Billiards Players Hope To Draw New Players To The Sport

The Sooner State Games wrapped up a month of amateur sports with the billiards competition in Sand Springs this weekend. Billiards diehards hope to get a gold medal and build interest in their sport.

Billiards - more commonly called pool - is a typical garage sport, but at the Sooner State Games players run through a rack with ease.

The only event on the East side of the state in the Sooner State games, billiards players in the Tulsa area have a long history of doing well. But it's a close knit group of players - and with only medals at stake - it' been hard to attract more to come out.

"You've got to be enthusiastic about it because you have got to make it exciting to make people come out and play," said Sandy Chamberlain of American Cue Sports.

But billiards is the only game not to get to a national level. In fact, the only games they can qualify for is the Rocky State games, with an agreement from both states. Part of the reason, popularity, something the players are hoping not to drop the 8-ball on.

"It takes somebody to promote. It takes a venue. A place that has tables like this does," Chamberlain said.

Organizers say getting pool halls and promotion of the event in other states is also an issue.  For these players, winning the event is and maintaining the event is most important.