Every Tuesday night a bunch of sharks start circling the tables looking for their next victim. No, it isn’t a scenario out of Jaws, it is the Sooke Pool League matching their members up against each other looking to see who wins the pool game.
The Sooke Legion is now home to the league which used to gather at the Sooke River Hotel (the Castle) until it closed last year.
The league is made up of both men and women and each of the four teams of six have a female on them.
“We’ve got 28 players and spares,” says league president Brian Green. “Because we just started we wanted to put teams together that would accommodate make u games over the week.”
The teams rotate and play different players each time ensuring everybody gets to play. Spares are important as many of the members go south over the winter.
They even have one member, Gary Robinson who comes in from Victoria every week to play. He’s also a very good player, at the top of the league standings.
“It’s a fun league — recreational not professional,” says past president Ken MacDonald.
Be warned though, there are a number of players who come sporting fancy cases containing their personal pool cues. Are they better players than the rest? Who knows, but they look mighty fine.
The league does host a couple of tournaments each year, one at Christmas and a wind-up tourney at the end of the season.
“Usually there’s food, prizes and a steak dinner,” said MacDonald. The winning team also gets a Legion jacket.
Play costs $2 a night and all of the proceeds go back into the league fund.
They play straight eight ball, there is no billiard table at the Legion. Players begin shooting at 7 p.m. and it’s all over by 10 p.m. Standard bar rules for pool apply but then so do the rules and regulations of the Legion. They play Tuesday nights and not weekends because, as Brian said, many of the players like to go fishing and do other things on weekends.
What makes grown men (and women) come out to chalk up their cues and sink a few balls?
Brian Green said he just started four years ago while Ken MacDonald stated that he was in the air force for 31 years, which explained it all.
Anyone who might be interested in joining the league can call Brian at 250-642-2522.
