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Inside pool halls and billiard lounges around Winnipeg, Filipino players are shooting stick and keeping the game alive.
“The game of billiards is very important to the Filipino community. It’s equivalent to hockey here in Canada,” said Marvin Quiambao.
Quiambao, a billiards enthusiast, is on a mission to create a community and cultural connection through the game. In Winnipeg, he started a Facebook group for Filipino players. He now organizes tournaments and events primarily focused on getting Filipino players together at the tables.
“The Filipino billiards community is very important to me,” said Elison Brotonel Duque Jr., who participates in events and tournaments for Filipino players in Winnipeg.
“I’ve been playing pool for 13 years, and whenever I play pool, I feel alive.”
Billiards (often used as a generic term for cue sports, including pool, which is played on a table with pockets) remains very popular in the Philippines. The country has produced outstanding players, including world champion Efren Reyes, among other prominent players.
In Winnipeg, locals are keeping that national pride alive. A recent Filipino players tournament in the city sold out quickly, after 40 players jumped at the opportunity to compete.
“You know that it’s thriving when you’re able to just put a post up for a tournament and everybody shows up and it’s filled within an hour,” said Quiambao.
Winnipeg’s thriving Filipino billiards community is the subject of a new video by students in the Create program at Sisler High School, a post-high school program that trains students in the creative digital arts, including filmmaking.
Create students Blake Paguio, Tareq Barhoumeh, Luke Tenorio and Lukas LaForte produced the short video.
Click the player above to watch it.
Meet the filmmakers
More about Project POV: Sisler Create
CBC Manitoba’s Project POV: Sisler Create is a storytelling collaboration that partners filmmaking students with CBC Manitoba journalists to produce short docs. You can see past projects here.
The Winnipeg School Division’s Create program is hosted at Sisler High School and trains post-high students in the creative digital arts.
During fall 2025, CBC journalists taught storytelling to filmmaking students and led producing workshops at Sisler.
Create focuses on education and career pathways into the creative industries. Students can take courses in animation, film, game design, visual effects, graphic design and interactive digital media.
