2014 Team USA

Yesterday, (March 21, 2014) Team USA captain, Mark Wilson, announced the squad of 8, which will be eventually narrowed down to 5, for the 2014 Mosconi Cup tournament.  He has picked a good group of pool professionals, with some having been on past Mosconi Cup teams and some young players that have not.

The team of 8:

Name, age

Shane Van Boening, 30
John Schmidt, 40
Corey Deuel, 36
Brandon Shuff, 30
Justin Hall, 26
Oscar Dominguez, 29
Justin Bergman, 26
Jeremy Sossei, 35

Having announced the potential team members this early will hopefully give them time to evaluate the 5 guys that will best work together toward a common goal of winning the Mosconi Cup.  It has been five years since the USA won the Mosconi Cup and were getting left in the dust compared to Team Europe who worked together so much better as a team.

I feel like Mark Wilson has made huge leaps already by naming the potential team members early and making plans to pick the five based on who he feels will bring a good attitude and work ethic.  In years past, Johnny Archer was the team captain, but he also played, which I feel hurt more than helped.  Team USA also did not get together before the tournament to practice, build team unity, or put together a plan.  I feel confident that if Mark Wilson does this and brings a solid, unified team to the 2014 Mosconi Cup, even if we don't win, it will be a huge step in the right direction.

So look for Mark Wilson to narrow this squad of 8 down in the coming months before the November showdown in Blackpool, England.