Opening Break (Steve, Marlene & Bob Soroko)

On the weekend of December 5-6 the Ontario pool community was afforded the pleasure of participating in an enjoyable weekend of pool while paying respects and celebrating the life of our dear friend Scott Soroko. The first annual Scott Soroko Memorial Tournament was held at Shooters billiards in North York, Ontario, one of the many rooms Scotty frequented and made countless friends at in the GTA. The tournament was hosted by the Junior Association of Canadian Cue Sports (JACCS) executive, Sue Lemaich, Tasha Cochrane Don Broos and Tracey Croke along with the Soroko family, Scott’s mother Marlene, father Bob, brother Steve and his wife Lisa and daughter Maeghan. The Tournament was made extra special knowing that the format of play was a vision of Scott's and one that he had always wanted to see come to fruition. Canadian Billiard and Snooker Association (CBSA) President Steve Cooper, along with Jason Robichaud, made the trip from New Brunswick to pay their respects as well as to commemorate the founding of the Junior Association of Canadian Cue Sports (JACCS). Proceeds from the tournament are going towards the JACCS Foundation which was established to promote and support Junior Cue Sports in Canada. Fifteen dollars from every entry as well as a small percentage of the calcutta, proceeds from 50/50 draws, cue raffle donated by DB Cues (Don Broos), case raffle courtesy of the travelling billiard mechanic (Dan Devos), and JACCS clothing line all went towards JACCS, something that Scotty would have been very proud of. A delicious billiard decorated cake was also on hand courtesy of Shauna MacDonald and Cupcake Kiss.

Scott's love and passion for the game of billiards was known and recognized by the billiard community across North America. On the table Scott was one of the most gentlemanly and sportsmanlike players that I have had the pleasure of playing against. Scott was a member of several Billiard Congress of America (BCA) and Canadian Poolplayers Association (CPA) league teams in the Burlington and Mississauga area, playing primarily out of Bobby D's in Burlington, JJQ’s and Landmark Billiards in Mississauga. One accomplishment as a team player that Scott was very proud of was his victory in the Open teams division in Las Vegas, a tournament that boasts more than 1000 total entries, with friends Dave McMahon, Jody Matheson, Al Smart and Bill Lockerby. Individually, Scott won more weekly tournaments than he could keep track of, he once told me that he won five in a row and anybody who has played in these tournaments will understand how tough an accomplishment this is. Scott also competed on numerous occasions in the Derby City Classic, a tournament which annually draws the best players from around the world. Most notably in 2006 he was the runner up at a 30K event at Pool Paradise in Waterloo, Ontario where he played world champion Alex Pagulayan in the finals and came within 2 games of beating him!!! Readers can see the conclusion of this match on youtube.com by searching "scott soroko canadian 20k tour" it should be the first video on the playlist.

As an ambassador to the game Scotty's contributions were so great that it is hard to put into words how much he contributed to everybody's enjoyment of the game. His crowning accomplishment was the creation and development of his website shooterville.com, which is without question the most informative regional website ever created. This website provides Ontario pool players with everything from poolroom locations, tournament schedules, tournament results to action photos of literally every player of note in Ontario and has been visited by billiard enthusiasts from around the world. Scotty spent countless hours developing the site and donating all revenue from the site back into the game. He sponsored many Ontario players in competitions who in most cases would not have been able to compete without his help. As a friend and human being Scotty was someone for whom nothing bad could be said, and that is a compliment that can only be bestowed on a very special kind of person. He was the kind of person who was friends with everyone he met and brought great memories and good times to all who knew him. Personally he was a great friend of mine and was one of my first friends in Ontario, he was someone that I always would to talk to for advice and guidance. Recently I was involved with a pool endeavour in Ontario and I kept thinking about all the phone calls I would have made to Scott in the past to receive input and encouragement. Scotty was always a huge supporter of his friends John Morra, Mario Morra, Jason Klatt, Alex Radomski, Mike Roberts, Naomi Williams, Sarah Rousey and Brittany Bryant and was someone who they really felt was pulling for them in everything they were striving to accomplish in pool.

The memorial tournament drew an impressive field of 56 players comprising of so many of Scotty's good friends. Along with the annual Scott Soroko Memorial Tournament the Ontario Billiards and Snooker Association (OBSA) will also be holding two additional tournaments using Scotty's tournament format which will award the points leaders from the three events a spot for the Open and amateur divisions in the Canadian Championships for both men and women. The format for the tournament ran very smoothly, players were guaranteed no less than eight matches in Saturday’s round robin format which classified players for Sunday’s competition. Players were very receptive to the format and I can say that I have never witnessed a room full of players especially of such widespread ability who genuinely had such a great time competing in the tournament. Plaques along with cash prizes were awarded to the top four finishers in each of the four divisions which were determined after Sunday’s play.

A donation from Scott’s estate and family for $5,000.00 was presented to JACCS’ organizers in support of Junior Cue Sports in Canada.

Tournament Results

A DIVISION	B DIVISION	C DIVISION	D DIVISION
1st Andrew Attard	1ST Justin Kluznik	1st Adrian Fragoso	1st Alfonso Haggarty
2nd Mike Patrowicz	2nd Dean McNaughton	2nd Fred Roberts	2nd Maureen Seto
3rd Erik Hjorleifson	3rd Lee Brett	3rd Mike Cumberland	3rd Don Broos
4th Ed Muere	4th Peter Hetherington	4th Charlie Rowden	4th Steve Arthurs

The Soroko family would like to express their appreciation to the organizers: Don Broos, Sue Lemaich, Tasha Cochrane, Tracey Croke for organizing the tournament; John White of Shooters for hosting the tournament and all of Scott’s friends who participated in the tournament or came by to share the tournament with us. You honoured Scott’s memory and his passion for cue sports with your presence!