College Leagues?

L

LoGiC

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Since the era pool is in right now is dim and abysmal, and some are trying to figure out ways to bring the golden era back, I'll throw my idea out there. College League(s). Since every other sport has a college league of some type, why doesn't pool, or billiards. Or if there is one, why haven't I heard of it? Since most pool halls double as bars, you need to be 21 to enter, even on league nights. Obviously this discourages those who are underage and deters interest from pool.

Most colleges already have a pool room on campus, and regular shooters or clubs, something I'm trying to found again on my campus. (Its looking pretty good too!)

College sports aren't played for the big money, they are played for the recognition. Even without a Professional league to look at, Billiards can still survive. Look at other college sports like wrestling- where there is no professional leagues after college. People still compete.

So what are you oldies opinions on a college league?
 
i'm not an oldy :), but i am in college...
We have a billiards club down here at UIUC, and it def is good, as we send teams to ACUI regionals, and host qualifiers. As far as getting into the local bars goes....Back home in chicago, I can't get into any bars yet as I am not 21 yet, which sort a hurts, but at the same time, all pool halls I know of do not have a real age limit, apart from not having 13 years olds in there.
 
I've been thinking of starting a team/club at my college but I really don't know how much interested we could generate. There are a handful of decent players here and we would love to do some intercollege competitions. I go to CMU in Pittsburgh. Anybody have any idea how to start a college league?
 
I'm looking at doing it in the Capital region of NY. The ACUI doesn't seem to do billiards in our region, so it looks bust.

Anyone going to school around Albany, or the capital region?
 
Anybody here from the pittsburgh area? We have like 7 different colleges here...I wonder if something could get started.

As for NY, if we could generate enough interest we could do a region wide tourney...I played quiz bowl for several years and we traveled to places much farther than that just for tourneys
 
Thats what the ACUI looks like to be for our region, its got events, just not pool/billiards.

I'd start locally, and see what you can find in interest. With 7 colleges, I assume atleast one more would have a billiards club. If not, make it.

I know SUNY Albany has a billiards club, thanks to some kid coming in to our pool hall and trash talking me and my fellow shooter Dan. After quickly handing him his ass in pool, he checked out. So I plan to start by contacting their club president for some exhibition matches hopefully.
 
I started the illini billiards club at the university of Illinois in 05..its hard work and interest is not always high but if you keep plugging away at something you really believe in, it'll be worth it nonetheless. The toughest thing would be getting money/some kind of sponsorship, but if you have thick skin and aren't afraid to call everyone and anyone, you'd be very surprised what people would do in the name of billiards.

As far as university pool leagues its really hit or miss and more often than not you'll just get that one core group that keeps coming back. Its a real challenge however to keep the beginner players to return. Also adding social activties and doing like a ladies night to teach the girls pool and let them play for free does wonders for your club.

The USA is spilt into some 16 regions and every school is in the purview of some region. Finishing well in the regional tourney will get you a ticket to nationals, held at the same time and place as the junior nationals.

If travellin to regionals is too far for you or just not plausible, there are other major collegiate invitational tourneys that are at the university of Michigan, Virginia tech for the east coasters, and university of western Ontario for all the northerners. If you need more information about running collegiate tourneys, the absolute best resource is Betsy Sundholm of UMich, i think its sundholm@umich.edu. If someone needs to get in contact with with her and this email address is incorrect, please let me know.

I hope this helps.
 
Here at my college, we have two 7' tables. Every once in a while they will do a tournament, and they are actually starting intramurals next week. It will be a round robin format and the best record wins. It is fun, I just wish they could get some 9' tables! In the last tournament we had about 10 people, I am not sure how many will be in the intramurals.

Ian Donnelly
 
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