Students cueing up to join new Pool Society
One of the University’s newest society’s is looking to get students involved in a weekly tournament at the GCU Re:Union Bar.
Pool-fanatic Oliver Reid grew up playing the sport and was keen to continue when he started his degree in BEng (Hons) Electrical Power Engineering.
He said: “I grew up in Moffat and spent a lot of time playing pool with my dad when I was younger.
“When I moved up to Glasgow for University in 2022 I actually stopped playing for a while because I didn’t know there were any clubs or tournaments I could get involved in.
“I then started playing with some of my friends I made at GCU and we played quite often up at the University of Strathclyde. I then noticed Strathclyde ran their own pool tournaments and actually had their own society. It got me thinking about doing something similar at GCU.”
Oliver approached GCU Students’ Association Society Coordinator, Emma Duffy, who informed him that a Pool Society was actually in the process of being set up.
“I was surprised to hear,” explained Oliver. “It was a bit of a funny coincidence but it made everything that bit easier.”
“We teamed up and we’ve now got about 20 students in a WhatsApp group, so it’s been nice for everyone to get to know each other.”
The Society recently made their debut at the 8-Ball Pool Championships (BUCS) in Newcastle and Stoke-On-Trent.
“We have a couple of really good players so we knew we would do quite well overall, even as a new Society. We won two of our four team games and one of our members, Dylan Stanfield, made it to the last 16 of the individual championship.
"You can take up to six people as part of your team to these tournaments, but there were only five of us that actually went. Quite a few of our members are happy to just keep it casual and play non-competitively, which is absolutely fine – that’s the beauty of what we’re trying to do here.”
Oliver is now looking to help create the perfect social environment to develop the Society further, and believes GCU holds the key to success.
He said: “I think the future looks bright. Every person I’ve spoken to seems to be really interested in getting involved.
“We’re still going through the process of being fully formed but the idea will be to hold a weekly tournament where anyone can come along and get involved. The Re:Union Bar is the perfect place for us and the fact it has three tables means we can get plenty of people playing at the same time.
“I would definitely encourage anyone to come along and get involved. There will be lots of students who enjoy playing pool and we’re offering the ideal environment to help them play regularly with like-minded people.”
Contact societies@GCUstudents.co.uk to get involved
By Ross Clark
Got an SHLS or GSBS story? Email me at Ross.Clark@gcu.ac.uk or message me on Twitter