On most weekends, in the upper level of Sayles-Hill Campus Center, a group of students gather around the pool tables. The sharp crack of billiard balls colliding mixes with the occasional burst of laughter fills the building. This is a community grounded in both enjoyment and competition.
The Billiards Club, founded earlier this academic year, hosts regular pool tournaments that are as much about meeting people as they are about winning. Organized in a knockout format, the tournaments bring together roughly a dozen students at a time, each playing one-on-one matches until a winner emerges.
“None of us are really like pool pros, so it’s mostly fun,… it’s a little bit of competitiveness, but it’s mostly pretty fun in general,” said Zain Bhalla ’29, co-president and co-founder of the Billiards Club.
The balance between competition and playfulness defines the club and its tournaments. Unlike some formal or skill-intensive sports or organizations, the Billiards Club has a low barrier to entry. Students with little to no prior experience are not only welcomed but expected.
“I just enjoy playing pool with my friends, like some of my friends would have tables back home. That’s to say it’s not necessary to have experience to come to a pool club, certainly,” said Bryson Gibbs ’29. This openness allows the tournaments to function as a social space without the pressures of being professional.
The pool tournament also offers grounds for connections to emerge. For Gibbs, playing pool is a way to establish new relationships with other students.
“I definitely have met so many people in tournaments that I would not have met otherwise. Also, [I enjoy] just meeting new people, going down to the tables in Sayles, just seeing who’s there and asking if we can play doubles or something,” said Gibbs.
According to Bhalla, the origins of the tournaments and the club centered on community-building.
“We just wanted to make a community… because we didn’t really know other people that played pool, so we thought if we started a pool club, then we could also invite other people to come play with us and [get to know] know other people who are maybe better at pool at Carleton,” said Bhalla.
At the same time, Saayan Prasad ’28, another co-founder and co-president of the Billiards Club, acknowledged that tournaments alone may not fully serve all participants, especially beginners.
“A beginner would likely not get to play much pool at a tournament if they get knocked out early, so it might not be as much fun for them,” said Prasad.
To attract beginners to the tournament, the co-founders had a variety of plans for the club.
“When we first started the club we decided to have two kinds of meetings. One would be tournaments, and the other would be just chill hangouts where we kinda just play with each other. We’re planning to start a Discord server soon to make this easier. There will probably be a channel where people can ping each other… if we could do the chill hangouts more often, then it would be more fun for everybody,” said Prasad.
Despite challenges, the overall atmosphere in tournaments is relaxed. “There is one time someone was about to break-and-run, and that is to finish a full game without their opponent having a chance to play at all. When they missed [it], everyone around, including their opponent, kinda went ‘oof that would have been amazing if it paid off,’” said Prasad.
Gibbs echoed the sentiment. “During the tournaments. It’s always very casual. It’s never super competitive. Well, there is still a good competitive energy, like, playful competitive energy, where we’ll venture with each other because it’s usually the same people coming from week to week. So we get to know each other pretty well and get comfortable just like joking around, which is really nice,” said Gibbs.
The club and its tournaments are still working to attract more of the student body. “It could be nice to potentially put up posters and flyers in different areas to help spread awareness. Also, I think we can personally just do a better job of just telling some of our friends that don’t play pool, because word of mouth is very powerful with spreading information at Carleton,” said Gibbs.
Gibbs also suggested the possibility of offering prizes in the future. “I totally think that would be fun if the winner were to get a golden pool ball. That’d be so much fun. I don’t know if we’re allowed to give up prizes, but if we can give out like a trophy, I think that would also incentivize more people to come,” said Gibbs.
As the club continues to grow, they aim to move beyond pool tournaments in Sayles. “It’d be cool to play against billiards clubs at other schools, like against Macalester, and play in tournaments greater than Carleton. I think that’s something we’re looking forward to in the future. We just need to start with gaining attention at Carlton, and then we can move elsewhere,” said Bhalla.
“We started the club because we wanted there to be a place people, including me, could turn to for a fun game of pool,” said Saayan. Now, what began as a small initiative among friends has created a shared space for a broader community.