Each week, nearly a quarter-million APA League members, from all walks of life, come together to enjoy the sport of pool. So when Teen Recovery Solutions in Oklahoma City needed help rehabbing their aging pool table, APA was happy to step up and lend their support.
Teen Recovery Solutions has provided long-term addiction recovery tools and support for Oklahoma City teens for more than two decades. Their pool table provides a natural opportunity for kids to come together in a healthy environment and enjoy a game that can be played by anyone.
”Our pool table is used every day. Sometimes our one-on-one interaction with a teen happens over a pool table to provide a more relaxed environment. The pool table also offers a bonding experience between the kids in our program. What we’re trying to do is get them to realize that they can have fun in sobriety, and pool is a great way to do that,” said Joe Don Fennell, Executive Director of Teen Recovery Solutions.
APA League Operator Matt Seely, one of two APA League Operators in the Oklahoma City area, was thrilled to get involved. He visited Teen Recovery Solutions to assess the condition of the table, but after consulting with Woody’s Cues, a local table vendor, the two determined that it would be more cost-effective to completely replace the pool table rather than trying to recondition it. Fellow APA League Operator, Judy Duncan, agreed to cover the cost of the table if Seely and Woody’s Cues could handle the logistics.
In early January, APA surprised the kids with not only a new pool table, but they also provided new pool cues, balls and chalk. Woody’s Cues also agreed to return to help maintain the table when needed and is hoping to teach some of the kids how they can maintain the table themselves.
Hoping that the sport of pool, which offers many lessons in geometry and physics, makes a significant impact on the kids at Teen Recovery Solutions, APA will also be dispatching Hall of Fame trick shot artist “Dr. Cue” Tom Rossman to Oklahoma City for a special exhibition on Friday, February 11.
In addition, APA is making a $1,000 donation to Teen Recovery Solutions to support their ongoing efforts.
“We’re excited to team up with Teen Recovery Solutions to assist in the amazing work they’re doing for teens in their community. We hope our contributions will go a long way in showing these kids that not only is pool an amazing sport, but it’s one that can be enjoyed in sobriety,” said APA President Greg Fletcher.
Teen Recovery Solutions has been providing long-term addiction recovery tools for Oklahoma City teens and their families since 2000. Teen Recovery Solutions began by offering financial assistance to qualifying parents unable to afford the high cost of residential treatment programs. Upon seeing how many teens relapsed into abuse after they returned to their home high schools, Teen Recovery Solutions began a recovery high school in 2006, Mission Academy High School, one of only 50 recovery high schools in the U.S. Seeing a need for a teen recovery community for after-school and weekend support, Teen Recovery Solutions launched an alternative peer group in 2012 that provides teens weekly positive social activities, family support groups, age-appropriate recovery meetings, and regular retreats. For more information on Teen Recovery Solutions, visit https://teenrecoverysolutions.org/.