The
Wylie Carroll / Al Brinson Pool League is one of the oldest pool leagues in
The Villages. The league was
formed in the early years of The Villages when the only billiard room in The
Villages was at the Paradise recreation center.
The room was called the Jackie Gleason room and is now serving as the
library. The original pool
league, the OBG Men’s Billiard Club, which plays every Wednesday was running
smoothly until the President of the OBG, Bill Willette, decided to change
the format of play to one game of 8-ball, one game of 9-ball and one game of
7-ball. Some of the members of
that league were disenchanted with that decision.
One member, Wylie Carroll, decided to do something about it.
Wylie approached the recreation department and requested a time slot
at the billiard room to form a new league.
His request was granted and he got a slot on Monday.
Wylie then approached Ralph Green and asked Ralph if he would be
interested in helping him form the new league.
Ralph agreed to help Wylie, so Wylie became the first President of
the league and Ralph Green was the first Vice-President of the League.
Wylie also asked Jim McCann to be treasurer.
Wylie and Ralph set out recruiting players for the new league and
quickly found all the players that they needed.
The league was formed and the format of play of the new league was
two games of 8-ball and two games of 9-ball as had been the format in the
OBG prior to the change to include 7-ball.
The format was popular, and the league grew.
Shortly after the league was formed, the OBG returned to its original
format when it became apparent that the game of 7-ball made things too
confusing in the OBG.
A few
years down the road, Ralph Green became ill and was not available to help
with the league. During Ralph’s
illness, Wylie also became ill and passed away.
Ralph was about to return to play when this happened, but had not yet
returned. It was at this time
that Al Brinson stepped forward and took the reins of the league.
Al asked Ralph if it would be alright with Ralph if Al would become
the next President of the league.
Ralph agreed and Al took over.
Since Ralph had yet to return Al handled the league by himself.
After discussing the matter with Ralph the name of the league was
changed to be the Wylie Carroll Memorial League.
The
league, along with the OBG Men’s Billiard League, moved to Silver Lake when
the Jackie Gleason room was moved from the Paradise recreation center.
Over the years Al kept the league going and growing.
Even though the league was named the Wylie Carroll Memorial League,
after a while, people just referred to the league as Al Brinson’s league.
Al ran the league tirelessly until he became seriously ill in 2012.
When it was discovered that Al had a fatal illness he asked Tom
Fetherling to help him run the league and take control of the league when he
passed away. Tom agreed to do
that and Tom recruited Bill Turechek help him get a website going for the
league. While Al was still alive
the league name was changed to the Wylie Carroll / Al Brinson League.
Al passed away in 2012 shortly after the league was renamed and the name was
again changed to the Wylie Carroll / Al Brinson Memorial League.
People still refer to the league as Al Brinson’s league.
Tom ran the league until 2016 when he began planning to move. Bill Turechek took the reigns from Tom and
has continued to run the league.