Amid the new pool tables and lounge couches inside Price Center’s recently renovated Gameroom, you can find a budding campus community: UC San Diego’s pocket billiards club, Rack N’ Roll.
Rack N’ Roll members meet every day to master their trickshots and socialize over billiards. For players with a competitive spirit, the club also hosts regular tournaments throughout the week, where any club member can participate. Competitors are matched with players of similar skill levels with whom they can build experience. Tournaments and club membership are open to any UCSD student who fills out Rack N’ Roll’s online interest form.
After playing billiards for six and a half years, Rack N’ Roll vice president and third-year Vatssall Roongta has found the game to be key to his mental health.
“I play sports like soccer, basketball, cricket, table tennis as well,” Roongta said. “And [in] my first year, I dislocated my knee. And because of that, all of my physical sports stopped, so practically the only thing I could do was come to the pool room. … It generally helped me cope with my anxiety and my own depression that I had because of the entire medical issue I had going on, and I would say that because my community around me was so welcoming.”
Second-year Laksh Goyal joined the club during his first year and discovered a deep passion for billiards and its calming effect.
“I just thought it was an amazing activity where I could pass my time and ease my stress,” Goyal said. “The games were a very special place my freshman year.”
According to Goyal, billiards is more than a pastime: It opens opportunities for relaxation and socialization. After only a year of playing billiards, Goyal highlighted the influence and impact that eight-ball billiards has had on his life.
“Honestly, I’d say I’ve found a hobby that is a big part of my life,” he said. “And I would say it’s a big destresser. I come here after classes, in between classes, I meet my friends here.”
The club is known best for its unique themed tournaments throughout the year — each with a different set of rules for students to follow.
“We have creative tournaments, which are trickshot competitions where the only thing you can do is hit trickshots,” Roongta said.
The club’s most popular tournament of the year is the “8-Ball Spring League,” a six-week tournament in Spring Quarter that lasts from Week 4 to Week 10. Students compete against each other through a skill matching system in order to establish a fair game.
Roongta and Goyal encourage those who are curious about billiards to stop by The Gameroom to learn some new tips and tricks.
“Just show up,” Goyal said. “You’ll find someone who will help you, and you can fall in love with the sport.”
