Senior State Titles

WilliamK

WilliamK

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My interest is snooker but this can equally apply to pool.

We have Under 16, Under 18, Under 21, Open and Masters state titles. The masters is only over 40s which is not old at all when considering that the most of the top players in the world are well over 40. Sure we have Over 50s handicapped events, but they are not scratch events and do not qualify as "state championships".

So I have been considering Over 50s, 60s and 70s state titles and trying to kick that off in Queensland, Australia. If the state body gets on board, then the other states may follow and so forth.

If you have state tiles for seniors in your location, I would love to hear about it.
 
I live in Oklahoma. Hell, we don't have state titles of any kind other than league pool much less senior events.
 
Senior Olympics includes an event for Pool which makes sense as many senior centers have pool tables.

Not real familiar with the organization of Senior Olympics but I believe there are state-level competitions where winners qualify for the nationals.

I knew an 89-year old man named Floyd Curtis who still played pretty sporty in the local tournaments. I remember reading the newspaper and wasn't surprised when I saw he had taken 1st place in 8-ball at the state Senior Olympics. That was 30 years ago but I imagine they still hold Senior Olympics competitions.
 
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RabbiHippie said:
Senior Olympics includes an event for Pool which makes sense as many senior centers have pool tables. ...
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I think that would be the "National Senior Games" run by the "National Senior Games Association", and without the word "Olympics" involved. If anyone infringes the "Olympics" trademark, the IOC tends to come down on them like a pack of rabid weasels.
 
WilliamK said:
... If you have state titles for seniors in your location, I would love to hear about it.
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The US does not even have National Championships for pool except for Juniors. We have national snooker championships and national three cushion championships, but no national pool championships. It has to do with our pool governing body, the BCA.

The closest we have come to a pool championship for seniors was with several senior pool tours, which I believe included one Steve Mizerak was associated with. There are occasional seniors-only tournaments but they are open and not national championships.
 
Never heard of a state title for seniors in pool in anyplace in the northeast US: NY, New England, NJ, PA, etc...
About the only senior title I know of for sure is the SBE Seniors and Super Seniors which are 50 and 60 I believe.
For myself, I just turned 51 and am shooting the best I ever have and feel like I'm still improving, granted from a meager skill compared to the good players, but still getting better.
 
Bob Jewett said:
I think that would be the "National Senior Games" run by the "National Senior Games Association", and without the word "Olympics" involved. If anyone infringes the "Olympics" trademark, the IOC tends to come down on them like a pack of rabid weasels.
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My mistake. Maybe "Senior Olympics" is a colloquial usage I picked up. What about the Special Olympics?

These National Senior Games have no bearing on me at all personally but I'm still mad as hell! Excluding pool makes no sense at all. Pool is one of the best and most popular sports for seniora and activity centers everywhere have pool tables.

Assholes of the highest calibre must be running this organizatilon.
 
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While not exactly the question, I feel like the age for senior professional pool would have to be 60. I could see a vibrant professional pool tour having a Champions Invitational on the side on slightly easier equipment in the future.
 
hang-the-9 said:
Never heard of a state title for seniors in pool in anyplace in the northeast US: NY, New England, NJ, PA, etc...
About the only senior title I know of for sure is the SBE Seniors and Super Seniors which are 50 and 60 I believe.
For myself, I just turned 51 and am shooting the best I ever have and feel like I'm still improving, granted from a meager skill compared to the good players, but still getting better.
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Congrats to always striving to learn and improve. Believe me when I say pool can be played at a high level well past 60 if your health remains good.

I recently had to quit a cash pool league. The volume of the music was hitting 120+ decibels! I complained many times to no avail and finally quit. The owners claimed they sold more booze when The music was blasting. Levels over 80 decibels are considered unhealthy by OSHA.

I am 70 years old and my winning percentage when I quit was .750.. It's a serious league with the winning team taking home 12 grand for first place..

Age is not a limiting factor in pool but health can be.. I have BET, benign essential tremors and that has limited my abilities a bit but I am lucky because they are not disabling..

At 51 you have years left to play high caliber pool.... Enjoy it as long as you can!!!!
 
I miss the old Seniors Tournaments that the Miz tried to get up and running that Bob mentioned. In the 90's I believe. Lots of good players over 50 and 60 now so there could be a market for it.
 
If someone where to do a "National" anything title for pool, would they need the approval of the BCA first? I find it amazing that they are still the governing body even though they seem to be just a trade organization these days and do not do much for the game, besides putting out a yearly rule book.
 
BasementDweller said:
I feel like the age for senior professional pool would have to be 60.
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While searching I came a cross a regular event in Ireland known as the Senior Snooker Championship with minimum age requirement of 55. That event runs as a tour around the country. Not sure of the format but it sounds like they play off in each area and lead up to a final.

Positively Ralf said:
If someone where to do a "National" anything title for pool, would they need the approval of the BCA first?
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If we are talking about "senior state titles" as in state championships that are recorded for all time as a sports history record, I think that they need to be acknowledged by the state sporting body. Also, it could be contagious and spread to the other states. Which is why I began by approaching the Australian Snooker & Billiards Association. They liked the idea but are bound by formats handed down by the WPA and IBSF. However they did point out that the state bodies have the freedom to do as they like. In other words, if all the state bodies can get on board, what will stop it from going national?

I have sent my proposal to the Queensland association and waiting for the outcome of their next board meeting. But I haven't asked them to get involved any more that simply acknowledging the event and including it on their calendar. We have the TD, the sponsor, the venue, referees and the players.
 
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WilliamK said:
... If we are talking about "senior state titles" as in state championships that are recorded for all time as a sports history record, I think that they need to be acknowledged by the state sporting body. ...
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In the US, "state sporting bodies" are almost nonexistent for pool. Recreation and sports are generally not felt to be a legitimate function of government in the US and the formation of non-governmental organizations is rare. Room owners and players in a few states have formed organizations. I think Wisconsin may still have one, and it used to have state championships, I believe at the time of the state fair.
 
Bob Jewett said:
In the US, "state sporting bodies" are almost nonexistent for pool. Recreation and sports are generally not felt to be a legitimate function of government in the US and the formation of non-governmental organizations is rare.
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I think that you may have one for snooker. But sad to hear nothing for pool. We have a couple of pool associations in Australia that may be affiliated with world bodies.

None of the cuesport associations are govt run but they are affected by govt regulations where under age players are concerned. Our snooker associations adopt policies handed down from the world bodies and our state associations mirror those and pay an affiliate subscription to the national body whose insurance covers all national/state title events. Each state association co-ordinates snooker and billiards championships for Under 16, Under 18, Under 21, Open, Masters each year for snooker and billiards. Ours also manages Team Pennant for inner city clubs for snooker and billiards. I don't know much about the pool groups here, but I assume that they are as sophisticated.

Being incorporated as non-profit companies and run accordingly they are acknowledged by govt and successful in getting grants and long term sponsors. Most state and national finals are live streamed but nothing ever appears in mainstream news... even when an Australian wins a world or national championship overseas.
 
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