Tom “Dr. Cue” Rossman and Steve “Leapin” Lillis embarked on a teaching and trick shot tour of Northern France in conjunction with Gospel Trick Shot Ministries (GTS) and France Pour Christ (FPC) sponsored in part by McDermott Cues. The tour included eleven shows with two on carom ball tables, four on English pool tables, and five on American pool tables from November 13 – 20, 2018. Tom and Steve partnered with various churches, billiard cafes, and billiard clubs in France.
France has a rich history of billiards dating back to the 15th and 16th century. Billiards was used in the Royal Palace of France and places where both men and women assembled to engage in the finer things in life. Billiard academies were formed and used for training in the education of military officers and in higher education. The royal families of Europe were all inter-connected and so out of France the game spread to all the crown heads of Europe and then to the New World in the Age of Colonization or Exploration depending on your politics. Steve “Leapin” Lillis will be publishing a new book in 2019 that will include a history of billiards and how Gospel Trick Shot Ministries (GTS) in conjunction with Tom “Dr. Cue” Rossman’s RACK Vision (Recreational Ambassadors for Christ’s Kingdom), retrace the steps of the European colonizers who brought billiards to the entire world. Next two tour stops for Tom and Steve will be Scotland and Turkey in February 2019!
This recent tour of France included teaching clinics on physical technique, mental aspects of the game, and finally how all are brought together by matters of the heart. Much of this can be found in Tom’s 2016 training manual entitled “Student of the Game and Life.” Steve, a former college professor, shared some of the “deeper” aspects of the game using physics, math, psychological and sociological principles, while including life lessons and spiritual principles, as “Dr. Cue” in his own famous unique style shared the simple or “shallower” aspects of the game to produce pure joy! All this was brought together by an assorted array of traditional and unique trick shots and so much more! Special thanks to our friends in France and to McDermott Cues.
