The Coach
| Article Index |
|---|
| The Coach |
| Appointed Qatar National Coach |
| Leaving Qatar |
| The Next Chapter |
| European Coach |
| Pool Coaching |
| All Pages |
The New Irish Chapter
It wa
s in January 2008 I was re-appointed Irish National Snooker Coach by the Republic Of Ireland Billiards & Snooker Association.
The Irish Association gave me a full time paid National Coach position and the Development officer role.
During the first 12 months I travelled around the country running free coaching sessions in Clubs to promote the new Coaching Academy.
I really enjoyed my journey to find the next crop of junior players in Ireland who could develop their overall game to perform on the world stage.
I attended as many RIBSA tournaments as possible in searching for new up and coming players. I held trials for an RIBSA Elite Junior Squad and I was amazed with so many young talented Irish players.
This is where I first met Josh Boileau, Tom Hogan, Aaron Tobin, Dylan Scully, Andrew Doherty, Ross Doyle and Stephen Bateman. I really believe these young players have what it takes to become the next stars of the future in the Irish game in the next 5 years.
Early RIBSA Success
In April 2008 I travelled with a young Jason Devaney to Sheffield for the annual U-16 Pot Black Event in the Crucible Theatre.
Jason stayed with me in Carlow that week to work on his game. He practiced with Aditya Metha from India who was attending a 14 Day training camp with me in his own preparation for the Asian Championship in Dubai.
Jason played excellent snooker in the event to win the championship which was televised live on BBC TV beating Sam Craigie and Duane Jones along the way to the title.
He was presented with the Perpetual Cup by former world champion Mr Terry Griffiths in the Crucible. I can honestly say that I was so proud to see him lift that cup in the magical crucible theatre.
Later on that month Jason Devaney also became the first Republic Of Ireland junior to win the Pontins Under 15 Open in Prestynn North Wales
Two Academy Members on Main Tour 2008 / 2009
It ended up a great fortnight for the Academy when unranked Aditya Metha representing India went on to reach the Asian final in Dubai beating a string of top Asian players including former world champion Pankaj Advani in the semi finals. His performance earned him his pro-ticket for the WSA Main tour for 2008/2009
Vincent Muldoon needed to win the final RIBS
A ranking event and retain his Republic Of Ireland Senior National Title to finish Number 1 on the 2008 RIBSA rankings. Vincent had narrowly missed out on the Main Tour the previous season but there was no stopping Vincent who had also received the news that he won a snooker scholarship from Maynooth University.
The 17 year old Galway man turned on the style to win both events to win the RIBSA number one spot and his professional ticket to play on the WSA Main tour.
In November in the 2008 IBSF World Amateur Championship in Austria and it was a big honour for me to work with Republic Of Ireland player Colm Gilcrest from Navan when he reached the final of this prestigious world snooker championships.
Colm played some great snooker to finish Number one seed following the group stages and he played a great final but he was beaten by Thepchaiva Un –Nooh from Thailand.
The Champion - Jason Devaney
I first coached a 11 year old Jason Devaney from Crosmolina Snooker Club in Co Mayo at a RIBSA under 14 ranking event in Carlow in 2003
Jason reminded me so much of a young David Hogan because he had the drive and hunger that I believed would push him to success in the game.
In 2010 Jason Devaney completed the final piece of the jigsaw he needed to complete a full set of National Junior Snooker Titles in the Republic Of Ireland.
In 2005 he won the Under 14 Title. In 2008 he won the Under 16 Title. In 2009 he won the Under 19 and Under 21 National Titles and in 2010 he won the Under 18 Title to join very few junior players to complete a full set of RIBSA under age National Titles.
In 2008 Jason won two major International junior events when he won the Pot Black in the Crucible Theatre and the Pontins Under 15 star of the future in Pontins in North Wales.
His performances in training and the scores he has achieved in training has amazed me at times. He still listens and understands that he need to keep on working hard on all the areas of his game.
He has beaten top juniors from all across the UK and Europe including Belguim whiz kid Luca Brecel when he beat him in the 2010 EBSA under 19 Championship in Malta.
Over the next few seasons Jason will hopefully develop into a good senior player and nobody can predict the future but I can tell you now that this young Ballina man will be giving it 100% to reach the next level.
