This year’s seventh and last stop of the OB Cues Ladies 9-Ball Tour was held in late November at Legend’s Billiards in League City, Texas. The 2008 campaign had again brought together four young women from Austin, who for the past decade have been friends, competitors, and teammates: Heather Lloyd, Shayla Neris, Jennifer Kraber, and Deanna Henson.

The OB Cues Tour is the largest and longest running of the regional women’s pool tours, and members come from all walks of life. Each year, more than a hundred women compete on the tour. Some will play in almost every event, and year by year work their way up the annual standings. Others may drop off the tour from time to time, but later return. In this regard, the four-person contingent from Austin is representative of the entire tour.

Heather Lloyd

Heather Lloyd earned her degree in psychology at the University of Texas. She began playing pool while in college, joined the tour in the mid 1990s, and each year has worked her way up the OB Cues Tour rankings. During the 2006 and 2007 campaigns, she was crowned tour champion, and this year she was runner-up. For the past three years, her high finishes in regional tour events have qualified her to compete as a regular on the national tour, the Women’s Professional Billiard Association (WPBA). Heather’s pool aspiration is to continue to improve her game and to work her way up the WPBA rankings. Practice and competition constitute a fulltime job for Heather. She explains, “To break into the Top 16 on the WPBA, I have to pay my dues at every level.” Heather is sponsored by G-Cue Billiards and by James Hanshew Custom Cues.

Shayla Neris

Shayla Neris earned her Business Degree at St. Edwards University in Austin, and she now works for IBM, supporting advanced operating systems. Shayla began playing pool while in college, and joined the OB Cues Tour in the mid 1990s. Shayla’s game has improved each year, and in early November 2008, she won her first major tournament: the highly competitive Houston Open. Another highlight of Shayla’s pool career was knocking off a WPBA professional. “I was excited, not because I beat her, but because my execution at the table was almost flawless. That’s the feeling I hope to have more often in the future.” Shayla plays with an OB Cues shaft.

Jennifer Kraber

Jennifer Kraber is an Assistant County Attorney in the Travis County Attorney’s Office in Austin. She began playing pool in the late 1990s, during her third year in law school. Highlights of her pool career include winning a Fast Eddie’s event, finishing second at a Houston Open, and placing seventh among a field of more than 400 women at BCA Nationals in Las Vegas. From 2003 through 2007 Jennifer was a perennial Top Ten finisher on the OB Cues Tour. Then in 2008, due to the press of other activities, she had to significantly reduce her tournament appearances. Jennifer says, “I still love the game, though, so maybe I’ll pick up and play again.” Her friends hope she will. Jennifer plays with a Jim Buss cue.

Deanna Henson

Deanna Henson is a banker. After high school, while living in Florida, Deanna got serious about pool and joined a league and the local regional women’s tour. Later, she further honed her skills by competing on the men’s Mali Florida Pro Tour. She eventually earned a position as a WPBA touring pro, but after a few years on the pro circuit, curtailed her pool activities to start a family. She’s recently returned to playing fulltime. As Deanna says, “Once a player, always a player.” At the final OB Cues Tour stop, she won the qualifier, which will allow her to play in the first WPBA event in 2009. Deanna’s nickname is “The Texas Wildcat,” which is appropriate, since Predator Cues recently selected her to be their newest player-representative. Deanna plays with the latest Predator cue, the “P3.”

These four women currently play out of G-Cue Billiards in Round Rock, Texas, a community just north of Austin. For the past decade, they’ve been mainstays on the OB Cues Tour, often traveling to events together and sharing rooms while on the road. Their feeling of camaraderie is only interrupted by those times when tournament brackets pit one against the other. Then, friendships are set aside, but only temporarily.

In addition to local leagues, regional tours, and independent tournaments, these four also have competed in several of the ten-day BCA National 8-Ball events, held in Las Vegas each spring. In 2005, Heather, Shayla, and Jennifer played on a team that won the Women’s Open Team championship.

The stated mission of the OB Cues Ladies 9-Ball Tour is: Good pool, Good friends, Good times. These four women from Austin are representative of the tour. Their individual and team accomplishments are proof of Good pool. In regard to Good friends, Heather says, “These women are great, friendly and supporting.” Jennifer concurs, “I love the women on the tour.” Deanna adds, “I’m honored to know these women and to call them my friends.” As far as Good times, Shayla concludes, “I look forward to each stop on the tour. I always come home with some really funny stories to tell.” Mission accomplished.