John...Quit talking about it, and go DO it...even just the schools around where you live.
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
john schmidt said:
great idea
- Thread starter john schmidt
- Start date
I would think if the school billiard teams in the playing area( maybe 6 schools) with two teams each asked the the community for donations and used pool tables that some would be donated. There are a lot of pool widows and such out there wanting to get rid of pool tables in their house. Also the kids that are interested in playing could have a raffle with donated new cues or maybe even a table.
Don't the parents of the kids that play on the other school teams like baseball, track, football,and many others have to pay for stuff like uniforms? If so billiard teams would be cheap. Once set up transportation would be the big nut I would think.
Anyhow if someone can set this up in a small district (about 6 schools pretty close to each other) You can count on me for $100 to $200. And I wouldn't care where it was. If the first districts do well more will follow. until it's nation wide. Johnnyt
Don't the parents of the kids that play on the other school teams like baseball, track, football,and many others have to pay for stuff like uniforms? If so billiard teams would be cheap. Once set up transportation would be the big nut I would think.
Anyhow if someone can set this up in a small district (about 6 schools pretty close to each other) You can count on me for $100 to $200. And I wouldn't care where it was. If the first districts do well more will follow. until it's nation wide. Johnnyt
Pool in school...
This is an idea that has been long overdue. I got the itch in grade school, got it worse in high school, and continued once I was a student at Marquette university. I wish that a formal program had been in place then, I did as most did, learned the hard way, getting beat until I was the one finally doing the beating!
This is an idea that has been long overdue. I got the itch in grade school, got it worse in high school, and continued once I was a student at Marquette university. I wish that a formal program had been in place then, I did as most did, learned the hard way, getting beat until I was the one finally doing the beating!
A pool table in every high school.
I have to imagine that manufacturers like Diamond and Brunswick would jump at the chance of putting tables in High Schools FREE OF CHARGE.
Can you imagine how many sales a table would generate for a manufacurer? I can just hear the Junior High kid saying to mom and dad. Well, if you don't want me hanging in a pool room, buy me a table and let my friends come to our house to play pool. Mom and Dad would take out a second mortgage in heart beat to get their teenage kid to stay at home where they could stay out of trouble.
GREG SULLIVAN, are you listening? How about you Mark Griffin? Mr. Brunswick?
JoeyA
RBC said:
I have to imagine that manufacturers like Diamond and Brunswick would jump at the chance of putting tables in High Schools FREE OF CHARGE.
Can you imagine how many sales a table would generate for a manufacurer? I can just hear the Junior High kid saying to mom and dad. Well, if you don't want me hanging in a pool room, buy me a table and let my friends come to our house to play pool. Mom and Dad would take out a second mortgage in heart beat to get their teenage kid to stay at home where they could stay out of trouble.
GREG SULLIVAN, are you listening? How about you Mark Griffin? Mr. Brunswick?
JoeyA
john schmidt said:
On CSPAN the other day, famous authors were talking about how to get kids to read. One made the suggestion to sell kids on the coolness of reading. A very thoughtful lady rejected that and said that the opposite worked in previous generations and would probably work now. She said that novels that were forbidden by adults were sought out by children and a whole generation became readers because of it.
That concept of doing something forbidden has attraction to kids. Maybe this school sport idea will backfire and make it worse?
Not complaining or judging this idea, just throwing some thought into it.
Jeff Livingston
Craig Fales said:
It is sad that that perception is still with us. But dammit, we earned it didn't we. In my upbringing bowlers were considered much the same as pool players on the social food chain. They somehow managed to clean up their image. Why can't we ?
Dick
srs314
shooterville.com
I work for a School District in Ontario, Canada, here are a few things that would have to happen.
You would need to start at the District level and present a well planned and structured idea to whoever takes care of interschool sports curriculum.
You would need to cover everything most importantly the bottom line costs to each school to get the equipment set up. It would be important to have the tables worked out before you go there. Also knowing what people support you have from local players to coach or do clinics at the schools.
The B.E.F. has a Billiard Curriculum book that covers billiard instruction as a course. Showing the cross curriculum potential such as the science or math side would be very important, tangent angles, friction... you get the picture. You should go in armed with this as a package to leave behind.
If they like the idea you may get to present it to the school administrator for each school as a group.
The other thing you can do is more like John mentioned.
Go visit a school and talk to the administrator with that same package, however this time you are there to get it going as an intramural activity just within that school.
Get the tables in there and talk to the kids during one of their school assemblies of all the students. Present the idea of competing with other students either on their lunch or after school. Many kids are not the athletic type but also don't want to be part of the chess club this may hit a demographic of students looking for an activity to be a part of. If you can't get to present to all the students you have to promote the activity with posters and announcements.
A key to this is that the students will need some support from a player for a little while and not just one of there teachers who would really only be there to supervise.
The best part about this idea is that pool is a game where you improve a lot at the start, especially with a little help. I think the kids would get hooked and competitive with each other very quickly.
Great idea, I've thought about doing it here but I can't dedicate enough time to it right now.
You would need to start at the District level and present a well planned and structured idea to whoever takes care of interschool sports curriculum.
You would need to cover everything most importantly the bottom line costs to each school to get the equipment set up. It would be important to have the tables worked out before you go there. Also knowing what people support you have from local players to coach or do clinics at the schools.
The B.E.F. has a Billiard Curriculum book that covers billiard instruction as a course. Showing the cross curriculum potential such as the science or math side would be very important, tangent angles, friction... you get the picture. You should go in armed with this as a package to leave behind.
If they like the idea you may get to present it to the school administrator for each school as a group.
The other thing you can do is more like John mentioned.
Go visit a school and talk to the administrator with that same package, however this time you are there to get it going as an intramural activity just within that school.
Get the tables in there and talk to the kids during one of their school assemblies of all the students. Present the idea of competing with other students either on their lunch or after school. Many kids are not the athletic type but also don't want to be part of the chess club this may hit a demographic of students looking for an activity to be a part of. If you can't get to present to all the students you have to promote the activity with posters and announcements.
A key to this is that the students will need some support from a player for a little while and not just one of there teachers who would really only be there to supervise.
The best part about this idea is that pool is a game where you improve a lot at the start, especially with a little help. I think the kids would get hooked and competitive with each other very quickly.
Great idea, I've thought about doing it here but I can't dedicate enough time to it right now.
Last edited:
As most of us that has been around the game knows the reputation we got stuck with came from a bunch of ball banging and brawling drunks that had no ideal what the game is about! We have lived with for far too long. Bikers got the same image from the Hell Angles, that all biker are trouble. They are coming out of that image now and we need help from all the player, industry, and media too over come this bad reputation. As soon as we can get this across that the players today are educated and concerned about improving the game and it's reputation, but it will be a tall task. League's has helped too a great extent showing that this is a family oriented sport and one sport that can be played with disabilities. This could be one approach too take, that a student that has a disability can participate in and receive a scholarship where they would be left out of any other school activity. If all of us do our share we can improve the image of the game we all love. I think John is on the right track, but he alone can't succeed, it will take everyone of us helping. I will help anyway I can if we get something going that will benefit the game and getting new young players and their family's involved.
srs314 said:
Once again this is something the BCA should have a committee working on. Actually they should have been doing this 20-30 years ago. Of course we will probably be talking about this in 20 years from now. Just like pool in the Olympics, their last big push to nowhere.
Craig Fales said:
I'm amazed that you are amazed that the perception is still with pool.
Perception is, unfortunately, reality in BY FAR the majority of instances with pool. The only way a pool hall can survive is by catering to bar crowds. There is also the case of an inordinate amount of gambling going on at pool halls because that is the nature of the game. Hustlers and short stops require gambling to make a living because they could never make it with tournament winnings. I've yet to enter a pool hall here in Dallas that wasn't a dark, smoke filled bar with lowlife hustlers. Not everyone who plays at these places are this way and there are plenty of people who would love for this part of pool to just vanish, but that isn't happening.
I went to a very uppity private school here in Dallas, St. Mark's, that is an all boys school ranked in the top 20 schools in the country. Our senior year the school got us a cheap table in an extra room that was reserved for seniors only as a privilege. That room was filled from 7 AM until 6 PM with a wait list of guys waiting to get their turn at playing. Part of this may have been because it was the only option, but a lot of us really loved playing and competing. In fact, that environment inspired me to buy my own first cue and start pursuing the game somewhat.
It has been said here already, but a very well thought out plan and presentation needs to be made to school districts and colleges on the benefits of serious pool as a sport. Obviously curriculum could and should be incorporated into pool, particularly with geometry and physics.
The most important thing that a push like this must focus on is keeping kids OUT OF TROUBLE. That means you need upstanding and caring individuals as mentors for the game, you need safe playing areas with no shadiness whatsoever, and you need to be able to show results. An extraordinarily high level of caution and care would have to be used to help prevent kids showing up at the pool halls their parents would not want to see them in. This is an incredibly difficult goal to achieve because kids are prone to getting in trouble anyways, and you combine a sport and culture with an environment bred for trouble... you are looking at problems.
I think that it can be done, I think that is the best idea to take pool forward to where a lot of us believe it should/could be. It is a very big responsibility to ask a parent or a teacher to trust you to mentor their child and teach them things that are going to benefit them in the long run. We've all seen the environment of pool halls literally ruin people's lives and we have to ask ourselves if we can prevent that from happening to these kids we are trying to help.
I think it can be done and would be willing to help in anyway I can, as I think it could turn into a great initiative.
Last edited:
john schmidt said:
I taught a high school class in pool in 1972 and 73. They actually brought the kids to the bowling alley that had a 21 table room on the school bus. It went along with a bowling program they had. It seems it just takes someone willing to start it. The thing I was involved grew out of one of the high school coaches coming into the pool room regularly and just getting it started. He liked to play himself. They asked me if I would like to try it and I said yes. That was 35 years ago and I still run into a kid or two that was introduced to the game in those classes and still play.
Schools do not want to spend money on pool tables. Many schools do not have spare rooms to set up tables.
Many schools have swimming and bowling teams. Off site facilties are used for these activities. Why not the same with pool. Some would not like the idea of students going to a bar with tables to compete, but most bowling allies have bars. What would be the diffference?
If your town has a real pool hall, I would think the owner would be willing to practically give away the table time from 3 to 5 for local schools. They could write off the time as a donation to the school. Many students would come to the pool hall to practice.
The pool hall could make money from snacks, practice time in the evening and week ends, the sale of cues and other extras.
This would be a win win situation for everyone. Schools want kids involved in after school activities.
Many schools have swimming and bowling teams. Off site facilties are used for these activities. Why not the same with pool. Some would not like the idea of students going to a bar with tables to compete, but most bowling allies have bars. What would be the diffference?
If your town has a real pool hall, I would think the owner would be willing to practically give away the table time from 3 to 5 for local schools. They could write off the time as a donation to the school. Many students would come to the pool hall to practice.
The pool hall could make money from snacks, practice time in the evening and week ends, the sale of cues and other extras.
This would be a win win situation for everyone. Schools want kids involved in after school activities.
john schmidt said:
John: The Illinois Billiards Club sponsors two high school leagues in the Chicago , St. Laurence and St. Rita. I don't know the extent of their programs but there seems to be a lot of kids at the club finishing up on Thursdays. The instructor for St. Rita's is Stan Kastelec, although Bob Stark, who once was one of Stan's students may have just started taking over the class this session.
macguy said:
Wow... I like it when a bus just has a bathroom!
I think this sort of thing might be a silver lining to the smoking bans. Clean, nonsmoking rooms in good areas should really try to get local schools involved. I showed up last spring at a room in Minneapolis at 11:00 am on a Tuesday just as a schoolbus full of 15 year olds got there.
When I spoke to the manager, he said he'd personally visited all the high schools in his area talking to the pe teachers, activity coordinators, etc. He had a bunch of schools that would bring a bus load of kids just for one 50-minute period. Others would occasionally do a little half-day reward trip or something.
The room charged the school a buck a kid or so for the excursion.
