Pool News: Part II...

I’m nearly 40 and I’ve been playing eightball pool at county level on and off since I was 17.

In fact playing pool has always being a large part of my life and, since I no longer direct plays, much of what I now do for hobbies, such as writing, cycling, hapkido and boxing, can be quite solitary things where I often work or train on my own a lot because I’m largely doing them for myself.

But every so often it’s good to be reminded why it’s important to belong and be part of a wider group that you contribute to and get something back from. And that’s pretty much why I still play county pool because it’s a team event and you’re playing with your mates and you support and cajole one another through both good times and bad.

In fact playing pool for me has always been about the people rather than the game and this weekend, when three of my county's five pool teams attended the National Inter-county Championships at Great Yarmouth, only served to reinforce that idea.

At stake were national titles and we'd all played well and really supported each other as teams to qualify for this event throughout the previous season. And there were a few times over the weekend that my lot, the Surrey B Team, looked in trouble.

Instead of giving up, however, we all got behind each other and spurred each other on and it was fabulous. At times the noise and enthusiasm was like a wave surging forward to move everything out of its path.

It provided a real lesson about positive thinking and self-belief.

It also made me really proud to call this diverse group of people my friends and winning not one but two national titles, as the Surrey A Team where I played for years also won, made it extra special. And just to make it that little bit better the Kent Ladies, who play in our region, won too.

The winning and the subsequent celebrations will be a memory that will help me smile in old age when less happy things make me sad.

And I wouldn't ever have been able to have that memory without my friends. So if any of you ever read this at any point... thank-you.