EBSA qualify Seven New Coaches - European Billiards & Snooker Association

During the 2025 European Snooker Championships in the Pine Beach Belek Hotel at the European Snooker Championships in Antalya, Türkiye, Head of EBSA Coaching PJ Nolan held a EBSA Coaching Course on behalf of the European Billiards & Snooker Association to train seven Official EBSA Snooker Coaches from the 14th – 16th of March.

The EBSA Coaching Course is a three-day intensive training course which is only open to recognised coaches who are approved by their own National Governing Body. The seven nominated coaches from Sweden, France, Estonia, Türkiye, Spain and Poland qualified from this successful course.

Our New Coaches

The seven nominated coaches were Aleksandr Vlassov from Estonia, Massoud Nazari from Sweden, Kinga Pietrzak from Poland, Yannick Poulain from France, Rafael Argente Alejandre from Spain, Melih Egemen and Muhammed Leysi from Türkiye.

PJ said ‘’It was great to see countries wanting to send their coaches for this EBSA training course and great to have a new country like Türkiye join our EBSA Coaching team. All of them had a great passion to help grow the game in their own country. We are delighted to have seven more EBSA coaches join our EBSA team and help the EBSA grow the game all around Europe.

WPBSA

The coaches also attended a one day online WPBSA seminar on Child Protection with WPBSA head of Coaching Chris Lovell on the 14^th of March. The coaches will now receive equivalent grade to the WPBSA Level 1 Coach so they can begin a pathway to level 2 WPBSA Coach in the future if they wish.

Syllabus

The EBSA Snooker Coaching syllabus includes a practical exam as well as verbal and written exams covering all the techniques and skills of coaching the game of snooker.

This Coaching course covered all aspects of the game from Planning Sessions, Designing Routines, Role of a Coach, Sports Psychology, Rules of the Game, Practice Exercises, Written Records, Safety Play, Shot Selection, Oral Assessment, Preparation for Match- Play, Physical and Mental Etiquette and on the final day they completed the EBSA coaching written exam.

New Training Program

The new coaches will create a training program and manual in their country to help train and guide the players. The coaches will now begin their probation period where they will complete all the necessary assignments to graduate in becoming a fully accredited EBSA Coaches later on this year.

The EBSA have now 101 registered EBSA Coaches approved by the NGB from 31 countries with full EBSA accreditation promoting the game all around Europe which goes well for the future of the game all across Europe.

Elite Performance Hydration

This course the coaches also learnt about the science of hydration in reaching elite performance. Irish Company highdr8 located in Nenagh in the Republic of Ireland presented each coach with samples to show their players.

highdr8 contains a wide spectrum of electrolytes, sodium, magnesium, and potassium particularly that stand out in maintaining hydration in the body. Highdr8 electrolyte sachets incorporates all three of these electrolytes, in the compound forms of sodium chloride, magnesium malate, and potassium chloride.

Staying hydrated involves more than just consuming water; it also depends on the proper absorption and balance of electrolytes. These essential minerals carry an electric charge and play crucial roles in various bodily functions, such as maintaining fluid balance, enabling muscle contractions, and facilitating nerve signalling. Without an adequate electrolyte balance, the body’s ability to perform optimally and maintain overall health can be compromised

EBSA Head of Coaching PJ Nolan thanked highdr8 for all their support and for more info on highdr8 products click on https://gethighdr8.com/

Thank You

PJ thanked EBSA President Maxime Cassis who was on hand to present the coaches with their certificates on the final day of the course. EBSA would also like to thank Chris Lovell and all the WPBSA Team for holding the online seminar for our coaches.

PJ wishes the new EBSA coaches the best of luck in developing their coaching skills and completing their homework assignments in graduating as full EBSA Coaches later this year.

Big final thank you goes to EBSA Coach Alexander Sabljak from Croatia for assisting me on the course and to the Türkiye Snooker Federation and the European Billiards & Snooker Association for hosting this successful Coach Training Course.