Amateur Pool Player of the Year for 2014

On January 6th, I got a really amazing surprise.

Renowned billiards author Phil Capelle announced his choice for Amateur Player of the Year.

ME!

He had asked me earlier in December for my accomplishments for 2014, and then I forgot about it.  Until, January 6th:

Melinda Bailey –
POOL’S AMATEUR PLAYER OF THE YEAR FOR 2014

I am happy to announce that Melinda Bailey is my choice for Pool’s Amateur Player of the Year in 2014!

Amateur pool is the backbone of our sport, and in 2014 no player exemplified the spirit of an amateur more than Melinda Bailey of Forth Worth Texas. Melinda’s regular job is with the National Weather Service, but she finds the time on nights and weekends to compete in leagues and tournaments, and she travels all over playing in state and national events.

She also was a prominent member of the team that ran the Hunter Tour, and she recently founded and runs the Omega Billiards Tour in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. She’s also has worked with AZ Billiards and has been the webmaster for numerous billiards sites (including billiardspress.com), and Melinda continues to blog about her life in pool at http://pooljourney.blogspot.com/ where she shares the thoughts of an amateur with complete candor and conviction. In recognition of her play and contributions to the game, she appeared on the cover of Bad Boys Billiard Online Magazine’s first edition, and was interviewed in the July issue of Billiards Digest.

Now for the best part: After years and years of competing and working on her game, the damn broke loose for Melinda in 2014 as she enjoyed the kind of year most of us only dream about. In a two month span she won state wide singles and doubles titles, then captured an individual title at the ACS Nationals and two additional ACS team titles! Melinda also won or placed in the top four in several other competitions. Her record in 2014.

Monday league team playoffs, 1st place (Jan)
Monday league singles tourney, 2nd place (Feb)
BCA Texas State Scotch Doubles, 1st place (April)
BCA Texas State Women's Singles, 1st place (April)
ACS Nationals Women's 9-Ball Singles, 1st place (May)
ACS Nationals Women's 9-Ball Team event, 1st place (May)
ACS Nationals Women's 8-Ball Team event, 1st place (May)
Men's league team playoffs, 1st place (June)
ACS Texas State Women's Singles, 4th place (October)
Women's league individual standings for 2014, 2nd place (October)
Women's league team playoffs, 2nd place (November)

I could NOT believe it!

And then I was overwhelmed with all the comments from follow players!  OVERWHELMED. 

Here is the photo he used (he said it showed my lefthanded-ness well, lol):

This screen capture also shows that it was shared 19 times and has 84 comments!  WOW!

I'm still speechless.  Someone noted that it doesn't say male or female, and Phil responded that was intentional.  Did I really have that great of a year last year in pool??  I had one of the the worse years in my life personally off the table, but somehow managed to play good pool?  Really?

While there is no "official" Amateur Player of the Year award, Phil decided after seeing all my accomplishments, to announce this. 

Again, all the comments and praise and accolades really meant a lot.  To be singled out and recognized was pretty cool.  I didn't even realize anyone had noticed.  Heck, I didn't even really realize the year I had had!!

Thank you to all my friends and fellow pool players for their love and support!  And thank you to all my competitors who helped me become a better player towards all the finals I eventually played in!