This made front page of the sports section free press just the other day, photo shot at the Kato Cue Club
Mankato's Taylor Hansen is real sharp-shooter
MANKATO — Taylor Hansen doesn't know how far her skills on the pool table are going to take her, and she's not very concerned about it. For now, Rankweil, Austria, seems plenty far enough.
The 16-year-old junior-to-be at Mankato East is one of six billiards players from across the country to be selected to Team USA for the inaugural Atlantic Challenge Cup. The 19-under team will play against Team Europe on July 1-4 in Austria in a format similar to The Ryder Cup in golf.
"Everything has happened so fast," Hansen said. "It's really just an honor to compete for Team USA."
The teenager's journey to Austria actually started about seven years ago when she entered her first competition. Her father, Troy Hansen, is also a pool player, and she got hooked while watching her father practice and play.
At age 8, Taylor and her younger brother, Tristan, were given a 10-and-1 table as a gift. Her dad coached her in the fundamentals and when she finished fourth in her first age-group tournament, she was hooked.
"When she won that first trophy at an international tournament, that sort of drove her to get better," said Jana Hansen, Taylor's mom. "She really started practicing seriously and started moving up the scales every year."
Hansen seems to be getting hot at the right time. Over the weekend, she competed in the Valley National 8-Ball League Association international championships at Rochester. She won first-place trophies in all four of her events, which is believed to be unprecedented for someone her age.
She won the Minor Divison singles bracket (ages 14-17), Major Team title (ages 18-20), Scotch Doubles bracket and Top Cat singles tournament, which consists of the top finishers across all age groups.
Taylor will be joined on Team USA by her friend, April Larson, whom she met while competing in 2010. Larson hails from Bloomington, and the players are the only girls and only Minnesotans on the team.
They have played with and against each other for the last six years. Between them they have six national titles and have also started playing on the North Star Ladies Pool Tour in an effort to qualify for some Women's Professional Billiards Association events.
The competitive pool season usually lasts from September to June so Hansen has had to discipline herself to balance billiards with schoolwork. That means a lot of studying during car rides and during the week between tournaments. She's a good student academically and already has a number of Advanced Placement classes to her credit.
But it's her prowess with the cue that has already garnered her some attention. Her sponsors include Ozone Billiards, which supplies her equipment, Kamui (tips and chalk), Hustlin Clothing Co., Minnesota Pool Players Association and the local Kato Cue Club.
She heads out of town today for Indianapolis where she will participate in a series of clinics and practice sessions in preparation for the Atlantic Cup Challenge. The event his hosted by Jeanette Lee, one of the top female pool players in the world who has earned the nickname "The Black Widow" and has appeared on ESPN numerous times.
About a week later she will meet her family in Chicago and they will all fly out together for Austria.
"It's exciting to get the opportunity to play for Team USA in this first event," Hansen said. "There will be a lot of pressure, but (April and I) feel we've already won just by getting selected to play."
Mankato's Taylor Hansen is real sharp-shooter
MANKATO — Taylor Hansen doesn't know how far her skills on the pool table are going to take her, and she's not very concerned about it. For now, Rankweil, Austria, seems plenty far enough.
The 16-year-old junior-to-be at Mankato East is one of six billiards players from across the country to be selected to Team USA for the inaugural Atlantic Challenge Cup. The 19-under team will play against Team Europe on July 1-4 in Austria in a format similar to The Ryder Cup in golf.
"Everything has happened so fast," Hansen said. "It's really just an honor to compete for Team USA."
The teenager's journey to Austria actually started about seven years ago when she entered her first competition. Her father, Troy Hansen, is also a pool player, and she got hooked while watching her father practice and play.
At age 8, Taylor and her younger brother, Tristan, were given a 10-and-1 table as a gift. Her dad coached her in the fundamentals and when she finished fourth in her first age-group tournament, she was hooked.
"When she won that first trophy at an international tournament, that sort of drove her to get better," said Jana Hansen, Taylor's mom. "She really started practicing seriously and started moving up the scales every year."
Hansen seems to be getting hot at the right time. Over the weekend, she competed in the Valley National 8-Ball League Association international championships at Rochester. She won first-place trophies in all four of her events, which is believed to be unprecedented for someone her age.
She won the Minor Divison singles bracket (ages 14-17), Major Team title (ages 18-20), Scotch Doubles bracket and Top Cat singles tournament, which consists of the top finishers across all age groups.
Taylor will be joined on Team USA by her friend, April Larson, whom she met while competing in 2010. Larson hails from Bloomington, and the players are the only girls and only Minnesotans on the team.
They have played with and against each other for the last six years. Between them they have six national titles and have also started playing on the North Star Ladies Pool Tour in an effort to qualify for some Women's Professional Billiards Association events.
The competitive pool season usually lasts from September to June so Hansen has had to discipline herself to balance billiards with schoolwork. That means a lot of studying during car rides and during the week between tournaments. She's a good student academically and already has a number of Advanced Placement classes to her credit.
But it's her prowess with the cue that has already garnered her some attention. Her sponsors include Ozone Billiards, which supplies her equipment, Kamui (tips and chalk), Hustlin Clothing Co., Minnesota Pool Players Association and the local Kato Cue Club.
She heads out of town today for Indianapolis where she will participate in a series of clinics and practice sessions in preparation for the Atlantic Cup Challenge. The event his hosted by Jeanette Lee, one of the top female pool players in the world who has earned the nickname "The Black Widow" and has appeared on ESPN numerous times.
About a week later she will meet her family in Chicago and they will all fly out together for Austria.
"It's exciting to get the opportunity to play for Team USA in this first event," Hansen said. "There will be a lot of pressure, but (April and I) feel we've already won just by getting selected to play."
