COLUMBUS — Armed with multiple cues and plenty of chalk, Kolt Foster is one of Montana’s top young pool players.
At home just outside of Columbus, Kolt meticulously racks the rainbow of colored balls on his family’s table. Then with a swift but careful stroke, cracks them across the felt. Foster is only 11 years old but recently won his second straight Montana state youth title.
“I just see myself having potential,” Kolt said with a humble shrug.
Watch Kolt attempt to master pool's jump shot:
With an eye for success, Kolt and his dad, Russell, say they wander over to neighboring town Absarokee for regular Tuesday night action, where the youngster occasionally beats adults.
“It’s like old people … older than my dad,” Kolt said with a laugh.
Joking aside, Russell built the family’s pool table when he wasn’t much older than Kolt. “I was a seventh grader and yeah, it took all wood shop class one year,” Russell recalled.
Lately, the table has seen more action than combined over the last few decades.
While Kolt also plays football and basketball, pool is his current favorite, which can be challenging for his mom, Ashley.
“Football, basketball, volleyball, those kinds of things … you’re loud and you can cheer. (Pool) is very quiet and you’ve got to keep a lot to yourself. It is very stressful,” she admitted with a smile.
Just scratching the surface of competition, Kolt’s trophy collection is growing. Right now, he is trying to master a jump shot, in which the cue ball is intentionally jumps into the air to clear an obstacle and hit the target ball, hopefully knocking it into a pocket. But that’s harder than it looks.
However, just returning from his first national competition in Illinois, Kolt may have already delivered the highlight of his early career. With a decision looming, he successfully called and executed that jump shot, orbiting the No. 3 ball to combo it with the 5 into a corner pocket.
Sure, the state champ still misses. After all, he’s only 11. But he has unwavering community support from Columbus and Absarokee, with family friend Dan Bummer even hand-crafting multiple pool cues for him.
Next time you’re at the tables, watch out for the young guy. He may not be old enough to take your money, but he’ll gladly take aim at your pride.
