Williebetmore said:
JS,
Well said.
I have always said that as soon as you can get a letter for pool in high school; the game (and sales of equipment) will skyrocket.
In addition, let's get pool tables and serious competition into the country clubs....nothing wrong with introducing the game to a bunch of well-to-do men who like to gamble already.
This is an area where the BCA (back in the day when it was at least pretending to be the conservator of the game) really let down the sport. They should have been striving to get the game into the schools and country clubs....THAT would have been a worthy goal; and all the promotional dollars that were squandered over the years would have been better directed to those goals.
I just sent off a letter to my customer and the largest billiard supplier in Louisiana offering your suggestion. With a SUBSTANTIAL DISCOUNT to schools by the billiard table manufacturers/distributors, the schools may be willing to add "POOL" to their curriculum, since mom & dad are already playing in the pool leagues and approve of the sport. As the schools offer the pool course, teens will badger their parents to get a table for the house. SAVVY parents will already have figured out that it is easy to keep an eye on their children and their chidren's friends if they are under their nose. Money will soon be re-directed from arcades, movie theatres etc to pool tables and equipment.
Great idea.
I would suggest each person who is inclined to do so, crank off an email to your local big name pool table distributor in your town.
A first draft below which can surely be improved by anyone interested is below for your use.
SAMPLE LETTER to LOCAL BILLIARD TABLE DISTRIBUTOR
Some of my peers (around the world) have been having discussions for years about pool in general and one of the discussions about pool table sales and who should the tables be sold to and why. I thought I would share a couple of thoughts with you in case you want your sales department to pursue this line of thinking.
In order for pool to become more mainstream, one of the things that is necessary is for young people to become more involved with the sport. We think that a special promotion for schools is the way to go. I think Brunswick would want to participate in the building of this program and offer special discounts. It is one way for them to beat back their strong competition from other table mfgs.
If distributors around the country were to offer one or two tables at SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCED PRICES, even perhaps at YOUR BEST TABLE MANUFACTURER cost to the schools, they may be more inclined to purchase them and make pool a part of their curriculum. Then as the students start playing pool they will pushing their parents to get a table for their home. Parents want their children to stay at home and they want to know who their friends are and to keep an eye on what's going on in their children's lives. They would be inclined to purchase tables to achieve this goal providing they have the room and the resources. The table sales to schools is the seed that will bring additional sales and growth.
The other target audience is COUNTRY CLUBS AND PRIVATE CLUBS. These are the people with money to spend. These people are already "gaming" type people who enjoy playing golf and other gaming sports. It is a natural that every country club should have a GRAND pool table for their memberships benefit. The more they are involved in pool, the more likely the rest will follow.
The high school and college table sales, especially the high school table sales is where its at and what has the biggest chance of return for you and the pool world in general.
Just the collective thoughts of pool players all over the world.
JoeyA
