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The 2025 New Mexico state junior championship was the last stop on the 2025 southwest tour, and what a stop it was! We had another great turnout of kids that allowed us to run all three divisions. These kids were wonderfully competitive, and as with all our events, was filled with great sportsmanship and talent.
I am grateful to all the players and their families for coming out to compete in this event. We had players from three states play in this event, including several who travelled great distances to join us, which was amazing! It was really cool to see the kids build new friendships!
Join me in congratulating the winners:
10 Ball 18 & Under Boys
10 Ball 18 & Under Girls
9 Ball Mixed 12 and under
Big thank you to our sponsors of this tour stop! Please support our sponsors who support junior pool!
• Lucasi Cues
• Balabushka Cue Company
• Slate Street Billiards
Thank you to We Play Billiards Custom Apparel for designing and making the shirts for all the players.
Here are some pictures of the event:
We had an amazing event with a great turnout for the 2025 California junior State Championships held at Corner Pocket in Bakersfield California!
We had a packed field of 15 wonderfully talented, competitive junior players. It was an exciting event, these kids put on a show! Sportsmanship and talent filled the room, I was so proud of all these players!
The following were the results:
Hongjin Yi, The winner of the 9 ball event pulled the raffle for the awesome Lucasi Cue package valued at $1,375. The winner was ticket #37, Bill Seymour! Bill was the lucky winner of a Lucasi Pro Series - Zebrawood Cue Butt, Lucasi Pro Carbon InFUZED Shaft, Pro Line 3" & 6" Stackable Cue Extension Kit and Pro Line Weight Bolt Kit!
This is the second stop of the Southwest Youth Championship Tour. Next stop is May 10th at Slate Street Billiards in Rio Rancho New Mexico!
Thank you to Jam Up Apparel for providing custom championship jerseys for the two winners!
A big shout out to Darren Weiss, executive producer and lead actor in the 2024 movie BREAK. Darren was kind enough to autograph a copy of the movie with a personal message & picture for each and every junior player who played in the event. The kids really enjoyed receiving this special gift and I am grateful for Darren's support for junior pool and taking the time to do this for us. If you haven't already, head on over to your favorite streaming service and give the movie a watch, it's a fun movie!
Juniors from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Maryland converged at Capital City Billiards in Concord NH for stop 3 of the New England Junior American Championship Series. This was the New Hampshire State Championship. Winners are awarded paid entry into the BEF (Billiard Education Foundation) National Championships to be held in Quincy Illinois July 7-13. A big shout out to Jeff Burnham from Capital City Billiards for hosting the event and PBIA instructor Will Montegue for filling in as ref.
We held 3 divisions: 18u boys, 18u girls, and 14u mixed boys and girls. Congratulations to Siyu Chen for taking first place in the boys 18u and to Jack Muse for his strong 2nd place finish. Vermont’s Kennedy Dunn repeated her state championship performance with the win in the girls 18u division. Darragh O’Connor took second place. Congratulations also to Stephen Bao who came back from the B side to take first place in the 14u mixed division. He was knocked into the B side by Tanvee Vallem who flew in from Maryland and played in two divisions. Another Vermont player, Dakota Letourneau, went through most of the day without losing a rack, before taking second place to Stephen in the 14 under division.
We have two more State Championships coming up, in Connecticut and Maine, before holding our regional event in June.
We had a great turnout for the 2025 Arizona junior State Championships held at Dozer's Grill in Mesa Arizona.
Congratulations to all the players! These kids had us all on the edge of our seats the entire day. A wonderfully talented group of kids with some of the best sportsmanship I have ever seen!
I was proud of each and every player that competed & it was a joy to be the tournament director of this event.
We had a few special guest appearances from Peggy Mallen, owner of Balabushka Cue Company and Mike Howerton, CEO of AZBilliards!
The winner of the free cue raffle, due to the generous donation of the Balabushka Cue Company, was Noah McGovern. Noah walked away with a new $1,000 cue!
Kaito Okumura will be recognized the BEF Arizona State Junior 10 Ball Champion and has received free entry into the BEF American Junior National Championships in July in Quincy Illinois.
This is the first stop of the Southwest Youth Championship Tour. Next stops April 26th at Corner Pocket in Bakersfield, CA. as well as May 10th at Slate Street Billiards in Rio Rancho New Mexico!
Please support our sponsors who support junior pool!
Here are some pictures from the event!
We had about 20 juniors competing for the 2025 Rhode Island Junior State Championships. This was tour stop #2 on the New England Junior American Championship Series (JACS). Juniors came from Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
All winners took home WPA recognized championship titles, trophies, and free entries into the BEF American Junior National Championships to be held this July in Quincy Illinois. It is from that tournament that the players will be chosen to represent the United States on the American team at this year’s world junior championship.
Everyone who competes in any of our New England Tour stops will also be invited to play in the New England Regional championships scheduled for June 21. The Regional championship will award cash prizes to help defray the cost of travel to junior nationals in Quincy.
Congratulations to everyone who competed. Especially to the following winners of our event: Rhode Island native Brady Deverna took home the championship title, for the second consecutive year, in the Boys 18u division. 12-year-old Jacob Guevera made the trip from New York to take home 2nd place in the 18 u and the championship title in the mixed 14 u divisions. Eric Lavallee was very excited (almost as excited as his dad) to take second place in the 14 u mixed division. Congratulations also to Darragh O’Connor for taking the championship title in the girls 18u division and newcomer Madilynne Danzot for her second place win.
Thank you also to room owner Chris Jackson of Run Em Racks in Johnston Rhode Island. Run Em Racks is a beautiful room with diamond tables and a fabulous kitchen. Chris is dedicated to the sport and the development of billiard youth programs. We will be working to bringing the finest junior instruction and opportunities for young players in Rhode Island.
The Massachusetts State Junior Championship was a success despite severe storm warnings and unstable weather. Juniors from Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Connecticut gathered at the Red Dragon Billiards Club and Training Center for state titles and entries into the BEF American Junior National Championships in July.
Congratulations to Siyu Chen for winning the title of Boys 18u Massachusetts State Champion and to Jack Muse for a strong second place showing. Kennedy Dunn of Vermont won the State title for the Girls 18 under division. Darragh O’Connor placed second. Jan Santana took home honors for the 14 u mixed division with Stephen Chen coming in second place in a nail biting finish.
Siyu Chen, Jack Muse, Darragh O’Connor, Jan Santana, and Stephen Chen are students at the Red Dragon Billiards Club and Training Center.
The Massachusetts State Junior Championship is one of Six (6) stops on the New England Junior American Championship Series (JACS).
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