New England Pool Alliance Jimmy’ Event I
magine a tournament that attracted the best players in the region, didn’t pay out any cash prizes, and wasn’t a qualifier for a larger event. Imagine pool players voluntarily opening their wallets and actively fundraising to help cancer patients. The New England Women’s Pool Alliance not only imagined it, they made it happen with their ‘Pool for Jimmy’ 32-team scotch doubles open 9-ball partner’s event. The event raised over $32,600 for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, one of the world’s top cancer centers, located in Boston, MA.
‘Pool for Jimmy’ was held December 11, 2021 at Crow’s Nest Pub and Grill in Plaistow, NH. Beau Powers and Suad Kantarevik took first place, the runners-up were Mike Minichello and Rich Minichello Jr. and finishing third were Michelle Jiang and Tylor Brandom. Other notable players included Ryan Lineham, Erica Testa, Stacie Bourbeau, Joe Dupuis, who recently defeated Jayson Shaw at the NBL10-Ball Championship, and Japanese pro Masanori Morita. The New England Women’s Pool Alliance is a nonprofit founded in 2021 by two New England Pool and Billiards Hall of Fame members Samantha Barrett and Catherine Fiorilla. Their mission is to create networking and mentorship opportunities for women who
share a common interest in pool. Some of their other events include a women’s team event called ‘The Anchorperson Challenge’ and a women’s singles event called ‘Break the Cycle: A Domestic Violence Awareness Event.’ We spoke with the founders about their organization and the ‘Pool for Jimmy’ event. How did the two of you decide to team up to form this organization? We have casually known each other for many years. Last spring we competed together in a women’s team event and then joined a pool league team composed almost entirely of women. Hardly anyone had been playing pool in the year prior to that due to COVID-19 restrictions, which were particular strict in our area, and people were so happy to be out playing pool and having social contact. It was an encouraging and supportive environment. Our team won first place that session. It was so nice to go to league every week and be in an atmosphere of strong women that empowered each other, and we wanted to create similar experiences for other women. Why didn’t you start a women’s pool tour? “I definitively did not want to run any kind of pool tour,” said Fiorilla. “I wanted the
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