I sort of have a unique perspective, coming from a woman player with various roles in pool.
I learned how to play by myself, without a mentor, in college and probably learned some bad habits along the way. I didn't know there was a professional women's organization back then. After I graduated, I became an X-Ray technologist - long days running around wearing lead aprons, on call, etc. Spent long years just playing 8 ball and leagues.
I found work at a clinic in Seattle and slowly started playing 9 ball after league night. By then, I had 2 small children. I played in my first pro tournament in Seattle. I was the first qualifier from Seattle to win my spot, out of 14 spots. Got divorced and was raising my kids at ages 3 and 9 during the week, while the ex took them on weekends, which let me play in tournaments. That meant that I was doing homework with the kids when I got home from work - after fixing them dinner, playtime, baths, storytime, not to mention planning parties and outings for them, driving them to sports and school events, and taking them to go-sees because they both modeled. I played in 1 or 2 leagues per week. This also meant that I would come into the weekend tournaments stone cold (and still do). I can't tell you how many tournaments I have won by losing the first matches, either on Saturday or Sunday.
I was house pro at Jillian's in Seattle, but gave it up to spend more time with my kids because they needed me at home. I was a single mom trying to do it all. There was tremendous guilt over leaving them to practice or go to league, even when they were teenagers. Met Mike Z and we got my first table at home. It ended up I was doing more laundry on it than playing on it. But Mike gave me more than just the 2 lessons I got from him, in that I was now hanging around some of the best players in the world when they came through Seattle - Efren, Luat, CJ Wiley, as well as the best players in the region - Monk, Bill Cress, JD, Tim Tweedell, Raul, etc., and I became one of 'the boys'.
I started the NW Women's Tour, called the ACW, because I believed we had a lot of talent in the NW and I wanted to promote women's pool, hopefully graduating players from amateur to semi-pro, then on to pro. This took more of my time because late into the night, I was writing articles, creating forms, negotiating contracts with room owners, getting door prizes, doing fund-raising, and keeping stats. I retired after 5 years when it just became a big headache (Liz Ford, Hsin Huang, Kyoke Sone, Joanne Ashton all started in the ACW) and I turned all my work over to another management team and they renamed it the NWPA.
So I would travel intermittently to WPBA events when I got invited or qualified. To start, I won qualifiers. I won spots in the WA State tournament, the Northern California tourney at Hard Times, and another in the Southern California tour - so 3 different regional tours, 3 spots. From there, I earned enough points to be invited.
Unfortunately, I never showed my real game in any of those pro tournaments. I never played as well as in the qualifiers. Sporadically, I would play well in a match or 2. Beat Loree Jon in the late 90's to finish 13th, which was my highest finish, but I was too awe-struck, worn out, scared and unpracticed to do well.
In those days, you had to finish in the top half 3x in one year to become pro. I was 'on the hill' (needing only 1 more finish in the top half) 3 times. I remember seeing Jeannie Seaver in the bathroom crying, because she was on the hill for the 2nd time and I had just put her out of the tournament. I knew how she felt. But she perservered and I didn't.
You had to have a sponsor and I got plenty of clothes and equipment sponsors, but very few that could put up the $500 entry, plus plane and hotel costs, with no guarantee of getting anything back. The highest I ever got was 37th ranking. I remember that because my whole goal was to at least make it into the program and they stopped with the top 36 back then. It killed me since I was only getting $300/month in child support from my ex-husband that hid his income under the table. So I didn't feel like I could take anything away from my children by 'wasting' it playing pool.
I do believe I was the only player that was not only almost the oldest player (Jeri Engh was older), but also the only one that had a full-time professional job outside of pool (I was cutting into people's feet, phlebotomizing- giving shots, catheterizing, etc., and then went into medical sales), while raising 2 young children alone.
As a parent, pool player, and employee, I always felt a lot of guilt. If I was with my kids, I couldn't practice or play in tournaments, and I also couldn't be working. If I was at work, I couldn't practice or be with my kids. And if I was playing pool, especially for tournaments, I would need someone to work double to cover my shifts, and I was also away from my kids.
It's a wonder I got anywhere. Nowadays, it's just a mellow routine of giving lessons 4x/week as house pro at Rack 'Em in Medford, OR, working at an awesome publishing job that I can create my own hours, and driving up to Seattle to see my grown kids (31 and 24) when I can. I run some weekend tournaments and a Friday night weekly tournament.
Last year, I did win the BCA Regional Grand Masters 8 ball Championships in Lincoln City in March and took 2nd in the Grand Masters in 9 ball in Nov. , (behind Liz Cole, an exempt pro player). Those formats were round robins, so I could settle in and get comfortable and just be consistent. This year, they changed it to a triple elimination which just freaked me out because it was like playing 3 first matches, lol!
And the year before, Glenn Atwell and I took 2nd in BCA Nationals in Master Scotch Doubles. So I guess I still have a little something-something.
I'm heading back to Seattle to play in the Western Regional Tour Championships at the beginning of May. Not expecting a whole lot since I'm never on big tables anymore, but I'm going to put in some time this week on them, and hopefully, I can at least place.
So, in answer to your question...NO!
