U.S. Juniors Prepare for WPA World Championships

November 12, 2013 (Englewood, CO):  Through the recent BEF Junior National 9-Ball Championships, the Billiard Education Foundation (BEF) has qualified seven junior billiard athletes to represent North America as part of Team USA at the upcoming WPA (World Pool-Billiard Association) World Junior 9-Ball Championships. This year’s prestigious event will be held at the Gold Reef City Theme Park Hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa December 8-12, 2014.

Through the support of the Billiard Congress of America, the BEF has coordinating international travel and participation for this world tournament for over two decades. The following players will proudly represent our country this year:

Tyler Styer
, age 18 (Big Bend, WI)

Brendan Crockett
, age 18 (Bell Canyon, CA)

Nick Evans, age 17 (St. Peters, MI)

Taylor Reynolds
, age 16 (Winslow, Maine)

Sergio Rivas
, age 14 (Milwaukee, WI)

Joey Bourgeois, Jr., age 14 (Bayown, TX)

April Larson
, age 13 (Bloomington, MN)

Team coach, accompanying this year’s student-athletes is longtime BEF supporter and PBIA certified instructor, Earl Munson (B.E.T.T.E.R. Play Billiards, http://www.betterplaybilliards.org/). For nearly a decade, Munson has been actively involved in youth billiards as the official tournament director for the BEF Junior Nationals. He started and organizes successful high school billiard programs in the Dallas area.

For more information on the BEF Junior Nationals or hosting qualifiers or a State Championship, visit the BEF website at billiardeducation.org.

The Billiard Education Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that produces the annual Junior National Championships, provides scholarships for young players, sends junior players to the World Junior Championships and promotes Pool in School programs to encourage lifelong participants.