It’s impressive to watch the balls drop, especially when you consider the pool shark is a six-year-old.
“Five ball in the side pocket,” Julian Di Minco called before he sinks the ball.
It all started innocently enough when Di Minco’s dad brought home an old bar room pool table and set it up in the basement of the family home in Innisfil, Ont. Julian hadn’t a clue about how to play.
“When I first started, I didn’t know how to hold the stick so I just shot balls,” said Julian.
Julian’s mom, Sonia Di Minco, wasn’t overly thrilled about having a pool table in the house but changed her mind after she started watching her youngest son.
“I thought this is not for real. He’s only six,” said Sonia.
Soon the whole family became involved with Julian enjoying beating his two older brothers, 10-year-old daniel and 12-year-old Matteo.
Sonia was so impressed she opened an Instagram account and started posting videos of Julian playing. The account has had more than 50,000 views.
“They’re from all around the world. I don’t even understand the language people are writing in,” said Sonia.
There are challenges for a pint-sized pool player. Julian uses the rake for many of his shots and being under four feet tall, and he needs the use of his tiptoes all the time.
Meanwhile, Sonia said she wants to get her son some help. She’s trying to find a coach, but the town of Innisfil doesn’t even have a pool hall.
Sonia’s also trying to find a way to describe her new title as a sports mom.
“Instead of a hockey mom, a soccer mom, I’m a pool mom,” said Sonia while laughing.