Local teen, Pool prodigy reflects on international competition 

By: Darren Doyle

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) -- An area teen who discovered her talent during the South Side Flood of 2020 reflects on her success on the pool table, which recently led her to a world competition in Spain. 

Jordan Helfery was only eight years old when her family's home flooded in 2020.

Helfery lost all of her toys and had to find a way to pass the time when her family moved in with her grandparents. 

Helfery found her father's pool table, which he had purchased when he was younger, while she stayed with her grandparents. She took an interest and soon showed a talent her parents knew they couldn't pass up. 

"We'd come home from around the house, and she'd be like, Watch this. And she was working on trick shots, and she loved to watch YouTube," said Sarah Helfery, Jordan's mother.

The kid, in need of something to do, took her love of YouTube and taught herself how to play pool from videos of accomplished pro player Shane Van Boening.

"I was a kid. I had no idea you could take this professional or anything. Playing on (on my dad's table), I don't know, it just... it was really something I was going to remember," said Jordan. "Because it got me started in pool, and that flood was a blessing."

Two years later, the up-and-coming pool shark took part in a competitive pool tournament in Springfield, Missouri. She won the tournament in three matches; however, her family received a bump in the road that would be the biggest compliment to her play. 

"There was a guy who really thought he had the tournament, and when he got beat by her, he took to Facebook and made a big post about how we hustled him," said Sarah, while smiling. "Thankfully, the whole crowd there who saw the truth threw it back the other way."

She was advised not to play in any more "four and under" tournaments by the tournament head, as they felt she was a more skilled player. Not long after, Jordan would start playing in Junior International Championships, which led to many trophies and championship titles. 

"When I won that tournament in... Blue Springs against those adults, and I felt like I really had an edge, and I was really excited to see what else I could do," Jordan said.

The now 14-year-old was playing in her first Women's Professional Billiards Association matches at the age of 12.  She would go on to win her first national championship in Cherokee, North Carolina, in November, along with numerous other accolades. 

However, one competition would give her the opportunity of a lifetime when she played in the Billiards Education Foundation tournament in July of this year. 

This opportunity provided tickets for the top four girls and top four boys to compete in the Predator WPA World Junior Championship in Gandia, Spain. Jordan was one of five girls from the tournament who punched their ticket to one of the biggest competitions of their lives. 

"I started off playing with, you know, kind of amateur players, and as I got more into it, I was playing at higher-skilled events, and winning those, and slowly getting higher in the race than that also builds confidence," Jordan said. "Being able to go overseas is huge, and it's just like as you get more experience, it's a huge part of building that confidence...And going overseas was super exciting."

Jordan battled her way through the girls' division to the semifinals and received a bronze medal on one of the biggest stages for teen pool players. 

"You know, she is a perfectionist, and everything she does (is great). She's a straight-A student, works really hard, so anything she puts her mind to, she could do," Sarah said. "I would like to see her be a world champion one day. I know she's got the talent."

The young pool player stays solid through lessons with Ultimate Pool USA Hall of Famer David Matlock. The two went on to win a mixed pairs championship in February of 2025. 

She plans to continue her pool-playing career and hopes to turn it into a living in adulthood, to win world championships. 

"Keep doing what you love, as long as you have a love for it and you have a drive to want to keep getting better," said Jordan when asked if she had advice for young people going through a similar journey. "There's nothing that can stop you, just keep doing what you love."

Jordan said she is also thankful to her family, friends and career sponsors for helping her get to where she is today. 

She is set to compete in the Ultimate Pool USA Iowa Open in March.