OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — A weekend pool tournament brought Wisconsin kids as young as 8 years old to Oshkosh. For one 12-year-old, the tournament was about more than the competition.
- Amy Wollin was diagnosed with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and given five to seven years to live
- Korbyn Wollin played in the junior pool tournament, so his mom could see him play.
- Dale Lorenz organized the Outer Points Productions junior pool tournament to get more kids into pool
When it comes to sports, Korbyn Wollin would rather play football or wrestling than pick up a cue. But on Sunday, August 4, he did just that.
“I’m just happy to be here,” he said. “I’m not as good as most of the other kids here, but I’m just here for mom, here to make her happy.”
Korbyn’s mom, Amy, is a pool enthusiast. She started playing six years ago, and it quickly became a frequent hobby.
“I used to be really, really involved in pool,” she said on Sunday. “We’d play pool a few times a week… then I started running tournaments and have over 100 tournaments under my belt that I ran.”
Three years ago, Amy was diagnosed with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP). She was given a timeline of 5-7 years, but a recent heart attack may have shortened that estimation.
"Honestly, I feel blessed– I have an expiration date-ish, you know?" she said. "I can make those amends, I can make sure that my family is set, I can make sure I can give the information that I want my kids to know from me before it's too late, and some people don't get that chance."
The diagnosis forced her to give up pool, but it didn’t mean she cut ties with the community.
Amy said she gets calls from pool players often– whether to ask her how she’s doing or to ask about a rule discrepancy.
“It’s for real a family,” she said. "I mean, that is my family. The last few years have been really, really, hard, but the one consistent that I have in my life is the pool community."
Korbyn lost his games on Sunday, but Amy got to see her son make new friends and connect with other pool players as she once had.
“I think having sportsmanship is kind of just its own sport in its own,” Korbyn said. “I also try to make friends everywhere I go.”
The tournament included players ages 8 to 17 from all over Wisconsin. It was organized by Dale Lorenz and his YouTube company, Outer Points Productions.
Lorenz said he hopes to showcase pool as a family-friendly activity.
“I came up with an idea that the state of Wisconsin needs more of a future for pool,” he said on Sunday.
Lorenz has been playing pool for over 40 years, so he said the junior tournament was a way to give back to the sport.
“I owe the sport, is the way I look at it,” he said. “I have 30 or 40 people that are standing behind me that have gotten me to this point.”
