"Return the Faver" Goes to Ohio (twice!)

The next free entry fee to a tournament has been identified for Return the Faver!

If you don't know what that is, please check it out here; this Player Scholarship Fund Award is in honor of my dear friend Dave Faver. 

I have been corresponding with Sonia, who has been holding straight pool tournaments in Ohio. Dave's friend since childhood (Joe), got me in contact with Sonia to help with this endeaver of a free entry in Dave's home-state, and I have been so thankful of our collaboration! 

A free entry ($55) was donated to the "Summer Sizzler" Straight Pool Tournament in Wickliffe, Ohio in July, and I just sent her another free entry ($65) donated to her "Fall Frolic" Straight Pool Tournament in Ohio in October!

She sent me this kind note, and I am truly thankful for her help with Dave!

"I just wanted to thank you once more for your more than generous donation to my straight pool tournament.

Again, you are awesome and Dave Favor's memory will live on!"

This all makes me so happy!

Here is the flyer, and the words on it about Dave:

"One lucky participant will have their entry fee paid for in full, thanks to a generous donation in memory of Dave Faver. Each pre-paid entry will be entered to win. Drawing will be just before Calcutta, and that winning participant’s entry fee will be refunded in cash, prior to the start of the tournament."

"Return the Faver" - Another Free entry!

The next player has been identified for Return the Faver!

If you don't know what that is, please check it out here; this Player Scholarship Fund Award is in honor of my dear friend Dave Faver.

The 2019 "JUNIOR NORRIS" Memorial Shoot Out was honored to receive a free entry into the Open 9 ball division in honor or Dave.  Sherry Glenn (Junior Norris' daughter who runs the event) chose Alex Fonseca from Cleburne, Texas! He is a Junior Player with much talent and promise for the game. Sherry and I both think Dave would be very happy with the selection!

Here is what his Dad said and shared this photo:

"This kid loved this guy, and this guy loved this kid. We will be there in hi honor! And on behalf of his honor, the kid will also be playing with Dave's cue, the one you see him holding in this picture:"  

I'm so happy for Alex and so happy for his friendship with Dave!

BTW, I wrote about this Father and Son duo before - so it's really cool to run across their paths again!

That Chin!

I shared with one of Dave's good friends (Joe) one morning that initiative I announced in January, "Return the Faver."

The easiest way to explain the initiative was to simply share the link with him so he could read all about it.

He called me that afternoon and was so excited about this for Dave! He's been friends with Dave since they were kids, so this means a lot to him and he really loved the idea to keep Dave's memory in the pool world.

Then I discovered that wasn't the only blog post Joe read - evidently, he read some of my other posts.  He told me he had no idea that I played pool, lol.  Yet, he said, he could tell right away that I played well just by looking at the pictures of me.

"What do you mean?" I asked him

He shared and explained that when the cue is close to the chin, that is an automatic sign that a player shoots well. Means they have a solid stance, are usually seasoned, and normally stay down well on their shots.  As I thought about it, I did eventually get lower in my stance later in my pool journey, which helped my game go up.

I actually didn't realize my chin was so close to my cue, though, but it does reinforce what I tell people: that a player has a more solid stance and therefore are more effective if they are lower on their shots because their cue is much more level.

If you picture snooker players Allison Fisher or Karen Corr in your head right now, you automatically picture then lower near the table with their cue near their chin. Right?

Well, it's not just snooker players - check out just this one male pro I picked from the US who does the same thing:  Mr Sky:

Oh, and here's a pic of me and my chin, errr, cue:

I have to admit it was quite cute that Joe went on and on about how he had no idea how well I played and he stumbled upon it looking through my blog. It really made me smile.

Announcing: "Return the Faver"

I am so happy to announce this new project!!

"Return the Faver"

It took me a couple of months to get the title perfect, and to brainstorm with a couple of friends to come up with the right words to describe this project, and also to figure out some of the logistics for the first year, but basically, I am going to be giving away FREE (yes, I said "free") entry fees to several players every year in honor of my friend, Dave Faver!

I am SO EXCITED!

I had some hesitancy to run a memorial tournament every year, so I am very thankful that an alternative idea came to mind so that I can still honor him every year.  VERY THANKFUL!

Further, this will reach farther and more places, instead of a tournament in the same one location in Texas every year, right?

Did I mention I'm excited?!

"Return the Faver."  In memory of Dave Faver.  For his brave fight against cancer and his tenacity when he played pool; Never give up.

There are several facets to this project, but this year I am going to try and give away 4 free entry fees, roughly adding up to $200.  At times I will choose a player myself, or a TD may draw randomly to give away the free entry fee, or I will give certain TDs an entry fee and they choose a person who could use a free entry fee.

My vision is in years to come that this be also a scholarship-type thing and players can submit applications for consideration.

Right now, I'm just starting off small.  But it's still a BIG thing to me, for Dave :)

I created a menu item on my blog for this project, but the menu does not show up on all mobile devices.  So, let me paste here the further details:

"Return the Faver"
Free Entry Fee Endeavor
In memory of Dave Faver. 
For his brave fight against cancer and his tenacity when he played pool; Never give up.

How do you choose who receives a Free Entry fee for the "Return the Faver" project?

• A player may be selected randomly at tournament,
• A player may be selected ahead of time randomly,
• A player may be chosen ahead of time by me (Melinda) for certain tournaments.
• Future: Players submit why they should be chosen for a free entry fee, and then a committee will choose a recipient for the free entry fee.

How many free entry fees will be given every year?

•  This will fluctuate based on my income, but I'm thinking for 2019 (the first year) at least $200 worth of entry fee's for the year.  For example, that could be around four $50 entry fees throughout the year that is given out.

Can I contribute to the "Return the Faver" Project?

• Yes!  And welcomed to help out even more players in honor of Dave Faver.  Paypal email is address returnthefaver@yahoo.com.   
  

Will this only be for Tournaments in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area?

• Nope.  The vision is to give away free entry fees to different tournaments throughout the year - ie, the same tour/tournament does not get more than one free entry fee in a single year.  
  

A list of all recipients will be kept updated throughout the year here:

January 2019:

• Tony Sulsar from Texas.  Free entry fee for DFW 9 Ball Tour

To find out more about my dear friend Dave, please see this link.