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Athlete
Profile
Ewa
Matya Laurence Women's Professional Billiard Association
For
two decades she has had a profound impact on her sport,
first as a pioneer, then as one of its preeminent practitioners
and now as an advocate. Ewa Matya Laurence has seen
women's' pool from every side.
The
journey began for the 37-year-old Matya Laurence in
her native Sweden. A self-described tomboy she was a
good athlete, playing soccer, ice hockey and basketball.
But she followed her brother to a poolroom one day when
she was 14 and was instantly hooked. "I’d never
heard of pool," she said. "never seen it, played didn’t
know what it was I came home and told my Mom this is
what I want to do. I just fell in love with it."
Within
three years Matya Laurence was the European champion and
had come to the United States. At the time women's professional
pool was in its infancy in America. There was little in
the way of organization or structure and the players were
at the mercy of tournament promoters.
"The
promoter could invite whoever he wanted (to a tournament),"
Matya Laurence said. We would have no idea what kind of
equipment there was, there were no specs. You didn’t
know what kind of prize money there was or what kind of
scheduling. There were a few checks that didn't clear."
By
the late 1980's the players were able to seize some control
over their working conditions and in 1993 the WPBA Classic
Tour as we know it today was organized. Matya Laurence
served as the group's president in 1996 and '97. "The
fact that we own our own events now has really changed
things around," she said. "We can make our own negotiations
with television as well as sponsors. That's really made
a big difference."
But
it took a very dedicated individual to make it through
those difficult early years and Matya Laurence was certainly
that. She won every major title in the sport including
the World Championship WPBA National Championship and
the U.S. Open. She was also named Player of the Year twice.
Along
the way the talent level on tour has increased dramatically.
Where once there were only a handful of truly world-class
players in the field each week there are now several dozen.
And with the influx of European players such as the top-ranked
Allison Fisher from England and Karen Corr and Julie Kelly
from Ireland infused the tour with new energy.
"You
realize what a global game it is," Mataya Laurence said.
People coming from Australia, from Asia, from Europe.
You realize how global the sport is and you can learn
from each other."
After
20 years as a world-class athlete, some of Mataya Laurence's
competitive fire has dimmed. She still plays regularly
but also focuses on her role as a commentator for ESPN
on WPBA telecasts, where she teams with her husband Mitch
Laurence.
She
also does appearances and plays in exhibitions for the
Brunswick Corporation, whom she's represented for the
past 12 years. And she's seeing more young women playing
pool.
"
I think the most gratifying thing to me is to see all
the young kids playing now because of us," Mataya Laurence
said. "Young girls who have seen us on television and
can identify with some of the players. "When I first started
pool was kind of a backroom kind of sport. People would
flip out if they heard you were actually a female and
playing and now that’s a very accepted thing. I think
that's one of the neatest things that's happened."
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