OPENING LETTER

Recently, I went to Birmingham, Alabama for 10 days as the cue sports competition manager for The World Games. Safe to say, it was one of the coolest experiences of my 13-year career in this sport.

To clear up any confusion as to why I went to Alabama, the International World Games Association hosts a quadrennial global multi-sport event called The World Games (first held in 1981). The World Games has 39 sports federations in its membership and this year featured 44 sports competing across 30 venues throughout Birmingham.

In 2001, cue sports (9-Ball, Carom, and Snooker) were included in the multi-sport extravaganza and represented an historic step forward as we are now a part of an incredible international event providing global exposure for our sport. So, when the opportunity arose for the Billiard Congress of America to oversee and lead in the direction of the cue sports event, it was simply something I could not pass up. It was an ominous task overseeing the logistics for an event I had never witnessed, but as I watched the event come to life, it was well worth all my energy and effort.

Ultimately, the greatest possible outcome of our participation in The World Games is that our sport gains entrance to the Olympics. However, the value of the positive exposure received during this event ultimately helps promote the sport for our entire industry.

All the cue sport athletes competed very well and were amazing ambassadors for our sport. Not only is this type of exposure excellent for our game, but the overall comradery between all the cueists was great to witness.

Now, I can get off my “look at me” high horse and get you back to this edition of BCA Insider. There’s a lot of great content I’m sure you’ll find useful, and, as always, if you ever have any ideas or suggestions for future editions, please contact us anytime.

Regards.

P.S. I’d like to thank Erwin Dionisio for the photographs from The World Games and for helping show everyone that it was alright to take a breath, relax, and clown around a little as well!