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Dr. Dave Alciatore: Instructor of the Year By BCA Insider Staff
finds herself in now, I felt that there was no time to waste in presenting her with a recognition that she definitely deserves.”
Away from the billiard table, Lee’s contributions to the sport have been recognized in her 1998 selection as WPBA Sportsperson of the Year and her ranking as one of the industry’s most powerful people in the bi-annual Billiards Digest Power Poll in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007.
“Jeanette has a gregarious and engaging personality,” Lee says. “She is comfortable speaking in front of groups as well as engaging in personal discussions. She always has a smile and a quip or a comment or a story about something interesting or relative to the conversation at hand. Definitely a fun person to talk to and never one to shy away from getting involved in whatever is happening around her.”
Lee was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Asian Hall of Fame in 2015.
DR. DAVE ALCIATORE
Each year, the Professional Billiard Instructors Association (formerly the BCA Instructor program) honors a PBIA instructor who has made exceptional contributions to the goals of the organization with an award named after the legendary Jerry Briesath.
In 2021, Dr. Dave Alciatore was selected as the winner of the prestigious Jerry Briesath Instructor of the Year Award.
“It is a tremendous honor to be included with the list of past award recipients whom I have always respected, especially Jerry Briesath,” Alciatore says. “It also feels great knowing people appreciate and value the work I do.”
Known in the billiard industry as “Dr. Dave,” Alciatore is a retired mechanical
By BCA Insider Staff
engineering professor who worked at Colorado State University from 19912020. His teaching and writing experience helped him develop skills for presenting and illustrating difficult concepts in a concise and understandable way.
After retiring from teaching, Dr. Dave decided to go into billiard instruction full time. Today, he is a PBIA Advanced Instructor and an instructional author.
“The secret to being a good instructor is always being willing to learn and share your enthusiasm with others,” Alciatore says. “It also helps to be a good listener and observer and resist the urge to just tell or show a student what to do. A good instructor instead helps a student discover what to do and how to do it through proper guidance and suggestions.” He feels the key to his success as a pool instructor is having a strong desire to share his passion and enthusiasm for the sport with others.
Over the years, he has written the book, The Illustrated Principles of Pool and Billiards, created a website (billiards.colostate.edu), started his own YouTube Channel (DrDaveBilliards), and has penned the long-running instructional column in Billiards Digest. He’s also published numerous instructional videos, including the Video Encyclopedia series.
“I think my most important contribution to the sport is the billiards.colostate. edu website, where I have created and compiled a wealth of free resources for people wanting to learn and teach pool,” Alciatore says. “I am also very proud of my 30-degree rule peace sign used to visualize rolling cue ball motion.”
He’s also used social media to get more attention to the sport and help people along the way. For instance, on YouTube, he has more than 9 million views in the past year and his channel has climbed to 200,000 subscribers. Dr. Dave's favorite catch phrase in social media responses and online videos is, “I aim to swerve.”
“Dave Alciatore has had perhaps the widest impact of any PBIA instructor recently, particularly through social media,” says Bob Jewett, PBIA committee chair. “One recent video in which he presents and explains in detail amazing shots from tournaments has had a million views. He has also contributed greatly to the resources that the PBIA offers its members.”
Currently dean and co-founder of the website, Billiard University, Alciatore was instrumental in developing the BU assessment tools, rating system, and instructional resources at BilliardUniversity.org.
Among his favorite memories are from the time he spent with Jewett and Tom Ross working on the Video Encyclopedia instructional video series. “I learned a lot from Bob and Tom, and we had lots of fun creating these videos,” Alciatore says. “I have also had lots of fun with Samm Diep and Randy Russell teaching our Billiard University Boot Camps to many great groups of students over the years.”
Dr. Dave offers private lessons and intensive courses through his websites Dr. Dave’s Pool School and the BU Summer School Boot Camps. He is a member of the BCA PBIA Instructor Committee and he took the lead role in improving and expanding the new instructor manual used as a resource for new instructors and instructor training. He has also developed many systems and technique useful in playing, learning, teaching, and evaluating pool.
The PBIA Instructor of the Year Award is given annually to honor exceptional contributions by a PBIA Instructor.
