:

I believe it's still there , I will have to look into it ,, they also had a pool class there atleast into the 90s had a girl in our league that took it ,, she played pretty sporty
I'm sure they would get some participation , but unlike the big sports that bring millions of dollars into the school pool couldn't even bring enough money to pay the teacher just like several other collage sports
Of course then there's the .,,,,who aspires to be a pro in a sport where the average salary is less than the trash man ,, not many except the people who don't want to work a real job


1

 

[Island Drive]

Respectfully, I think you've missed my point. I'm not arguing about whether or not sports programs are profitable, as much as I'm arguing about whether they should even be promoted to the degree that they are. University's are a place for people to learn things and explore knowledge, not to create miniature NFL players....

I think it's fine that students in college want to join a team to participate in whatever sport they love. But athletics shouldn't be the point of going to college. Learning should. I hope that I was able to clarify this point of view from my original post that you quoted.

I closed the room after 2 years, I was a little early in our area for non-smoking non drinking pool rooms....for youth. PM me if you need assistance. My program was MORE than just pool instruction. It was competitions between all the schools in the same district. Traditional rules but not traditional games of 8/9/10/14.1 they are tooooooooo tough for a beginner. It's been proven, one must crawl before they walk. It's foundation was ''socialization of the individuals'' by intermixing students (blind draw) from each school into teams, competing against other teams, boys and girls. So you may be on a team and competing against another team that may have a couple students from your school Player Group. My design was to create a platform where kids can grow up and learn life lessons thru playing pool. From top to bottom I know how to put this program together. To put it simply. Give a teacher a book, get a bar table and make it 25 cents a rack. Use the money from the table to pay for cloth and the needs of the equipment. Have one of the students be in charge of cue maintenance, and another table maintenance or whatever. This thought is just the tip of the iceberg....but smaller. I also ran two BCA Jr. national events (Magoo's) I hated seeing 8-10 girls in a bar/pool room/with cigarettes, walking by old people drinking their liquor, with plastic tape separating the demographics. Before I left the BCA office, I motivated John Lewis to get the kids in a safer youth environment, like playing in the college game rooms.

 

[Donny Lutz]

Schools?

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.

Apparently many folks commenting here don't include colleges in "schools".

I've seen student unions with bowling lanes and pool tables on dozens of college campuses. They generally don't allow drinking or smoking in the building. If they didn't make at least a little money, they wouldn't exist. Many schools actually have pool and bowling leagues, and elective classes in both.

But must every activity on campus be for profit? Student unions with lanes and tables are social meeting places...they are an option for students who might not be so keen on going to bars and getting fall down drunk.

As far as K-12 are concerned, bowling and pool leagues and tournaments don't have to happen "in" school. I competed in high school bowling leagues in the 1950s. Of course they were at the local bowling house, not "in school". I've also seen billiard centers with high school pool leagues.

In fact, I was an AJBC Certified Bowling Instructor when I was a senior in high school and instructed high school bowlers throughout the '60s.

 

[ElCorazonFrio]

This is simply not true. Recreation centers are absolutely necessary on campuses because without offering student activities, most students would go elsewhere. I expect that the only reason they ever have classes for credit in most is to justify their existence in some fashion.

 

[FranCrimi]

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, Angel, I'm not so sure that school in China is a very pleasant experience. They view any lack of success as a grave loss and public humiliation --- and loss of face. The consequences are pretty nasty.

I wouldn't be too quick to compare them to the western world.

However, it is unfortunate to see billiards in schools is shrinking, particularly in the Association of College Unions (ACUI). I competed in the ACUI tournaments in the 70's --- and first you had to win your university championship, then you went on to represent your school in the ACUI regional championship against a dozen or more colleges in your area. The winner went on to represent their region in the Collegiate Nationals. The whole process involved dozens of schools nationwide.

This year, the ACUI Nationals contained representatives from just 14 schools nationwide. There was no need for regional championships and there haven't been any for many years.

In the 70's my university had a billiard room with 25 9-ft Gold Crown tables. They're all gone now.

Times have changed. Pool was considered an integral part the rec room in most universities. That's just not the case anymore.

 

[Shawn Armstrong]

Well, Angel, I'm not so sure that school in China is a very pleasant experience. They view any lack of success as a grave loss and public humiliation --- and loss of face. The consequences are pretty nasty.

I wouldn't be too quick to compare them to the western world.

Is this the "every kid deserves a participant medal" philosophy?

Sorry. I come from the world of survival of the fittest. If you don't succeed in a subject, try harder, or find another subject. We're encouraging failure as a result of the modern "child raising" tactics. I think the Asians have it right, and we have it wrong.

 

[TCo]

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/

...probably not going to happen until the hustler/con man image is removed from pool.

(see avatar of OP) :sorry:

 

[Chicagoplayer]

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

1

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

 

[Chicagoplayer]

...probably not going to happen until the hustler/con man image is removed from pool.
If you can imagine Pool/Billiards in school- tell them what you envision!
http://xqsuperschool.org/

(see avatar of OP) :sorry:

The avatar of the OP (me) is "Raising the Hustler"
To elevate pool/billiards to the level it merits!

 

[Chicagoplayer]

Check out the site!

Well, Angel, I'm not so sure that school in China is a very pleasant experience. They view any lack of success as a grave loss and public humiliation --- and loss of face. The consequences are pretty nasty.

I wouldn't be too quick to compare them to the western world.

However, it is unfortunate to see billiards in schools is shrinking, particularly in the Association of College Unions (ACUI). I competed in the ACUI tournaments in the 70's --- and first you had to win your university championship, then you went on to represent your school in the ACUI regional championship against a dozen or more colleges in your area. The winner went on to represent their region in the Collegiate Nationals. The whole process involved dozens of schools nationwide.

This year, the ACUI Nationals contained representatives from just 14 schools nationwide. There was no need for regional championships and there haven't been any for many years.

In the 70's my university had a billiard room with 25 9-ft Gold Crown tables. They're all gone now.

Times have changed. Pool was considered an integral part the rec room in most universities. That's just not the case anymore.

You are correct-
The countries are different and the perspective is different.
It's useless...
No one cares...
but- if you like me- are a determined fool. we can do something.
If you can imagine Pool/Billiards in school- tell them what you envision!:thumbup:
http://xqsuperschool.org/

 

[Chicagoplayer]

Check out the site!

Apparently many folks commenting here don't include colleges in "schools".

I've seen student unions with bowling lanes and pool tables on dozens of college campuses. They generally don't allow drinking or smoking in the building. If they didn't make at least a little money, they wouldn't exist. Many schools actually have pool and bowling leagues, and elective classes in both.

But must every activity on campus be for profit? Student unions with lanes and tables are social meeting places...they are an option for students who might not be so keen on going to bars and getting fall down drunk.

As far as K-12 are concerned, bowling and pool leagues and tournaments don't have to happen "in" school. I competed in high school bowling leagues in the 1950s. Of course they were at the local bowling house, not "in school". I've also seen billiard centers with high school pool leagues.

In fact, I was an AJBC Certified Bowling Instructor when I was a senior in high school and instructed high school bowlers throughout the '60s.

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