How can we get USA women playing again?

iusedtoberich

iusedtoberich

AzB Silver Member
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What is going on with the WPBA?

The economy has been booming the past 5 years. The mens "tour" has added more and more GOOD opportunities for the men each of the past few years. The business in local pool rooms seems to be way up from 10 years ago, when it was the lowest I've personally ever seen. The international women are playing better than ever, and there are more of them.

All that said, why have the women's pro/satellite tours not picked up in the USA? Is there any way to fix it?

It almost seems like the women having an organization hurt them. They were flying high in the 90's, while the men weren't doing so well. But when the WPBA events started falling off, it seems the whole thing shut down, save for one event per year.

The men on the other hand had no organization. Did that alllow any Joe Shmo with some cash to attempt to start his own tournament or tour. Some failed, some failed after a few events, and some are still around. But, maybe it was this "free market" that actually allowed new promoters to take a chance?

What say you? How can we get the USA women playing again?
 
ShortBusRuss

ShortBusRuss

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iusedtoberich said:
The business in local pool rooms seems to be way up from 10 years ago, when it was the lowest I've personally ever seen.
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Note sure what America you are looking at, but we see reports of rooms closing regularly on here. Rooms that had been open for many years.

Golden Fleece and Malarkey's closed in Washington state, and those were pretty much the two biggest pool halls in the state.

Can't hold women's events if all the pool halls are closing.
 
iusedtoberich

iusedtoberich

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Several rooms closed in the Philly area (my hometown) from about 2007 to 2014 or so. And the rooms that were left behind, were super low in business.

Then, those remaining rooms started to get back some business a couple of years later. Today, they are way stronger than 2010 or so, but still off of their highs from the 1990's.

I could very well be off a few years one way or another.
 
spartan

spartan

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Well I thought something like this may help boost pool https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Li6SW--ma4 but then probably majority of people have never heard of Ronnie or Jeanette

But there may still be some hope cos these days when you Google "pool", first results are pool related and not swimming pool related.


giphy.gif
 
jasonlaus

jasonlaus

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The women in the USA have zero chance against the women from overseas.

The top USA player is almost 100 points FR behind Siming.
Jason
 
C

ChrisinNC

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spartan said:
Well I thought something like this may help boost pool https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Li6SW--ma4 but then probably majority of people have never heard of Ronnie or Jeanette

But there may still be some hope cos these days when you Google "pool", first results are pool related and not swimming pool related.


giphy.gif
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I hate to say that as a poolroom owner, the 2 things that stuck out to me in that video are a poolroom that has 2 different colors of cloth on the tables - burgundy and green, and Ronnie O'Sullivan shown at least a few different times sitting on (not just leaning up against) a pool table!

As far as the women players, not a single US player ranked in the top 30 female Fargo rankings. On the bright side though, as a whole the international women have really stepped up their games in recent years - with far more female players with 700+ Fargo rankings than there have ever been previously.
 
Bob Jewett

Bob Jewett

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ChrisinNC said:
... the 2 things that stuck out to me in that video ...
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I was bothered by the fact that none of the parts of the runs were in sequence but I suppose they were editing for visuals and not continuity.
 
terryhanna

terryhanna

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jasonlaus said:
The women in the USA have zero chance against the women from overseas.

The top USA player is almost 100 points FR behind Siming.
Jason
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Last big event here in the states Siming Chen played, The WPBA Ho-Chunk Classic $50,000 purse.

Siming lost to April Larson in the Quarter finals and had to settle for 4th place in the event.

So you might want change that USA Women have Zero chance to something else :nono: :wink2:
 
J

jrctherake

AzB Silver Member
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Get a chip-n-dales league started. Lol..... bet that would do it. Do that and SVB and Earl wouldn't be the only players that use extra long shafts.
 
iusedtoberich

iusedtoberich

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I don't know if the relative skill level of USA vs International women would really affect the popularity of a USA tour, if one were to come back in full force. Just my thoughts, after all, when WPBA was popular, it was almost the same 4-6 women every event that would be shown on TV, and half of them were almost always from the other side of the pond.

I suppose my point is we have all been saying pool (all of it) has been on the decline for a long time, and blamed video games, internet, live poker, online poker, casinos in every state, etc, as the reason. Well, according to my own eyes (which again may be true only to my locale), pool has picked up significantly in the past 5 years. This includes my local halls, and the men's pro tour. My thinking is the reason it went down 10-15 years ago is the economy, and the reason it started to come back up 5 years ago is the improvement in the economy.

So, if it was in fact the general economy, why have the local rooms bounced back, the men's professional opportunities bounced back, but the women are worse off now than they ever were? Is it BECAUSE they are in a tight organization, and locked out from trying something with a newcomer? Something else?
 
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Bob Jewett

Bob Jewett

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I think the answer to the original question is to get more young people involved. That would be in high school or middle school. I've had two junior students recently who reported having pool tables in their middle schools.
 
J

jburkm002

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
No offense but I wouldn’t want education hours spent playing pool. However I do agree about finding ways to get younger players involved. Doubt many pool halls even allow kids to play. So if dad doesn’t have a table in the basement. Chances are kids won’t even experience pool.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
jasonlaus

jasonlaus

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terryhanna said:
Last big event here in the states Siming Chen played, The WPBA Ho-Chunk Classic $50,000 purse.

Siming lost to April Larson in the Quarter finals and had to settle for 4th place in the event.

So you might want change that USA Women have Zero chance to something else :nono: :wink2:
Click to expand...

How would you like your odds if you had to bet $5,000 a week on them matching up even? Back at ya
Jason
 
jay helfert

jay helfert

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jburkm002 said:
No offense but I wouldn’t want education hours spent playing pool. However I do agree about finding ways to get younger players involved. Doubt many pool halls even allow kids to play. So if dad doesn’t have a table in the basement. Chances are kids won’t even experience pool.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Have you ever heard of Interscholastic sports? They seem to have plenty of time for sports like baseball, basketball and football, not to mention golf and tennis and various other healthy sporting activities. Having pool as an interscholastic sport would be an easy addition with no special facilities required (an empty classroom could easily accommodate two pool tables) or equipment (house cues are fine). Plus many kids LOVE to play pool!
 
jay helfert

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
iusedtoberich said:
What is going on with the WPBA?

The economy has been booming the past 5 years. The mens "tour" has added more and more GOOD opportunities for the men each of the past few years. The business in local pool rooms seems to be way up from 10 years ago, when it was the lowest I've personally ever seen. The international women are playing better than ever, and there are more of them.

All that said, why have the women's pro/satellite tours not picked up in the USA? Is there any way to fix it?

It almost seems like the women having an organization hurt them. They were flying high in the 90's, while the men weren't doing so well. But when the WPBA events started falling off, it seems the whole thing shut down, save for one event per year.

The men on the other hand had no organization. Did that alllow any Joe Shmo with some cash to attempt to start his own tournament or tour. Some failed, some failed after a few events, and some are still around. But, maybe it was this "free market" that actually allowed new promoters to take a chance?

What say you? How can we get the USA women playing again?
Click to expand...

Put on more tournaments like the one starting at Soaring Eagle casino this week!
 
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