Good Things....

mnorwood

mnorwood

Moon
Silver Member
I have been reading threads about people getting stiffed, warranties not being honored and other topics that would lead one to believe the game is dead, never to return.

For my friends here on the forum you know that it is my belief that the regeneration of our game is dependent on our efforts to give the game to young people. Since November I have done just that.

Presently I have over 40 students in my program. Of those 40 I have about 10 kids who are really showing some early promise of being good players. Due to the nature of the demographic that I work with I do have some turnover with my group. The funny thing is my students try to skip out on their other classes and double dip in the pool class. I have to keep a close eye on my roll to make sure no one is trying to double dip.

Two weeks ago I had a 6th grade girl come in. She had never played and didn't even know that the white ball is called the cue ball.LOL. I began showing her the basics and she took to it right away. By the end of the period I had her pocketing long straight in shots. She was able to intuitively do many things that are difficult for beginners to learn.

During this time I have learned much about how to approach teaching a large group of kids.

My message to everyone on this board who is frustrated with pro game, frustrated with the sandbagging at your league or frustrated with not making money with your pool related business is this: you should channel your efforts into creating a youth program where you are. I am being paid a nice reliable salary to teach the game I love and help bring it out of the doldrums.
 
Nice work

We are doing the same here with mixed success. At our local pool room we organized Jr league and the only disappointment was not attracting a diverse group, that is the young people signing up were mostly regular's at the hall. The stigma that surrounds the typical pool room does not appeal to some parents and I understand.
How do you attract students? Are you employed at a school? We would enjoy sharing our knowledge of the game but our local pool room is the only support for this type of program. Any suggestion?
 
mrmagoo42 said:
We are doing the same here with mixed success. At our local pool room we organized Jr league and the only disappointment was not attracting a diverse group, that is the young people signing up were mostly regular's at the hall. The stigma that surrounds the typical pool room does not appeal to some parents and I understand.
How do you attract students? Are you employed at a school? We would enjoy sharing our knowledge of the game but our local pool room is the only support for this type of program. Any suggestion?
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I am employed at a school. My class is built in to an after school program. The game sells itself, which is why I think it could be successful elsewhere.

In my opinion room owners could make as much or more money creating an environment that is family friendly as opposed to a smoke filled bar. I have very little evidence to point to on this due to the fact that I have never heard of anyone attempting to run a room that is geared towards youth. What I do know for a fact is there are countless kids that would take on the game if their was a place for them to play it and one that schools would not mind letting a school sponsored group meet at.

If you put a room in the vicinity of Beltway 8 and Fuqua in the Houston area that is not a bar I could put 15 high schools in it by the end of the school year. You could sell food and soft drinks and run tournaments year round. You have to highlight the connection between billiards and math/science to attract the schools. Just food for thought.....
 
Nice work!

mnorwood said:
I am employed at a school. My class is built in to an after school program. The game sells itself, which is why I think it could be successful elsewhere.

In my opinion room owners could make as much or more money creating an environment that is family friendly as opposed to a smoke filled bar. I have very little evidence to point to on this due to the fact that I have never heard of anyone attempting to run a room that is geared towards youth. What I do know for a fact is there are countless kids that would take on the game if their was a place for them to play it and one that schools would not mind letting a school sponsored group meet at.

If you put a room in the vicinity of Beltway 8 and Fuqua in the Houston area that is not a bar I could put 15 high schools in it by the end of the school year. You could sell food and soft drinks and run tournaments year round. You have to highlight the connection between billiards and math/science to attract the schools. Just food for thought.....
Click to expand...

Perhaps some of the pool instructors/authors might be interested in donating a book or video to your school.

The youth have little responsibility these days and much money to spend.

Perhaps some philanthropic business people could donate office space or equipment to provide such a location. If the entity were a local, large billiards supply dealer, they might even get some return on their investment. We have a local politician who is in the billiard supply business as well as other businesses and may want to invest some resources in that area. I may do a little checking around. It could be an interesting adventure.

JoeyA
 
JoeyA said:
Perhaps some of the pool instructors/authors might be interested in donating a book or video to your school.

The youth have little responsibility these days and much money to spend.

Perhaps some philanthropic business people could donate office space or equipment to provide such a location. If the entity were a local, large billiards supply dealer, they might even get some return on their investment. We have a local politician who is in the billiard supply business as well as other businesses and may want to invest some resources in that area. I may do a little checking around. It could be an interesting adventure.

JoeyA
Click to expand...
Thanks for the thought Joey. I have been working in schools for 10 years. I have a masters in education and I am certified to be a school administrator. I have the ability to speak the language of people who run schools and I know what they need to hear. There are certain things you need to include to make a program more attractive to schools, which I have been able to do. I have the attention of the Harris County department of education and the ears of administrators in Pasadena ISD which is the 4th largest district in the lone star state. The area that I would like to see a room would serve Houston ISD, Pearland ISD, Clear Creek ISD, Pasadena ISD and Friendswood ISD. That's thousands of kids.
 
Hi there mnorwood,

When we talked about 4 or 5 months ago I kind of felt there was something really special about what you were doing. Now I know my thoughts were right on.. Plus it sounds like you are in the right position to maybe get things done that so many other players or people don't have.

Keep up the good work and I wish you good luck on your journey to make this pool world and world a little better one kid at a time.

When I was 18 years old I met an elderly woman that ran a small kind of family bar. Her name was Ida Brick. She became like a second mother to me. At this point of my life I needed a little guidance. She was very educated from a girls college back in the days. She would come up with the darndest quotes. One I will never forget that really stuck in my mind really fits a person such as yourself.

When you do something for someone and expect absolutely nothing in return then you have really done something good.

Keep up the good work and keep in touch. Who knows? Maybe some of the top players traveling around the country will stop and give your kids a great show someday.

I hope so.

Thanks for sharing what's going on in Houston,Tx. Have a great year. Geno.........
 
Marcus

I am extremely proud that you have followed through on this project despite all of the hurdles you have encountered. If you need anything - books - training materials - just let me know.
 
Blackjack said:
Marcus

I am extremely proud that you have followed through on this project despite all of the hurdles you have encountered. If you need anything - books - training materials - just let me know.
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To Geno and David: Thanks for your ongoing support. Really any contribution of instructional materials is welcome.

Since getting involved with this program one of the most difficult things for me to explain to the kids is wrist action and the dynamics of the grip during the stroke. If you could direct me to any writing or videos about this topic I would be grateful. Some of the kids are able to understand how I go about explaining it, but I think there must be a better way.

Thanks,
Marcus
 
What a great way to help the game! As a sell to the parents, if you're not already doing so, you could also push it as a learning experience, geometry and physics, so long as you teach it that way, maybe keep it light so the kids don't even know they are learning, such as what makes the ball spin the way it does, why does a ball carom the way it does, etc.
 
xtrmbrdr said:
What a great way to help the game! As a sell to the parents, if you're not already doing so, you could also push it as a learning experience, geometry and physics, so long as you teach it that way, maybe keep it light so the kids don't even know they are learning, such as what makes the ball spin the way it does, why does a ball carom the way it does, etc.
Click to expand...
Making connections with math and science is a major part of the program. To this point we have talked about friction and the roll it plays with the tip, chalk and the cue ball. We have also talked about friction and inertia when discussing ball spin. I have also included some history.

If you want to start a program you should stress the value that pool has to teach other things. You should also encourage academic achievement with the group you are working with. If you ever opened a room for kids you might consider offering tutoring or having interactive tutorial computer programs for them to work with in addition to billiards instruction.
 
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