No. 4 in national Pop-A-Shot contest

Luke Kachersky of Sparta has enjoyed playing Pop-A-Shot arcade basketball games since he was young.

When ESPN decided to hold the Pop-A-Shot National Championship contest again after 25 years, he decided to enter.

On Aug. 2, he took fourth place in the event, held in Rock Hill, S.C.

Kachersky, 44, was one of eight contestants. He was chosen after submitting a video.

“It was so fun to get creative ... have my friends and family contribute their hilarious cut scenes to acknowledge my madness.”

Kachersky said he enjoys Pop-A-Shot because it combines focus, achievement and fun. He also can include family and friends in his training.

“There’s always room to push yourself further, and everyone loves playing together!”

He trains with his favorite teammates: his wife of 19 years, Katie Tracy, and his two daughters, Ellie Kachersky, 16, and Hana Kachersky, 11.

He often includes his cousin Matthew and several younger cousins in his training both at home and at local arcades.

They play to beat each other with the highest scores and rapid shots.

In training

For the ESPN tournament, he trained in arcades, at home and at beaches in the Lake Mohawk area.

The time he spends playing varies depending on weather forecasts and his schedule.

Pop-A-Shot is a brand of arcade basketball invented by former college basketball coach Ken Cochran in 1981.

Players shoot a basketball at high speeds. The game has become very popular and competitive.

Kachersky has gained the nickname “Professor Pop-a-Shot” because he is a professor of marketing at Fordham University. He’s been teaching there for more than 14 years.

He said love for the game has caught on at Fordham, and the faculty and his students supported him during the ESPN contest.

He traveled to the competition with his family and gathered one of the best cheering sections.

The contest started with a qualifying round, with players with the best scores getting the highest seeds, then went to head-to-head best-of-three competitions. The top four players went to the semifinals.

Josh Caputo, 37, of Montgomery, Ill., took first place. His high score was 153.

There are no future contests on Kachersky’s calendar but he’s looking forward to training and having fun with his family.

He called the competition experience positive, noting it’s about the process and the goals you shoot for. Try your best and you’ll always move forward and you’ll hit plenty of shots along the way, he added.