Sports

Billiards Club at Cathedral High Finds Success, Fun in the Pocket

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The secret is out. Cathedral High School offers a billiards club as a student activity.

As students enter and leave the school cafeteria, they pass an adjoining room and now see three pool tables.

The tables and the club’s recent success have raised awareness and interest. Twenty-five students were a part of the club in the 2016-2017 school year, compared with a high of 15 the year before.

“I believe, little by little, the club is getting known due to some of us joining and people asking us where we’re going after school. They’ve taken an interest in it, and may try out or watch us play,” Arianna Dumeng, a 17-year-old rising senior from the Bronx, told CNY.

Mike Muldoon, a religion teacher at the 590-student girls’ school in Manhattan, founded the club in 2002. At that time, the players practiced and competed at Eastside Billiards in Manhattan. The club still competes in a national qualifier at Eastern Billiards, but Cathedral is now the club’s home.

Two eight-foot pool tables were privately donated to the school in 2016. Muldoon said two others were offered, but Cathedral did not have space for the tables.

Blatt Billiards in Manhattan also donated a nine-foot table in 2015.

The club meets once a week and starts practice by working on fundamentals before playing a popular game such as 8-ball or 9-ball, or learning a new one like snooker. The club accepts beginners and more experienced players.

This year, the club hosted the school’s first tournament. Club members were teamed with teachers and administrators to raise money and awareness.

“I founded the club for the number one reason of having fun. It’s always been my number one goal,” Muldoon said.

The club has qualified three players in each of the past two years for the Billiard Education Foundation’s Junior National 9-Ball Championships.

This year’s qualifiers participated in the club’s first boot camp with Muldoon to fine-tune their fundamentals in preparation for nationals. Eliana Rodriguez placed in the top 12, and Sharon Villacres finished in the top 20 at nationals earlier this month in Las Vegas. Eliana also won the Brendan Crockett Character (Sportsmanship) Award.

“It’s a fun game, but the thing I like more is it’s challenging, and I love good challenges,” said Eliana, an 18-year-old rising senior from Brooklyn. “Billiards has an infinite number of possibilities.”

Sharon, a 16-year-old Queens resident and a three-year club member, was a newcomer to the game when she joined as a freshman. She remembers almost hitting someone with a ball that left the table surface with her first shot.

“By the end of the year, I decided I liked pool and the seniors at the time were really nice and helpful. They helped me understand pool and I stayed in the club,’’ she said.

“At the beginning, it was a social thing. As I continued playing, the game was pretty fun. After I was able to learn the actual rules of the game and learned how to play the game, I enjoyed it even more.’’

In the new school year, the club will make sure fun remains a key focus. Judging by their recent success, so will qualifying players for junior nationals.

“If you use it as the little measuring stick it can be, we made more progress this year than we did last year,’’ Muldoon said. “These girls are getting better at what they do.’’