Billiard Academy or University

[kevin s]

Back when I finished high school I had to choose what I was going to do for a living. A friend of mine instead of going to our local university when to a golf school some where in Alabama. He learned everything about the game, how to maintain the course, run the business of a country club, and became a PGA instructor. He is now the Pro at Brentwood Country Club in Nashville,Tn. I wish I could done something like that with pool.

I would like to see someone start something like this to build a foundation for the pool world. A real one or two year academy that provided an opportunity without learning as you go or paying your dues as everyone says. Imagine if every major poolroom had a real house pro heading up the entire operation! It is a major investment to open up a poolroom so I think room owners would appreciate a real professional.

Does anyone else think this is a good idea???

 

[worriedbeef]

a wonderful idea in an ideal world - realisitically though i don't think it could work with the way pool is at the moment.

 

[Bob Jewett]

... Does anyone else think this is a good idea???

At one time the SFBA offered a "house pro" course, but it was just one day.

The problem is that most pool halls can get by with counter people with considerably less than a year -- or six months, or three weeks -- training. When I ran the counter at the PH, I needed to know how to run the register and time cards, how to unlock and lock the room, how to keep track of the waiting list and time limits, how to cover, uncover, and clean the tables, and how to do minor repairs to tears in the cloth. We sold no food, and I can see how that might take more training than all the pool-related training I had. At many rooms, you're lucky if you can call up and get an intelligible response to the question, "What time is the tournament tonight?"

There is not nearly the same level of cash flow in most pool halls as in country clubs. An exception might be the mega-entertainment rooms. I can see how those might fund significant employee development. See, for example, "Dave and Buster's."

 

[kevin s]

At one time the SFBA offered a "house pro" course, but it was just one day.

The problem is that most pool halls can get by with counter people with considerably less than a year -- or six months, or three weeks -- training. When I ran the counter at the PH, I needed to know how to run the register and time cards, how to unlock and lock the room, how to keep track of the waiting list and time limits, how to cover, uncover, and clean the tables, and how to do minor repairs to tears in the cloth. We sold no food, and I can see how that might take more training than all the pool-related training I had. At many rooms, you're lucky if you can call up and get an intelligible response to the question, "What time is the tournament tonight?"

There is not nearly the same level of cash flow in most pool halls as in country clubs. An exception might be the mega-entertainment rooms. I can see how those might fund significant employee development. See, for example, "Dave and Buster's."

I agree small rooms prob. wouldn't apply but two in my area are twenty plus tables with$200,000 kitchens. With alcohol and all total sales they gross 25 to 30 K a week. They certainly would compete with the revenues of the 15 golf courses we have here. I know one of the owners told me one time his rent was 8k per month. That's a tough nut to crack. I would want a true professional if I had 500k invested. I'm sure every major city has one like this or even bigger.