Welcome to Sarah’s Pool Progress

About Me

22-07-2024 Update and Why I am no Longer playing.

In 2022 I was in hospital for a few weeks with a lung infection and at the same time I had to submit the team to the league no one helped with getting names and numbers of those playing.

Most of the amazing players wanted to stay in Div 3, from what I could gather was so that they could be more competitive with their stats and that would not happen in Div 2.

What annoyed me was everyone agreeing to try and win Div 3 and get promoted to Div 2, which we came in 2nd but still got promoted, so nearly all of them left the team.

I was even more than happy to stand down as Captain, but no one wanted to take over. One player said he would stay, and whilst I was having issues breathing in hospital signed for another team with no mention he was doing that, I only found out as I signed him and then I was getting messages from the league that he was signed with another team, being captained by an ex team member.

Div 2 was interesting, health wise I was still not good, yet I was getting virtually no support from the team, we had to get new blood and hardly had enough players each week, I think I won 1 match in Div 2, to be honest I can't remember.

As the season came to a close I announced to the team that I was no longer going to play and that I was done!!!

Why...

That was 18 months ago. 3 days after leaving hospital I had to have my 13 year old German Shepherd put to sleep, Jasper was my best friend, maybe my only friend, so obviously I was struggling with loosing him and my tolerance for anti-trans bullshit from within the team and at Div 2 Venues, topped with the general non-sports-person like attitude from within the team was very low.
Half the players that started with us in Div 2 left because they wasn't winning matches and we struggled to get players.
Almost none of the team was supporting other members play, and mostly all of my matches I know I never received any.
Running the team became very hard, I was refereeing almost all matches and ended up almost begging some to ref a match so I could use the loo or have a smoke.
No one wanted to chip in for taxis's to venues, and any matches that wasn't local, became embarrassing as I had to run back and forth in a 3 seater van.
Running around the pub trying to find the next player on the team became tiresome and when Mark, a player we had from the very start said he was leaving, that pretty much did it for me.
A bad week at work, and knowing what I was walking into on a match night, I too was done.

I watched the league and saw the team drop from Div2 to Div 4 over 2 seasons, which didn't surprise me and not one person reached out to see if I was ok.
Personally things have got a lot worse since then.

Today my pool table is being sold,
it hasn't been used since then and as not one person came round to play on my table during lockdown, it's been sat in the corner for 18 months.
I bought the table to better myself for the team, I did everything I think I could have, given my poor income level to better my skills, and to be honest unless I was on Facebook daily and down the pub spending money I didn't have, then I was left isolated and alone.
Not one person contacted me since leaving the team, whether to say Hi, or to ask me to come back and play at The New Inn, I was asked if I would join a team at the Wheatsheaf, but I have never felt that safe in that place, and the people I did feel safe with, those that their friendship would counter act the ant-trans shit that I faced, as they had all left. I'm not the most confident person.

I have also cancelled my Patron Membership with Zero-X Billiards.

That's basically why I am no longer playing and I really wish my table wasn't going but what's the point if not one person calls up and say's hey fancy a game...

That's the end of the Update, this site will remain so that there are back links to the ICA system as that did really help me.

Welcome to my site,

Where I hope to keep track of my pool progress and so I can share the methods I use to fine tune my playing ability.

I decided to create my site during the COVID-19 lockdown, after I purchased a system that is pretty awesome, checkout the ICA System here and linked below.

I am Captain of a local pub league pool team in Basingstoke, UK called The Naughty NiNNja's, which we play in the Basingstoke And District Invitation Pool League.

My team has some amazing players, some new to league play and some very new players to pool, who through coaching by team members have really come along in terms of their own ability and achievements, which is amazing.

Being captain has it's rewards but also has a lot of draw backs. It can take time to organise the team, work out the best way round to play on team and even then, doesn't please all, all the time.

As I run a small business and my average working day is long, I hardly have the time to get down the pub, like most and play. So practice for me is a must, if I don't lift the cue for a week, it really shows when I do. Which is why I looked into getting a pool table for home, just to practice. There are more details about this on the MyTable Page, and My Practice Methods.

Typically, I think I play well, but my Stats don't show that, it isn't because I get white washed, my loosing a match is usually down to my own inconsistencies, and that I am playing against some amazing players. However, at the end of the day, as long as we all, have had some fun, then what does the stats have to do with anything :-)

Here is a direct link to my stats. Sarah's Stats as you can see I'm not that good.

I created an App that is available for mobile devices that generate a random order of available players for a Pool Match, more information can be found at Pool Team Generator App - Website