YORKTON - The balls were rolling across the green at the City Limits Inn in Yorkton on the weekend.
The pool tables at the City Limits were busy as the second annual Scotch Doubles 8 Ball Tournament was held.
A dozen competitors were entered Friday in the open side of the event with a Jack & Jill (mixed doubles) Division taking over the tables Saturday, noted organizer Isabel O'Soup.
O’Soup herself is a relative newcomer to the sport.
“I started playing pool in a sanctioned league in Regina,” she said, adding that was only back in 2019.
In the ensuing few years, O'Soup has become an avid player, still travelling weekly to Regina for the sanctioned league, where players can advance on to higher levels.
This year the Western Canadians are scheduled for Regina, and beyond that Worlds in Vegas.
“My bucket list is to play in Vegas,” said O'Soup.
So that means travel to Regina because there are no sanctioned pool events in Yorkton.
In Yorkton, pool venues are rare. While O'Soup said Marty Derbowka at City Limits “is an awesome host; he treats us really well,” she wishes there was a pool-specific venue locally.
“I’d like to see the sport grow,” she said, adding when traditional pool playing locales such as the Yorkton Legion downsized and the ANAVETs closed, play options declined.
O'Soup said she dreams about a pool-specific hall in Yorkton again one day.
“Young kids need that. They need to get off the couch and get out,” she said.
When the final ball had found a pocket the team of Dale Galewitch and Chris Stricker won the open division, with Bruce Neilsen and John Girchinski, second and Mike Stefanyshyn and O’Soup third.
The Jack & Jill on Saturday, the top two spots were split between John Nickel and Geri Starr, with Brad LeDrew and O’Soup third.
