That sinking feeling all part of the game at Townsville Eight Ball Association
The Townsville Eight Ball Association serves as a portal for humble Townsvillians to become national and world champions.
Townsville
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The Townsville Eight Ball Association serves as a portal for humble Townsvillians to become national and world pool champions.
The club caters for all grade players and has 110 members that either play socially or competitively.
President Kevin Geissmann joined the club a decade ago after playing pool socially for 10 years.
Mr Geissmann said the association had helped him progress from a B-Grade to an A-Grade player.
“I used to play a bit of pool at the pub and I met some people and I didn’t realise we even had competitions in Townsville so I joined the club to play competitively,” he said.
“It has progressed my skills playing with top quality players and we have Queensland and Australia reps here in Townsville.”
Townsville Eight Ball Association was founded in 2003 and owns 10 pool tables with five permanently set up at the South Townsville Bowls Club.
Mr Geissmann said he loved how the game challenged his strategic thinking.
“The tactics involved are interesting like snookering people and just playing different balls to get different positions in shots,” he said. “It makes you feel really good when you do a shot and it works.”
Members play weekly Wednesday night competitions in teams of five against five, and also hold a range of fun competitions throughout the year.
Mr Geissmann said the biggest misconception about pool was that it was just a laid-back pastime.
“I think a lot of people think it is a pub game rather than a full competition that you can go on to play for Australia,” he said.
“We have an Australian champion female junior player at the club who competed in Sydney one month ago and won and we have another female player going to the worlds this year.”
The club is looking for 20 to 30 more players to create a C-Grade team with A-Grade members mentoring the new members. The club hosts one of the biggest paying competitions in Australia every May that was started in 2003.
The Townsville Open attracts up to 144 players from all around the country to compete for $10,000 prizemoney. Mr Geissmann said the sport was a delicate balance between dealing with highs and lows.
“Winning is very good but you do have to be very good at losing as well; it is one of those sports that if you can’t handle losing you won’t go very well,” he said.
Join the club
Contact name: Kevin Geissmann
Number: 0410 645 108
Email: townsville8ball@outlook.com
Facebook: Townsville 8 Ball
Address: South Townsville Bowls Club, 2c Bell Street South Townsville
When: Wednesday nights at 6pm
Membership: $50
Originally published as That sinking feeling all part of the game at Townsville Eight Ball Association