10/19/2023 0 Comments Black widow billiards poses![]() ![]() Jeanette continued to work hard and improve her game, and eventually, her talent was recognized by the billiards community. However, she never let these challenges hold her back. She was often the only girl in the tournaments she played in, and she faced discrimination and sexism from many of her opponents. Jeanette's talent for the game was evident from the beginning, and she quickly began to make a name for herself in local tournaments.ĭespite her talent, Jeanette faced many challenges as a young player. She quickly fell in love with the game and began playing at a very young age. Growing up, she was exposed to the game of billiards by her parents, who owned a pool hall. Please spread the word.Jeanette Lee was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1971. "We're training the top kids so we're hosting a fundraiser. "Did you know about the event tomorrow?" she asked. Three of the pros - Lee's fellow Hall of Famers Johnny Archer, Allison Fisher and Nick Varner - will appear at a fundraiser for the foundation at Fatso's today.Īs she chatted with a reporter Tuesday at Robertson Billiards, Parker Lakilak and another fan approached with cues and cue balls in hand. "I'm truly passionate about it, I love to teach, I love people, and it's something nice for the community." "America has always been the place to go if you wanted to become a world champion, and over the last decade we've had more and more international players taking the gold home," she said. The players, ages 15 to 18, will spend four days at Lee's home and train with her and other professionals at Fatso's Billiards and Sports Bar in Tampa. Meanwhile, she's working to groom the next generation of American billiards stars.įor the second year, the Black Widow Foundation will host a training camp for 10 elite youngsters vying for one of six spots representing Team USA in the annual Atlantic Challenge Cup, a world championship to be held in Illinois this summer. "We need to build that bond and that trust." "This business is all about customer service," she said. To do that, she has to show members, current and potential, that she won't be just an owner in name only. Lee said for her, success will mean growing that membership eightfold and adding to the list of weekly venues. She could have gone in a lot of different directions." "(Lee) saw some potential in our market, which is kind of cool. ![]() "Tampa's a huge market, and there's a lot of room for growth," said Alana Rodgers, whose family owns Robertson Billiards on Franklin Street and has been in the retail billiards business for 80 years. ![]() The Dusels ran a league in Buffalo and moved here with Lee to run the Hillsborough chapter together. Last summer, Lee approached longtime Tampa Bay APA owner Pat Giorgianni, who agreed to sell to Lee and her two business partners, Jason and Misty Dusel. They vie for cash prizes and a chance to go all the way to the APA World Pool competition held each year in Las Vegas. Members then pay a small weekly fee to play at local bars and pool halls. The Hillsborough chapter of the APA - known as the Tampa Bay APA - has roughly 800 active members. "I wanted a place that was a little more family-friendly than New York City and not as slow as the countryside, and Tampa seems like the right pace," she said.īut they didn't want to move without a way for Lee to earn a living and still be home to tuck in her children at night. He encouraged her to take risks on the table and to accept that sometimes, you lose. She befriended legendary player and teacher Gene Nagy, who taught her to play without worrying so much about winning. Young and beautiful with a penchant for dressing all in black, Lee got the "Black Widow'' nickname for her ability to lure opponents to the table and then eat them alive. I was just so focused about what was going on on the table." It was the first time I stopped caring about what other people were doing. "I felt like it was artistic, and very much something I could do. "The more I played, the more I loved it," she said. It wasn't long after the release of The Color of Money, the 1986 film that inspired a new wave of pool hustlers. Lee was 18 when she first stepped into Chelsea Billiards in Manhattan. "I felt like I was broken, and I didn't like what I saw in the mirror," she said. At the age of 13, she had surgery to correct scoliosis, a curvature of the spine. She did well in school but didn't feel like she fit in anywhere. What do you do when you're done flying everywhere for tournaments?"īorn and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., by a single mother working two or three jobs, Lee grew up a Korean-American in a predominately black neighborhood. "I don't want to travel the way I was before. "My youngest kids are just entering school now," she said. ![]()
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