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High School Billiard Students
- Thread starter hsbilliards
- Start date
Great job there! My son is turning 13 this year, is asking me why they don't put in a pool table in his school. He wishes there was a pool team there, or maybe table tennis. They have a golf team even in 7th grade where he is.
I may have to talk to the school and see if we can get a pool table or at least a table tennis table in there.
I may have to talk to the school and see if we can get a pool table or at least a table tennis table in there.
Kudos for all your hard work over the years. I've always thought that there needs more effort to bring pool into schools.
I thought a organization made of those that are currently doing pool in school would be useful in expanding the programs elsewhere.
Not all kids are football, baseball, soccer material. Pools a great equalizer and a great confident builder for kids. That's what it did for me way back when. The star quarterback couldn't touch my pool playing and still can't.
I'm still playing pool, but his glory days were done after high school cause he wasn't good enough.
You learn to be self reliant playing pool, not needing a team to be a winner.
Keep it up.
I thought a organization made of those that are currently doing pool in school would be useful in expanding the programs elsewhere.
Not all kids are football, baseball, soccer material. Pools a great equalizer and a great confident builder for kids. That's what it did for me way back when. The star quarterback couldn't touch my pool playing and still can't.
I'm still playing pool, but his glory days were done after high school cause he wasn't good enough.
You learn to be self reliant playing pool, not needing a team to be a winner.
Keep it up.
Stroker...While I am aware of a few TX colleges that have pool teams, I am unaware of any other high schools in TX (besides the ones that Earl Munson is working with in the Dallas area...including Frisco & Wylie), that have pool tables or pool teams. mnorwood's project involves middle school kids, and there is no 'inter-school' competition (yet). Do you know of some others?
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
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+1 here...and continued good luck with your program too, Marcus! Nice talking to you the other night.
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Earl...What a great group of pictures! Sure is nice to see so many girls involved too! Have you been able to get these pictures printed in any TX newpapers, over the years? Congrats on a great program, and best wishes for continued success in expanding what you have already done!
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Thanks guys. It has been very rewarding working with the students, teachers, parents, high schools over the years.
Marcus Norwood, YOU are what we need more of today to get the youth school programs up and running. Marcus is one of the VERY few people who inquired about starting a school program with me and then followed through with it! Marcus and I, and others have opened the door for this to take off. We just need more interested people like Marcus who are professional and dedicated. Great job Marcus in the Houston area!
Scott thanks for the words. Locally we have been in the Dallas Morning Newspapers and local CBS Ch11news.
In order for school programs to work nationally in a large scale is to do a few simple things:
1) SUPPORT the Billiard Education Foundation-BEF. Contact Samm Diep-Vidal at www.billiardeducation.org to donate or to get info on how to start something in your area. The BEF should be the central governing body for the schools. Rules, awards, sanctioning, national school tournaments, promotional material,etc.
2) Put portable tables in the schools (minimum of 2) with a donation/fundraising system in place to pay for them. We need a dedicated table manufacturer who can build low cost tables that are highly portable, easy to set up, that have custom designs for each high schools color and mascot logos. Most schools DO NOT have room for permanent set up tables. The tables need to be quickly set up in the gym or other areas such as hallways. Wheel them out, set them up quickly (relevel), play, then store again. I promise you the table manufacturer will GAIN incredible exposure by this.
3) Wide industry support of ALL leagues i.e. APA, BCA, ACS, TAP, etc to get ALL of their players to donate ONLY $1 (or more) per player per year to the BEF! The BEF is on the endangered species list! We lose them and you can kiss school programs away for a long time. We lost a great and dedicated WPBA player Laura Smith who worked hard for the BEF because of MONEY! Think about it....ONLY $1 per player per year will get a lot done. Who benefits from school programs besides the teachers, students, parents, and schools? Billiard retail stores, leagues, , instructors, and the industry! Where have my high school players gone to play in leagues after graduation? APA, BCA, ACS, etc. What did these students purchase? Cues, cases, tables, etc. They make an impact to billiard retail sales. Each week we had over 10,000+ students hear about billiards and their teams on school intercom announcements. I am sure that made an impact on the perception of the sport we love.
4) The PBIA needs to go back to having its Instructors have feedback forms to keep their certification each year the way the old BCA Instructor program did. I have been a BCA/PBIA instructor since 1997. This gets the instructors motivated to actually get out and be more active teaching. This is HOW I started with the school programs. Require them to train a few youth players a year.
Sorry for the big pics. But as they say a picture is worth a thousand words...well a REALLY big picture is worth...
Earl Munson
Marcus Norwood, YOU are what we need more of today to get the youth school programs up and running. Marcus is one of the VERY few people who inquired about starting a school program with me and then followed through with it! Marcus and I, and others have opened the door for this to take off. We just need more interested people like Marcus who are professional and dedicated. Great job Marcus in the Houston area!
Scott thanks for the words. Locally we have been in the Dallas Morning Newspapers and local CBS Ch11news.
In order for school programs to work nationally in a large scale is to do a few simple things:
1) SUPPORT the Billiard Education Foundation-BEF. Contact Samm Diep-Vidal at www.billiardeducation.org to donate or to get info on how to start something in your area. The BEF should be the central governing body for the schools. Rules, awards, sanctioning, national school tournaments, promotional material,etc.
2) Put portable tables in the schools (minimum of 2) with a donation/fundraising system in place to pay for them. We need a dedicated table manufacturer who can build low cost tables that are highly portable, easy to set up, that have custom designs for each high schools color and mascot logos. Most schools DO NOT have room for permanent set up tables. The tables need to be quickly set up in the gym or other areas such as hallways. Wheel them out, set them up quickly (relevel), play, then store again. I promise you the table manufacturer will GAIN incredible exposure by this.
3) Wide industry support of ALL leagues i.e. APA, BCA, ACS, TAP, etc to get ALL of their players to donate ONLY $1 (or more) per player per year to the BEF! The BEF is on the endangered species list! We lose them and you can kiss school programs away for a long time. We lost a great and dedicated WPBA player Laura Smith who worked hard for the BEF because of MONEY! Think about it....ONLY $1 per player per year will get a lot done. Who benefits from school programs besides the teachers, students, parents, and schools? Billiard retail stores, leagues, , instructors, and the industry! Where have my high school players gone to play in leagues after graduation? APA, BCA, ACS, etc. What did these students purchase? Cues, cases, tables, etc. They make an impact to billiard retail sales. Each week we had over 10,000+ students hear about billiards and their teams on school intercom announcements. I am sure that made an impact on the perception of the sport we love.
4) The PBIA needs to go back to having its Instructors have feedback forms to keep their certification each year the way the old BCA Instructor program did. I have been a BCA/PBIA instructor since 1997. This gets the instructors motivated to actually get out and be more active teaching. This is HOW I started with the school programs. Require them to train a few youth players a year.
Sorry for the big pics. But as they say a picture is worth a thousand words...well a REALLY big picture is worth...
Earl Munson
Charlie,
I want to thank you again for the donation you made to our Dallas area high school students a few years ago! We still use the Break Rak to train the students on breaking a nine ball rack! It is an excellent instructional tool!
Earl Munson
BETTER High School Billiard Program-Director
PBIA Certified Instructor
BEF Junior National Tournament Director
I want to thank you again for the donation you made to our Dallas area high school students a few years ago! We still use the Break Rak to train the students on breaking a nine ball rack! It is an excellent instructional tool!
Earl Munson
BETTER High School Billiard Program-Director
PBIA Certified Instructor
BEF Junior National Tournament Director
Earl,
I teach and would love to have something like this in my school.
Is your group sanctioned thru HS athletic association for competition? Or local agreements?
Where do you practice? how long is 'season'? Participation #'s per year?
Did you approach with idea or were the kids the ones with an interest?
Thanks, ME
I teach and would love to have something like this in my school.
Is your group sanctioned thru HS athletic association for competition? Or local agreements?
Where do you practice? how long is 'season'? Participation #'s per year?
Did you approach with idea or were the kids the ones with an interest?
Thanks, ME
Man, I wish they had this program in NJ. Great Job for doing this, it really helps the sport a lot.
Deadstroke,
1) I approach the high schools looking to start an after-school club (billiards). The requirement for after school clubs for most all schools is that a teacher volunteer to be the sponsor who will look out for the students, make announcements, attend practice/competitions, collect fees, check grades for eligibility to compete, etc. Students usually approach me from other schools wanting to start a program.
2) We compete at a family friendly, no smoking, no alchohol in the room AMF Bowling Center in Richardson, TX. They have 10 tables oversized 8'ers. Many high school bowling teams also compete there.
3) They are NOT UIL sanctioned, but must still be eligible through passing grades to play through school policy. We follow ALL rules and regulations of student hand guide per each school involved. We have several ISD'd competing. I have my program tied with the BEF to help them out. They give me slots for the BEF Junior Nationals.
4) Participation varies from school to school. Some past schools had 40-50 players in the club during training season then whittled down to 5-12 players in competition season. Had a total of 18 high schools here in area that approved and or participated in last 12 years.
5) Season lasts Training/Club Oct. 1st- Jan. 30th, Competition/Team Feb. 5th - May 30th, Practice/Qualifiers for BEF Junior Nationals June 1st - July 1st. We practice/play 9-Ball only. This is so our players gain experience for BEF Junior Nationals. Also allows more players to compete.
I have written a manual to start high school programs and donated/share the material to the BEF. They have them I believe for $25 donation. Has a lot of material in starting a H.S. program. Contact Samm Diep-Vidal at www.billiardeducation.org and she can get a manual for you if you would like.
Hope this helps,
Earl Munson
1) I approach the high schools looking to start an after-school club (billiards). The requirement for after school clubs for most all schools is that a teacher volunteer to be the sponsor who will look out for the students, make announcements, attend practice/competitions, collect fees, check grades for eligibility to compete, etc. Students usually approach me from other schools wanting to start a program.
2) We compete at a family friendly, no smoking, no alchohol in the room AMF Bowling Center in Richardson, TX. They have 10 tables oversized 8'ers. Many high school bowling teams also compete there.
3) They are NOT UIL sanctioned, but must still be eligible through passing grades to play through school policy. We follow ALL rules and regulations of student hand guide per each school involved. We have several ISD'd competing. I have my program tied with the BEF to help them out. They give me slots for the BEF Junior Nationals.
4) Participation varies from school to school. Some past schools had 40-50 players in the club during training season then whittled down to 5-12 players in competition season. Had a total of 18 high schools here in area that approved and or participated in last 12 years.
5) Season lasts Training/Club Oct. 1st- Jan. 30th, Competition/Team Feb. 5th - May 30th, Practice/Qualifiers for BEF Junior Nationals June 1st - July 1st. We practice/play 9-Ball only. This is so our players gain experience for BEF Junior Nationals. Also allows more players to compete.
I have written a manual to start high school programs and donated/share the material to the BEF. They have them I believe for $25 donation. Has a lot of material in starting a H.S. program. Contact Samm Diep-Vidal at www.billiardeducation.org and she can get a manual for you if you would like.
Hope this helps,
Earl Munson
Garland is a customer of mine. I need to find a way to "make a business trip" their way and spend some time w/ their pool team. I never knew they had a pool team!
SUPER job--- awesome thread.
SUPER job--- awesome thread.
Earl...You mention a total of 18 schools that HAVE been involved, but your pictures don't show anywhere near that many (looking at the 'school banners'). Have some schools declined to continue participation, or have some programs withered from lack of participation? I don't mean anything negative by this question. I'm just curious why all the schools are not still going strong, with such a great program to participate in. Best wishes for continued success. Hopefully your example will help others across the country to start programs in their communities!
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com