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Kelly Fisher
Monday, April 04, 2005 - 11:45 AM EST

Kelly Fisher

The arrival of Kelly Fisher in the United States was hard to miss as she began a string of wins o­n the Chesapeake Area Tour and the J. Pechauer NorthEast Women’s Tour, collecting WPBA qualifiers while she was at it. Explaining why she chose to come to the United States, Fisher said, “I was playing snooker in the U.K., which prevented me from coming over earlier. I was dominating the ladies’ circuit, then it collapsed over there. We were under the governing body of the men’s division, and they pulled the plug o­n the funding.” With the thought of moving to the U.S. in the back of her mind for a while, Fisher saw it was time to seriously consider it, stating “I thought I would have to get a regular job or make the move to America.”

Making the move seemed to be the right choice for her. She arrived in the States from the U.K. in February of this year and attributes her success here to the great support she has received from the beginning. “One thing I’ve been fortunate, and Val Finnie, is that we have had support from Kim Shaw since we got here. We had a sponsorship from a pool hall when we first got here.”

Fisher tries to practice about four hours a day, focusing o­n cueing action because “everything falls into place if you got that right, really.” Getting that much practice time in is difficult now
because of Fisher’s traveling schedule. Thanks to a sponsorship from Fury Cues she recently moved to North Carolina from New York. “The sponsorship from Fury helps to concentrate o­n the game and not worry about the financial aspect of it,” stated Fisher.

Her ultimate ambition is to be the WPBA champion and to dominate this ladies’ circuit, much as she did the women’s snooker circuit in the U.K. “That will take a few years,” stated Fisher. But it is a worthy ambition indeed.

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Robin Dodson
Thursday, February 03, 2005 - 03:46 PM EST

Robin Dodson

Formerly Robin Bell, this native Californian has dazzled the WPBA with exceptional play for more than 2 decades now. Robin is sponsored by Pool and Billiards Magazine, Judd Cues, and The Frog Jump Cues.

Robin Dodson stepped back into the winner's circle in 1998 when she captured the BCA Twin Cities Classic title in May. That win, combined with six additional top top-12 finishes, guided Robin to an 8th place finish for the year. Robin began playing pool at the age of 12, and was California Women's champion from 1972-74. In 1984, after a five-year hiatus from the sport, she turned professional. Her illustrious career includes back-to-back WPA World Titles in 1990 and 1991, 1991 Player of the Year honors, countless Classic Tour titles, WPBA Nationals champion, U.S Open champion and two Gordon's $50,000 9-ball events. In addition, she is the current Treasurer of the Board of Directors of the WPBA.

Her advice to aspiring players is "Practice, but have a life outside the game;" to this end Robin enjoys spending time with her husband, Roy, and her children. Competing - the "competitive nature of pool with all the other women" - is what she enjoys most about the sport.

Robin is sponsored by Pool and Billiard Magazine, endorses Judd Custom Cues and is the owner of the Frog Jump Cue.

Known for her steely determination and deliberate stroke, Robin will be sure to add to her voluminous list of titles in 1999.

Courtesy WPBA

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Vivian Villarreal
Wednesday, January 05, 2005 - 11:11 AM EST

Vivian Villarreal

The "Texas Tornado" began playing pool when she was eight years old, and she dominated local tournaments right away, compiling over 200 trophies before she was a teenager.  But Vivian abruptly stopped playing to play other high school sports, where she excelled at basketball and volleyball.

Luckily, she returned to pool while in college.  "I took my basic classes and thought about accounting, but I got back into pool and wound up being a professional billiards player."

In the past 13 years, she has amassed 16 titles, including the 1992 National Championship and the 1996 ESPN World Championship.  But the win she remembers most is the 1992 Kasson Classic, which propelled her to number o­ne, where she remained for nearly two years.  Since then, Vivian hasn't fallen out of the top ten. 

In 2003, Vivian gained a sponsorship from the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and since then, they have also helped her establish the Vivian Villarreal Missing Children's foundation.  Her adopted daughter, Nathalie, was kidnapped by her biological mother o­n July 27, 1997, prompting her to start the foundation.  "I will never stop looking for her.  Someday, I will find her, or I hope that she tries looking for me."

Villarreal has taken the hardship she has endured and used it as motivation to continually enjoy her career.  "I just love the game, and I have a lot of fans.  That's always motivated me, and I'm o­ne of the most exciting players to watch."

In fact, she has been voted the most exciting player, male or female, in the sport for the past four years.  "Hey, when the fans are having fun, it makes me happy."

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Belinda Campos Calhoun
Tuesday, January 04, 2005 - 03:46 PM EST

Belinda Campos Calhoun

Belinda Calhoun is two years from celebrating her thirtieth year o­n the pro tour.  The 1977 U.S. Open champion started her journey in 1973 after picking up a national billiards newsletter.  "It prompted me to pursue a career in pool.  I realized that this is what I want to do."

She was the leading money winner in 1983, followed by a player-of-the-year award in '85.  Since then, Belinda has put in six years as a member of the World Pool and Billiard Association, which was during the time when the International Olympic Committee officially recognized pool.  She is also a 14-year member of the WPBA board and former BCA board member.  She has also captured seven Texas State Opens, which might be the thing she's most proud of.  "It's the oldest tournament in the country."   Her successes have also garnered her with numerous endorsement deals and sponsorships from Limbsaver X-1 Cue Stabilizer, the Guylassey Sledgehammer, Integrity Group Financial, and Colliding Spheres - "The Absolute in Training Excellence."

"The Texas Belle" soon took her success to the classroom, teaching an introduction to pool class at Texas State University.  After eight years of teaching, she has plenty of stories to tell, especially about seniors who have tried to get into the course for four years. 

The first lesson that she teaches them is that it is futile to challenge her o­n the tables because you have a slim to none chance of winning.  But she does take the class very seriously, just as she has her career. 

The Texas native still lives in Austin with her husband, Jay, and their two children, who, coincidentally, have no interest in pool.  That may just be why she is so adamant about spreading her knowledge of the game to the students in the classroom.

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