​Grain Valley senior finds success in billiards, to compete at world championship in Spain

by Michael Smith, Grain Valley News
 
When Grain Valley senior Kaden Herrbach is playing pool, he is laser focused whenever he takes a shot.
 
He eyes his target like a hawk, bends over and lines up his shot as he appears to have an elite level of concentration.
 
And this is just when he’s practicing.
 
Herrbach got his love for the sport from his father Jon, who taught him how to play pool at seven years old. The 18-year old has taken that love for pool and has turned it into success in competitive tournaments as he is a two-time Kansas City Open champion in Ultimate Pool USA.
 
From Nov. 28 to Dec. 2, Herrbach will be playing in the Predator World Pool Association Under-19 World Championships in Gandia, Valencia, Spain.
 
He qualified for the tournament after finishing in third place at the BEF Junior National Championships in July.
 
His family helped him organize raffles to raise money for the trip and Sandy’s Restaurant in Blue Springs donated 10 percent of sales on Oct. 4 to his Spain excursion.
 
“We just got enough money to go to Spain,” Herrbach said. “It’s really expensive to travel around and play professionally. I am thankful to everyone who donated. I was just a kid who picked up a pool cue and didn’t know how to use it. Now, I have people cheering me on to travel across the world to play my favorite sport. It means a lot to me.”
 
It took a lot of hard work for Herrbach to get to this point. He said he fell in love with the sport when his father took him to his first tournament. He also received lessons from billiards coach Joey Gray, who showed him how to practice and get better at the sport.
 
Currently, Herrbach said he practices for at least two hours a day on his own pool table at home or at Sidepockets in Blue Springs.
 
“He showed me some drills, which involved setting up certain shots,” Kaden Herrbach said of Gray. “You set up a certain shot and you had to hit the same spot 20 times in a row. If you miss at any point, you have to start over.”
 
The Grain Valley senior said he knew he wanted to continue to play competitively when he finished in second place in the black tier division of the American Pool Association’s Junior Championships in 2022.
 
From there, he won two Ultimate Pool USA Kansas City Junior Open championships in 2024 and 2025 held at Sidepockets in Blue Springs.  During the events, he sometimes had to battle nerves.
 
“When I play on the outside tables, there are no nerves,” Herrbach said, :but when I play on the tables in the middle that live stream matches, it can be nerve wracking for the first rack, but after that I feel fine.”
 
Herrbach said he hopes he makes a name for himself by finding success in the Predator World Pool Association Under-19 World Championships. He already has some notoriety locally as a few people who recognize him have asked for his autograph or for a photo with him.
 
“It’s feels kind of insane,” Herrbach said of people asking for autographs and photos. “One day I was just playing pool and trying to become better and practicing. Now, I am a role model sometimes to people.”
 
Having a top three finish at the tournament in Spain could be the start of Herrbach gaining national attention in the billiards world. His goal is to become a professional pool player and eventually win the World Pool Association’s World Pool Championships.
 
For now, he’s locked in on the big junior’s tournament coming up in November.
 
“I think if I can just get over the jet lag, I will be fine,” Herrbach said of his upcoming flight to Spain. “I will probably hit a couple of balls and practice and if I can get a good feel for it, I should be able to make a long run.”

Grain Valley High School senior Kaden Herrbach will be playing in the Predator World Pool Association Under-19 World Championships in Gandia, Valencia, Spain November 28 - December 2.
Photo credit: Michael Smith, Grain Valley News

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