Kelly Fisher - Part 6 (Champion, Leader, and Legend)

Mike Gonzalez 0:15

Well, here we are in 2025 for some of our young listeners that are listening 50 years from now to the Kelly Fisher story. And you're still winning. I mean, just referenced winning a couple of a few weeks ago. And so what's the future look like? You got your crystal ball out. I mean, how many years is it going to be we continue to see Kelly Fisher uh at the podium?

Kelly Fisher 0:38

Well, I'm not sure. You know, I'm gonna give it my best, and I've I've always set myself a goal to win, you know. It sounds a bit crazy, but if I don't win a tournament in a three-year period, I'm done. I always said that. Now my goal is always to win at least one tournament a year. So but I I think it's a very addictive sport. I can't imagine, I can't imagine not winning a tournament in three years and saying I'm done. I can't imagine that right now. So I probably change the goalpost at that point, but hopefully I don't have to worry about that for a while yet. Ali's still going strong, so if she can do it, that means I can do it.

Allison Fisher 1:26

We always around, she'll be pushing me. If I'm you know in a wheelchair or anything, she'll be pushing me around.

Kelly Fisher 1:32

We always just say, Yeah, I'll help you, Ali, and then we'll laugh about that. We'll be still going when we're whatever age, but yeah, as I say, there's no show without points there. There's I'll be still I'll still be playing as as long as I can, but there's only one thing that I just always promise myself is uh I'll only continue playing while I feel I can win. Yeah, I'm not gonna go and make the numbers up, you know, and I know that sounds a little bit whatever, it's just been the way I've been brought up and bred into me and the way I've experienced and and lived my career, really, the mental side. So if there's a if I go in there and don't think I've I'm capable of winning, yeah, you know, then yeah, but nowadays it's getting tougher. It really, really is. There's a lot of young guns that are coming through. There's a lot more the growth of the sport since COVID has just gone up and up and up, which has generated a lot more sponsorship for players, it's generated a lot more support for players, even in their countries, and you can see it, you can see they're practicing and they're improving, just like we did when we were talking back in the days, and that's what they're doing, and you can see the standard is just going up and up, and so deep, so many players now.

Allison Fisher 2:52

And I've said that on previous broadcasts that the information out there is just unbelievable, isn't it? You can the touch of a button now on your phone or your computer, and or in some of these countries where they've got the men players helping, you know, coaching the women players, and there's just a lot going on all around the world, isn't there?

Kelly Fisher 3:11

Yeah, there is, and it's we never had that as he butn't it didn't we didn't have the internet. What am I talking about? We didn't have mobile phones. We had the Nokia, I had the Nokia, you know. But the you know nowadays, like like Alice says, not only since COVID has the growth of it, which has given a lot more support, but to learn from young youngsters, it's a lot more available and and you know they can certainly improve quicker.

Mike Gonzalez 3:46

Yeah. Well, let's talk about a couple of items of recognition you've received in your life, and then I think uh we might want to move on to the future of the game, particularly with your role on the WPBA WPA board, I should say. So, recognition-wise, a couple of big deals, really big deals, BCA Hall of Fame 2021.

Kelly Fisher 4:07

Yeah, that was wonderful, and my sidekick here was right there by my side, weren't you, Ali?

Allison Fisher 4:14

Yeah, I had the privilege of uh doing the introduction, and it was a fantastic night, wasn't it?

Kelly Fisher 4:19

It was, it was certainly, you know, one of the well, if not the most memorable. The whole feeling of it is totally different from the experience of winning any tournament. There's no comparable. And it was definitely a unique feeling that I'll never forget, and and that night was just perfect. It really was.

Mike Gonzalez 4:42

The other thing that uh we'll mention is you were uh honored in the New Year's honours, yet to collect your award, I believe, but uh 2024 named uh member of the British Empire.

Kelly Fisher 4:56

I know again, who got there before me? Here she is. But no, we only always joke about it, rightly, rightfully so. But yeah, very honoured, just like the Hall of Fame, very honoured to have, you know, have been selected for that, put forward for that, and I'm really, really anxious to go and collect it. It's just been unfortunate clash of dates to tournaments and things like that. So I really want to go and uh collect that as soon as possible.

Allison Fisher 5:31

Do you have any ideas of when? Do you have any thoughts about when you might go?

Kelly Fisher 5:35

I think it's gonna be next year now. The dates are clashing with everything, and the schedule is so busy that whilst I do I'd fly from wherever to go back, it's just that if I can, you know, be over that way, it would be great. It's just looking at the calendar, it's quite funny because you get a look, you know, Ali, you've already got you get the letter saying that, you know, can you please acknowledge and and reply back? So what I decided to do was call the phone number that's on the top of the letter and say, you know, um the dates you've given me, I I can't make any. And I never expected for a moment that when they answered the phone, they said, Oh, what did they say? Buckingham Palace, how may I help you? I'm like, Buckingham Palace. Hello, uh, I'm thinking I'm phoning like a switchboard or something, Buckingham Palace. Brilliant. So she put yeah, she put me through, you know, and and basically the lady said, There's many, many people with MBEs that haven't collected yet, because people that have an MBE are normally very busy people, and that made me feel quite relaxed and comfortable. Lovely, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Allison Fisher 6:50

So did you say when they picked the phone up, did you say, can I speak to uh King Charles, please? I know, right? Can I just let him know I'm not available?

Kelly Fisher 7:01

It's wonderful.

Mike Gonzalez 7:02

Maybe you just turned up when King Charles said you'd be here this day, you just turn up, you know. But uh that's not the way it works.

Kelly Fisher 7:08

Well, you have got a bit of flexibility, thank God. That's wonderful.

Mike Gonzalez 7:12

So let's talk about your involvement in the WPA board. And I know you got to be careful with this and give us you gotta give us the politically correct answer, but I guess the way I'd ask it is how confident should we feel about the governance of the game from the WPA perspective?

Kelly Fisher 7:33

Well, I mean, the most thing I can really positively explain or say is that as I've ex said already, the growth of pool is coming coming on in leaps and bounds. I don't recall ever as a female player having as many events, let alone what the men are having, um, as well. So there's never been as many events in pool. The since COVID and that growth coming out, there was a new president, Ishaun Singh, and I must say one thing that he had a lot of I'm gonna swear then. Oh dear, we have to cut that bitch.

Mike Gonzalez 8:16

We can we get bleeps. Do it, come on.

Kelly Fisher 8:19

Well, he had a lot of to clean up, you know, there were a lot of things that just weren't structured correctly, and you know, a lot of things he had to basically tear tear apart and rebuild or re fit structure. And on the same time as all this was happening, we got uh interest from a table company, actually Joy, to this hay ball game, Chinese pull, which is we've we've taught us about English pool, we've taught us about American pool, and now we've got the influx of Chinese pull, which is called hay ball. Hei meaning black ball, black ball, there we go. So now it's take it's I mean, the growth of that is in China is I can't explain. During COVID, there was one female player, youngster, surely 20-something now, and her nickname was Million Dollar Baby. And the reason the colder that was because during COVID, while we're all stuck in, they were playing Chinese eight ball tournaments, and she'd made over a million dollars. And yeah, and now she's the one that got to the final, her name's Tang, and she got to the final and won another 270,000 last year, I think it was. And the year previous, previous to that, I think she also got something like that. But yeah, she's you know, the the Chinese pool doo ya is doing nine ball and the hay ball is eight ball. There's so many events going on in China that that the the sport is the discipline, if you like, is really like coming at the it's really the top.

Allison Fisher 10:01

Yeah, it's it's like snooker for us in England, Hayball for the Chinese, but on a much larger scale because of the population.

Kelly Fisher 10:10

Yeah, and the amount of events and money that's involved is astronomical right now. So Joy come along, and the owner of Joy had a has it is 70-something year old and he's got a dream to take I'm assuming hay ball, but Q Sports, billiards, to the Olympics. Now that's a dream we've all had for many, many years, and a dream that none of us really felt would come to fruition. So with the input from him financially and supporting that dream by structuring hayball events to meet the criteria for the Olympics, which has helped the WPA structure 10 ball better and trying to structure black ball also better, which is the disciplines we have. You know, we're trying to be able to give a chance to get into the Olympics for 2032 in in Australia, Brisbane. Hence why there's so many events over there going on right now, of course, of the campaign leading toward that. Whether we get in or not is a little unpredictable, but we're in a far better position and will be by then to have a good chance. So, back to your question is things are moving in the right direction. I think everybody can see the growth, not only just with match room events. There was a lot of issues between WPA and match room that have been resolved, and other promoters too, you know. Everybody wants a piece of the pie, if you like, but WPA have stood strong and they have changed a lot of the structure for the better good. There's still a lot of more to go, it's not perfect, but things are definitely moving in the right direction. Myself, I've just formed a players' commission, which had to be voted on by the other players. The top 64 women had to make a vote, and the top 128 men had to make a vote, and we're gonna have a board of a commission of six players, three men, three women. Again, everything's equal, rights, because of the Olympic dream. A player's commission is required for any sport to be to be Olympic. So we're putting things in place, but not only that, the players' commission will be a voice for the players to put forward to get things changed from the WPA that need changing, but also from the promoter that are not completely, you know, there's some of the rules that may change because they think this will help the game. And if the players stand up, we can be the voice to help make some more positive changes on both sides. So I do see only but positive things coming. Yeah, there's still many things that need to be fixed and restructured, and but it's all going in the right direction, from my opinion.

Allison Fisher 13:04

Do you enjoy your role on that side?

Kelly Fisher 13:07

I do. It's I I really do. And it's something I'm thinking about for my future, along with other things, whether it's coaching that we all, you know, do what we all think about doing commentating. There's a lot of things within the game that we can imagine when we retire. But the WPA side of it I do find interesting because to me, I mean, I mean, it's helping the growth of the sport, really, and and preventing and protecting the sport really, you know, from anybody wanting to come in and and try and own it or try and try and monopolize on it. So I've really enjoyed that part, but it's a lot of work, a lot of because I'm especially to do with the players, I get emails and messages every single day for the littlest of things to the bigger things, phone calls to make so I can listen to the player and what the problem really is, if it's something personal. So it's a lot whilst trying to play full-time as well. Yeah, and I'm also the I'm I'm in the interim period, but vice president of the BPF, the British Federation, British Pool Federation as well. That I was asked by the WPA to try and get it properly structured, which I've done, and we've got a great president and we've got other great board members, and even that Great Britain have never had a proper association or federation. So I'm I'm I've helped create that and get things in place. So I I do enjoy it. The the thing is juggling is the tough part, but the the great WPA are fantastic, they put pull first. If there's a meeting and I can't because I'm playing or I need to prepare, no problem, they'll catch me up afterwards. Same with BPF. They understand my when I'm at a tournament at they don't bother me with a thing. But it's just me as a person. If I'm involved, I you know, Ali, I get everily involved a bit a bit of a control freak. I like to make sure this is done right, that's done right. No, it's my OCD, one or the other, but yeah.

Allison Fisher 15:14

It's the right person for the job, though. That's the right person for the job.

Kelly Fisher 15:18

Yeah, I probably should sit back a bit more at this moment, but would you find it easy to relax away from the table? Me. Can you help me? Well, what do you think?

Allison Fisher 15:29

I do, but you're always busy. I always see you with a notepad or a computer. Yeah.

Kelly Fisher 15:33

You know. Yeah, that's something I need to learn to do. I've been actually having some mental coaching lately, and that's one thing that's suggested, you know, is just really prioritizing and having to switch off. And and I'm not good at that. If I'm involved in the city, you need to do that though. You do need to do that. I do, I do.

Mike Gonzalez 15:54

So, from your perspective, what's the next big wave of opportunity coming for women in the game?

Kelly Fisher 16:01

Well, I think that now we can see already that that wave is is coming because you know we've had Predator Pro Billiard series, and they are certainly have put the women on equally to men. We've got Joy with the Hayball tour, it's called W N T now, not W N T, W-E-H-T, W H T, sorry. And uh, they've got a world tour that's equal pay for men and women. The men's on Predator is not quite equal, but nor is the entrance. We have less entrance, but it would prorate to the right, you know, about equal pay. And I think so we're on that, we're on that wave now. And what that's doing is it's getting interest, I think, from what I'm hearing, we've got interest for other events as well, and other promoters. Other promoters are wanting the world eight ball, are wanting to know out about the world ten ball. Whereas before it was hard to get a promoter to take on, yeah.

Allison Fisher 17:07

Yeah, I was gonna say everything was in China for a long time because they were the ones who had the money, so we never got out of China. So that's a wonderful change, I think, isn't it?

Mike Gonzalez 17:16

What about uh match room? Where does match room fit in in the near term? Are they gonna do anything with women?

Kelly Fisher 17:25

I don't think so. I don't I can't say, but I've not heard anything of it going in any of that direction. I think they allow women to play in the open events, as they call it, which it is, it's open, and I think that's great promotion for them and the player who chooses to do that. But ultimately it's not equal for me, and it's you know, I think the the route of going down the Olympic route, which obviously, as you know, the every single event in the Olympics or discipline in the Olympics has men represented and women represented, and I think you know that's important when we've got tours to to have men and women's events, and and uh match room, I don't know why. I think it would be a great thing for their tour too, and their you know, for them too, but I don't believe that they've got the intention to I've not heard anything and I've never felt that that's coming. But I hey ho, I wish they would.

Allison Fisher 18:28

They never did it in Snooker, and I think feel like they've the same thing is that they've used the women as little pawns really for publicity and to say here's one of the best women coming in to play with the men, you know, it's it's a publicity stunt for me.

Kelly Fisher 18:42

And we also know that the we I know from experience I I was one of the pawns and uh and it did me no harm, it did me good because I got more publicity, but ultimately I had the belief that we're gonna have a w it was promoting women and to get ultimately a women's match room tour, um, which never happened. However, I do know that the viewership on the TV and and social media and also on live streaming, their view viewers went was like three times as much as any of the men's matches when a woman is playing against um a top man, for example.

Allison Fisher 19:21

People want to see it, it's it but you don't want to give it away either. You know, that's something that should be built up. It shouldn't be given away, I don't think.

Mike Gonzalez 19:29

Yeah.

Kelly Fisher 19:29

And I I you know, I come to the opinion overall, and we talked about it Ali at the time. The women's game is good enough, it's prestigious enough, and and it's got its own. What am I trying to say, Ali? We've talked about it a lot.

Allison Fisher 19:47

You can stand alone, it doesn't need the men. People are good enough. It's just like tennis and golf. Women have their own tour at tennis and they get paid the same and golf the same, right? Maybe not exactly the same pay, but they've there's they can stand alone. It's it's strong enough.

Kelly Fisher 20:03

Yeah, and we warrant, we warrant and and deserve that. Uh we don't a pedestal, that's the word our look in. We have our own product. We have our you know, by winning a world championship, male or female, the female is on that pedestal. There's no need to compete against the men to prove anything. It should warrant equal equally as much recognition as uh as the men's world champion. You know, they shouldn't have to cross.

Allison Fisher 20:29

One thing that was fun, I thought, back in the day was the ESPN ultimate challenge in America. So the women had a you know competition, the men had a competition, and then the winner of that event they played each other. So Vivian played TJ. Now that I think is a great, you know, that would be really fun. And that was for extra money. You win your money in your event, you win your money in your event, and let's play for another 20,000 or whatever it is, man versus woman. And that short race, race to seven, it was. Anyone can win.

Kelly Fisher 20:59

Excellent. That's a great idea, Alex. Shall we start up a new talk?

Allison Fisher 21:03

Yeah, maybe maybe we should do that. That it's a great idea, though, I think.

Kelly Fisher 21:06

Just another thing to add to my, yeah, well, let's do it. Yeah, that's another bit of work for you. Now you know why I can't fit my MB in, don't you? They can wait over there.

Mike Gonzalez 21:20

Well, look, we've uh we've covered a lot of ground with you, Kelly. And before we put a bow on this, uh, one of the things we're starting to do is we're really building a following for the podcast on the AZ Billiards Forum. I don't know if you're ever out there, but it's a very active forum. And so I asked a question on the forum. I said, Hey, we got Kelly Fisher coming on. What might you want to ask her if you were sitting in our seat in the podcast? So if you don't mind, we'll just go to a handful of questions. Uh I'm going to give a shout out to Jam. This is Jenny, who we all know. And Jenny writes, She's looking great. And I wonder if she has incorporated a new healthy life. What's the secret? Exercise, diet, or both on the road, eating in restaurants all the time. It must be challenging to eat healthy.

Kelly Fisher 22:10

Okay. Yes. Thank you very much to Jenny. I have cut down a lot, to be honest with you. I've been doing wall Pilates, is one thing I have been doing. Not as much as I should, but I have tried to maintain it. And also I've cut down on alcoholic beverages and cut down eating junk food completely, actually. So I try to eat healthy. I'm eating smaller portions for sure. I do love food, but I'm eating smaller portions. Trying to do some exercise with my War Pilates, it's safe and it's I can't get injured. So and yeah, I'm cutting out on alcohol pretty much just here and there for a celebration or a you know a special occasion. Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 23:00

Yeah. Fair enough. I'll give a shout out to some of these other people that asked questions. And as I go through the questions, maybe we should move this segment up into the interview because most of these you've answered already. But uh somebody called Skog Stokig, I believe, had a question. Magic rat 007, Spartan, Matt Poland, among the others who have asked questions. So if I can find one we haven't answered, uh nothing that I suppose you wouldn't ask already, but just how it was for her growing up there in coal mining country, and if it toughered her up, toughened her up. Women were more or less barred from stoker rooms, but maybe that had changed when she started. Well, it hadn't, had it.

Kelly Fisher 23:45

No, it hadn't. And he's exactly right. Uh from a coal mining village, the you know, it was definitely it was better back then than it is now, actually. It's rougher now than what it was. But I just think people were were very, I don't know. You did have to toughen up a little bit. You did. It was, and even still to this day, it's still the same. When I go back home, I'm like, things really haven't moved on or changed very much. But there's one thing, and that is, you know, women can go in the in the snooker rooms now. So we're okay with that one. Things are not as bad there, but it's still, you know, the tough mining villages, yeah. That's what I was saying earlier. I always said about Alia, you know, I'm the common one, because I've come from the common tough mining village. It's pretty, isn't it?

Allison Fisher 24:35

It gives you some fight, I think, and some grit.

Kelly Fisher 24:38

That's right. You know, that's right. And and streetwise as well, you know, you you just grow up like that. So yeah, yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 24:45

We'll just take one more, and it's uh question is what's her aiming system? LOL, just kidding, just kidding. But hey, it wouldn't hurt to ask.

Kelly Fisher 24:55

Aiming system, oh well uh starting so young, I didn't even Lionel just show me draw a line from the pocket through the object ball, draw a line from the cue ball to meet that track, if you like, connect the dots and hit it there. And to this day, you know, I've I've I've had a look at all the different aiming systems and tried them, and I just I just can't see the ghost ball, I can't do it. All I do is pick a spot on the ball, and I I just see like a train track, if you like, that meets that spot on the ball, and that's where I walk into my stance on that exact same line.

Mike Gonzalez 25:37

Fair enough.

Kelly Fisher 25:38

So there's no magic trick. It's uh yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 25:41

Fair enough. We'd be remiss if we didn't allow you to give some shout out to your sponsors, and I'll just prompt you Predator Q's and Zing Zheng uh Zing Zhu Billiards, Jam Up Apparel, Horo Tips, Steve Rao Pro Billiards, and of course your coach Lionel Payne.

Kelly Fisher 25:57

Yes, I'm much appreciative of all of them without their support. We couldn't do what we love the most. So, and of course, Lionel for 35 years. Wow. And Ali 35 years as well. See, amazing all around us. Still in there, aren't we? Still hanging in there. We are we're very lucky. We really are. Yes, we are.

Mike Gonzalez 26:18

Well, we certainly appreciate all the time you've spent with us laying out your story, Kelly. It's been a it's been a delight to to hear all these stories. And what we've done is we've started a tradition of asking three final questions of our guests.

Allison Fisher 26:32

Okay.

Mike Gonzalez 26:33

And I'm gonna let Mark Wilson ask the first question.

Mark Wilson 26:39

Okay. If you were 20 years old again and you were to know what you know now, what would you do different?

Kelly Fisher 26:49

Oh dear. Are we talking about just pool here, Mike? Anything. Anything. Oh, it's a tough one, that, but I would have liked to have started playing pool younger. So come to America younger. You know, there was some good years prior to when I arrived too. And so I think I would like to have done done that. Yeah, that's what I'm gonna, that's gonna be my final answer.

Mike Gonzalez 27:16

You can phone a friend.

Kelly Fisher 27:18

Uh-huh. I might need to Ali. What do you think about it?

Allison Fisher 27:21

I think you should uh did it just right.

Mike Gonzalez 27:23

There you go. Did I take that? Thank you. You did it just right.

Allison Fisher 27:26

You got the little wave in China. I got the wave here. You got the wave in China.

Kelly Fisher 27:31

Oh, you thought I did it right the year I come, you mean?

Allison Fisher 27:34

Yeah. Right.

Kelly Fisher 27:35

Uh there we go. Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 27:40

All right, we'll go to question number two. I'm going to give you one mulligan, one career shot to do over. Do you remember one that you would have liked to have done over that it would have made a difference?

Kelly Fisher 27:52

I remember several. I've talked about two tonight. The one ball in the corner for eight-one up against Alison Fisher. The eight ball that I scratched against having guess who is so perfect. Yeah, indeed. You're the one now interviewing with us, isn't it, darling?

Allison Fisher 28:09

Well, those are your two-overs. That's your mulligan.

Kelly Fisher 28:13

They stand out the most because the the first one being being eight-one up, you know, that was unbelievable. So, and then the next the second one was meaningful, the US Open, of course.

Allison Fisher 28:25

Yeah.

Kelly Fisher 28:25

But there's there's probably a lot, lot more.

Allison Fisher 28:29

We all have those, don't we? Where there's lots, you know, you think, oh, I should have done that differently.

Kelly Fisher 28:33

Oh god. Just I can tell you one from three days, four days ago in Indonesia. So you could have me literally.

Allison Fisher 28:40

It's hard to carry all these shots with us, isn't it, all these years? I call them scars now. Scars. I'm getting resentful now. Battle of scars. I like that. I like that.

Mike Gonzalez 28:51

Okay, we'll leave the final question to the Duchess of Doom.

Allison Fisher 28:56

How would Kelly Fisher like to be remembered?

Kelly Fisher 29:01

Oh, oh look at you. That's a tricky one, isn't it? Um I think all right, I've got loads coming to my head there. I'd like to be remembered of being an honest, fair player with good intentions for the growth of the sport and give it a roll.

Allison Fisher 29:37

I think uh you've achieved all of that and uh certainly been a wonderful guest for us on our podcast. Hope you enjoyed it, Kelly. And it's been a delight having you here. Absolute delight.

Kelly Fisher 29:48

Thank you very much. I've really loved it, and uh thank you all for having me on here. And listen, we might need to do a part two, part three, part four over the you know, with a lot more to tell Ali.

Allison Fisher 30:00

That's right.

Kelly Fisher 30:01

There's a lot of life left. Oh, and another bit of that question. Fun, fun loving. We've had some good times. That's what I'd like to remember with time. Absolutely.

Allison Fisher 30:11

We have some we can't remember, and some we can't tell.

Mike Gonzalez 30:16

Oh we we better leave it right there. And Kelly, we we we certainly appreciate you telling your story on Legends of the Q.

Kelly Fisher 30:27

Thank you for having me. Thank you, guys. Bye-bye.

Allison Fisher 30:30

Thank you for listening to another episode of Legends of the Q. If you like what you hear, wherever you listen to your podcast, including Apple and Spotify, please follow, subscribe, and spread the word. Give our podcast a five-star rating and share your thoughts. Visit our website and support our Paul History project. Until our next golden break with more Legends of the Q, so long, everybody.