News

Head of EBSA Coaching PJ Nolan travelled to Malta last weekend to hold an EBSA Coaching Course from the 3rd – 5th of September 2021, to train eight Maltese coaches on behalf of the European Billiards & Snooker Association in becoming Official EBSA Snooker Coaches.

The successful course was held in the incredible Malta Snooker Academy in the city of Hamrun were eight coaches were nominated by the Malta Billiards & Snooker Association to attend this three-day intensive training course with PJ Nolan from the Republic Of Ireland who is also a WPBSA Level 2 Coach.

The EBSA Coaching Courses are only open to recognised coaches who are approved by their own National Governing Body. The eight nominated coaches this time around had already a lot of experience in the game.

All eight are passionate about Coaching and some have played on the biggest of International and professional stages including National Champion Brian Cini, former professional player Tony Drago, leading International players Aaron Busuttil, Philip Ciantar, Tony Mifsud, Isaac Borg, Ivan Attard and Sacha Gauci.

Coaching Course

PJ said” It was great to come back to Malta to hold this course.  The Malta Snooker Academy is located at the ex-Maria Assunta School, in Hamrun. The Academy boasts 7 Star professional snooker tables as well as 5 small Star tables.

The Academy is fully equipped with air-conditioning and is used for training purposes especially by top Malta players. It was a big honour to train and qualify eight new coaches for the Association that will hopefully help grow the game and develop the coaching program all over Malta.

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

On the final day they completed the EBSA coaching written exam.

New Training Program

A new MSBA Association training program and manual in Maltese will now be developed to help the new coaches 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 will soon have 100 EBSA Coaches from 33 countries with full EBSA accreditation promoting the game all around Europe which goes well for the future of the game all across Europe.

Thank You

PJ thanked MBSA President Ivan Brincat for Inviting him to Malta and for the beautiful presentation. PJ also expressed his gratitude to Lothar Mallia and the MBSA board for their assistance in arranging everything for this course.

PJ also thanked the Sport Malta and the Malta Snooker Academy for hosting the course. PJ wished the eight 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.