Schuckman: Success on pool table helps stoke Bockenfeld’s ‘drive to go further and play higher in this sport’

QUINCY — The hardware Kelsey Bockenfeld has collected in the past five weeks has made her trifecta of titles complete.

State champion. National champion. World champion.

That’s quite a resume.

The Quincy native won an American Motocross Association ATV national championship during her days racing quads, but has since found a passion and a drive to become a world-class pool player.

She was part of the eight-player team representing Rack Daddy’s Billiards and Sports Bar that won the 116-team gold division in the BCA Pool League World Championships in Las Vegas on April 2. Winning the American Cue Sports Illinois State Association women’s state championship in mid-April further stoked her fire.

“I didn’t realize how much I would enjoy playing until now that I’m going to all of these competitions,” Bockenfeld said. “I’ve got my drive to go further and play higher in this sport. Right now, I really want to play pool and learn more. I’m really excited that I’m into it now.”

She’s thriving because she found her focus.

“At the state tournament, sitting there, I was never on my phone,” Bockenfeld said. “I was really focused. I knew that’s what drew me in and what would keep me in the game. I was watching and I was learning. Being there and staying focused in the game really has me driven.”

Her game is ever evolving.

One of Sam and Kathy Dyer’s three daughters, Bockenfeld grew up around the game. Her father is one of the region’s top pool players, and she learned some of the tricks of the trade watching and playing against him.

“We used to have a pool table at home, and ever since then, I’ve had a love for pool,” Bockenfeld said. “He taught us how to play pool. The first time I remember him putting a stick in my hands was him telling me how to stand on the table and how to get down on the table. I was probably 16 at the time.

“It never made sense to me until he explained it to me. Now that I’m further along, I get why you have to be down on the table and eye level with the ball.”

She also learned the game is so much more than power and precision.

“A lot of strategy is pulled into it, a lot of mathematics and understanding angles,” Bockenfeld said. “There’s a lot of strategy to moving the cue ball around. Sometimes playing safeties win the game. People who don’t play pool probably don’t realize that is key and important to winning a pool game.”

The sport doesn’t matter. Defense wins championships.

“I’m actually in the middle of learning the safeties and the defense part of the pool game,” Bockenfeld said. “I’m very, very focused on playing defense and controlling the cue ball. That’s where the next part of my game will mature and help me at the next level.”

Putting herself in the middle of the fray helps, too.

“Going to Vegas was a great opportunity for me,” Bockenfeld said. “Going out there, I expected to learn a lot from that. Then coming back here and playing in the state tournament, it gave me drive to do the same thing, to try to do it back-to-back.

“I was really determined to get to the end.”

The state tournament took place at the Oakley-Lindsay Center with more than 700 participants spread across team and individual competitions. Because it was played in her backyard, Bockenfeld had an incredible amount of family and friends on site to support her.

She didn’t allow that to be a distraction. Nothing, in fact, could sway her.

“The key to success was to keep focused and keep my head in the game,” Bockenfeld said. “With all the support from my mom and my dad, it kept me focused on the game. … It’s very easy to get distracted when you’re playing pool because it is a mental game.

“So the key was to maintain my focus on the game. It’s not over until it’s over. That’s what I kept telling myself.”

When it ended, she was a state champion for the first time.

“I was very shocked and very surprised,” Bockenfield said. “Every time I go into something, I never expect to take home the win, although that is everyone’s goal. So I was very surprised with myself and all of my focus and my ability to make it towards the end.”

That focus has her playing three times per week and searching for more.

“Any tournament where I’m available, I’ll try to get in on,” Bockenfeld said.

It’s how she will continue to elevate her game.

“I’ve gotten the drive now and I’m finding I have the skill where I can compete and I have the ability to win,” Bockenfeld said. “I have the drive. I have the focus. I have the passion to do this.”