Dawn Hopkins remembers the days when playing pool was not her livelihood. Back then she was doing the 9-to-5 and just trying to make ends meet.
A lot has changed. Hopkins is currently ranked in the top-15 on the Women’s Professional Billiards Tour and competing this week for her first U.S. Open title.
But that doesn’t mean Hopkins forgot what life was like before women’s pool exploded as a sport and as a business.
“When I first started I was working two jobs,” Hopkins said. “A full time and a part-time. On my vacations I would come out here and play. My life changed quite a bit from this being kind of a part-time thing to this evolving. I began a magazine on my own on top of the two jobs. Being able to drop the jobs eventually and sell the magazine eventually, and then come out here full time. Personally I am able to stand on my own two feet out here versus having to work a regular job and have to do this on the side. Which a lot of these girls have to do.”
Women’s billiards has now evolved into a lucrative business that offers its competitors a chance to make money in other areas besides just winning tournaments.
“On the pool table, of course I want to become one of the best players in the world,” Jasmin Ouschan said. “And when it comes to the business side of the sport, I just want to make sure we sell the sport right. It is a sport. We need to let the people know that … Of course I want to be known for my performance on the pool table, and also have a good image and promote myself the right way.”
The fans who watch the tour on television only see the players while they are at the table. But it is when they are off the table that some of the real work begins.
During the U.S. Open, which is being held at the Riverwind Casino, as soon as the players conclude a match, they are surrounded by fans. Some looking for autographs, other just to meet their favorite players.
“It’s part of my job,” Ouschan, a Klagenfurt, Austria native, said. “People come up because they like you, they like your game. They want to have an autograph or talk for a few minutes, And that is OK. That’s part of it and I love it. It makes you feel good.”
However, it does take some getting used to for some players.
“The very first person was a guy just came up and asked me for my autograph,” Debbie Schjodt said. “I looked behind me, and I’m like, ‘me?’ It was kind of weird. It was a good feeling but at first you don’t really expect it until it happens. And when it happens you wonder if it’s a joke. It’s a nice feeling.”
The 6-foot-4 Schjodt was a pro volleyball player before making the move to pool.
For the likes of The Black Widow Jeanette Lee, this part of the job seems to come easy. She has been the face of the WPBA for so long, she knows how to work a crowd before and after a match.
These type of skills are still being learned by some of the new faces on the tour. But the players are catching on as they get more exposure.
“The media coverage got more and more,” said Ouschan, who turned pro in 2007 but has been playing for 16 years. “So a lot of people got to know me. It happened that a lot of people started coming up to me and say hey, you are the one I saw on TV. I have been having a lot of comments at my homepage. I am really busy and it’s nice. It’s my job and I love it.”
Michael Kinney
366-3537
mkinney@normantranscript.com
Local Sports
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August 1, 2008
WPBA more than a game
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