Allowing headphones during league or tournaments has become a bigger conversation among tournament directors and pool players. It wasn’t that long ago a few players were using headphones during practice, and even fewer were using them while playing league or during a local tournament. However, in recent months there has been a striking upswing in use. It appears that more players are seeing a benefit to their game by blocking out peripheral noise and getting into the “zone.”

What an honor it is for a junior pool player, age 14 through 18, to be chosen for the spring training camp, sponsored and put on by the Black Widow Foundation, to prepare for the Billiard Congress of America (BCA) Atlantic Challenge Cup. Ten players are invited to the camp and out of ten, six will be chosen as the official starting team. Emily Herpel is one of those ten participants and here is her story. Emily started playing pool when she was six (she’s now 16). She started