(Stan) Tourangeau wins two pool championships.

LAS VEGAS, Nevada

Vancouver-based pool player Stan Tourangeau captured two of the sport's most prestigious titles last month in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 41-year-old native of Fort Chipewyan and Fort McMurray, Alta., won both the eight- and nine-ball competitions in Wal-Mac's Valley National Eight Ball Association tournament.

Tourangeau, a Cree born in 1955, is living proof that a man can overcome adversity to eventually make his mark in sport. He has competed in the tournament only for the last three years. In winning, the cue handler becomes the first Aboriginal person in the world-wide league's history to win either of these two categories, let alone both in one year.

In this year's eight-ball category, explained Tourangeau, "it was a race to four [out of seven], in two out of three sets." And, it was straight knockout. Although the matches were quite close, Tourangeau prevailed and pocketed $2,500 (U.S.).

But he wasn't done. He then went on to win the nine-ball event which, he said, was "tougher still." The match was a best two out of three of best-of-nine sets. He won the first set 5-4, lost the second 4-5, but recovered to take the deciding set 5-3 over Joe Brown from Ohio. For his efforts, Tourangeau scooped up another $2,200.

For the eight-ball title, Tourangeau defeated another Aboriginal competitor, Eddie Ray Carroll, a Cherokee from Nebraska. Native people have fared well in the competitions in recent years, as has the Tourangeau extended family. Tourangeau's sister, Jean, was runner up last year in team competition and Stan's brother, Phil, has also done quite well. Then there was his brother-in-law, Kevin Cardinal of Saddle Lake, Alta., who took first prize this year in the regular Billiards Congress of America category and fourth (out of 400) overall in team competition.

Tourangeau happened upon the game quite by accident, while attending school in Fort McMurray. He would pass the local pool hall on his way to play table tennis. One day, he entered a pool tournament that only cost a quarter. He won.

It was his first such win, and the only one for some time. Running interference was his ongoing "bout with drugs and alcohol," he said. That lasted until 1979, the year in which he met his wife.

He managed to put his addictions aside and took up snooker in 1980. He'd been living in Vancouver for a few years and played regularly. He kept straight for two-and-a-half years, then began hitting the bottle again.

Back then, booze and pool were synonymous in bars, especially since pool was one of the only recreational sports in bars. Although snooker was big on the street, Tourangeau always felt that eight-ball was going to take off, and it has. His mentor then was Marv Adams and, later, when he took up nineball, it was Jim Ward.

"I loved the game," he said. But he loved his booze, too. He knew that he had to live a cleaner life if he was serious about the game. In 1985, he entered a treatment centre in B.C.

"I knew all that drinking, all those drugs I used to take didn't ever do anything for my game." he said. "I was just fooling myself thinking it was enhancing my game."

"[The game] has pulled me through a lot of hard times," he continued. "Lots of times I could have no money in my pocket and, a couple of days later, I'd have a thousand."

He began his streak of wins in 1988 when he won the Mardi Gras in Prince George, B.C., as well as the Washington State Eight-Ball Championship. The next year, he took the Pacific Northwest Open Championship in eight-ball and captured the Big D Eight-Ball Tournament in Vancouver in 1990.

His list of wins keeps on piling up and he credits it largely to his sobriety. His primary advice to anyone thinking of playing the game competitively is: "Stay off the booze."

On developing as an individual and as a competitor: "Don't quit," he said. "Keep trying hard. Focus on the game."

Eventually, Tourangeau hopes to get on the pro tour, but he needs financial sponsorship to have a legitimate chance of making it.

"They don't have any Natives playing on the pro tour," he said. "I'd like to be the first or one of the first." His dedication and attitude are major positives as he chases that dream.