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In 1999 The Republic of Ireland Billiards & Snooker Association gave me a position I
couldn’t refuse and that was to become the Republic Of Ireland National Snooker Coach and Director of Coaching in Ireland. I decided to quit Qatar to come back to Ireland to take up this position
From 1999 – 2003 I worked as the full time National Snooker Coach of Ireland and guided the
Ireland senior team to win two Home International Senior Titles in 2000 and 2001.
I also helped in the development of a string of new Irish up and coming players like David
Morris, Vincent Muldoon, David Hogan, Martin McCrudden, and Tom McKeown who have all gone on to win numerous Irish titles.
In 2001, I attended the NCTC ( National Coaching & Training Center ) Tutor
Course on behalf of RIBSA. This course covered all sports and it showed me that a coach is the same in all sports and it all boils down to helping players enjoy and play the sport better and more consistent.
During the two year's involved with the NCTC, I wrote the RIBSA coaching syllabus and this
Introduction Level Course was approved by the NCTC in January 2003. I finally graduated in the NCTC as the first tutor in the sport of snooker in Limerick University in 2002. Now RIBSA run coaching seminars using
this RIBSA / NCTC course
Appointed Qatar National Cue Sport Coach - 2003
Being the full time National Coach of Ireland was an unpaid position and in 2003 the Qatar
Federation again approached me to return to Qatar to become the National Cue Sport Technical Expert.
I accepted this role in June 2003 and in 2004 coached Qatar to achieve their first ever gold
medal in the Gulf Snooker championships.
The new Qatar Billiards & Snooker Federation training center was opened in April 2006. This
center is in the capital of Qatar and has 10 superb Riley match snooker tables and 8 Brunswick pool tables and is where the Qatar snooker and pool national teams train every day under my training programs.
Coaching over the Internet
Despite living in Qatar for almost five years I have still regularly coached and guided a
number of Irish and International players by email. My coaching style is simply to break each point down and getting the players to think, play positive and naturally and train on specific routines.
I believe this is the secret of my success to date and it has earned me the respect from my
players to describe me as one of the top world coaches.
Working with the famous Coaches
During my coaching career, I have worked with some of the most famous snooker coaches in the
world Terry Griffiths, Del Hill, Chris Henry and national coaches from Thailand, China, and Malaysia.
They all have their own individual coaching styles and the best advice I ever received from
them, is to never stop working hard on your own coaching if you want to stay successful in this game.
The Champion – David Morris
It was in 1999 when I first met an 11 year old school boy from Kilkenny called David Morris and
from the that day he had the ambition to become a champion.
He practiced everything I gave him and we travelled to every underage tournament around
Ireland. We worked on fine tuning his technique and game that eventually led him to win every underage Irish title and become the Irish champion three times in a row and qualify onto the main tour.
The Champion – David Hogan
It was in 2000 when I started coaching 12 year old David Hogan from Borrisakane in Co Tipperary
and if there ever was a boy who was hungry for success, it was David.
David Hogan has become one of the top players in Ireland and has won numerous under age Irish
titles. Coaching and training David Hogan was easy because he was willing to do everything and work very hard on all parts of his game. Now everyone can see the overall improvement and consistency of his game.
The Champion – Vincent Muldoon
In 2001 I started coaching 10 year old Vincent Muldoon from Galway. Straight away I saw a
special talent that I thought could develop into a top player.
After the lesson, I rang David Morris and told him I had coached the next player who I believed
would dominate the Irish scene.
Vincent was the first junior to beat David Morris in an under age event. Since then, Vincent
has practiced all my routines and we have fine tuned his technique and his game has improved each season.
He has reached the final of the European Under 19 Championships in both 2006 and 2007. He won
the highest break prize with a 137 break in reaching the semi final in the 2007 Under 21 World Championship in India.
Vincent also won the RIBSA National Senior. Under 21, Under 19, Under 18 Championships in 2007.
It was during the build up for the world under 21 championships in India that Vincent tried to
convince me to return to Ireland , when he came to stay with me in Qatar to prepare with my Qatar players for the 2007 World U-21 Championship.
Leaving Qatar in 2008
In 2008 I announced I was stepping down as the Qatar coach to return to Ireland as the national coach
again and to set up my own training academy in Ireland. After my 5 years in Qatar, I believe my coaching is now beginning to pay off in Qatar and produce top players.
Ali Al Obaidly is a 15 year old Qatari with a bright future. He has qualified and played in the 2006
& 2007 Asian Senior Championships, World Under 21’s and Asian Under 21’s and the IBSF World Championships.
In 2006 he played in the Asian Games along with his brother Khamis Al Obaidly (19yrs) and Mohanna Al
Obaidly (17yrs)
In December 2007 Khamis Al Obaidly became the youngest winner of the Qatar National Snooker
Championship when he won the title.
I believe now Qatar have a team of young talented players to keep the development of the game in
Qatar going for the next 10 years.
It was a difficult decision to leave Qatar again but I feel the time is right to return and attempt
to develop new up and coming Irish players in my academy who can compete on the world stage.
I will not be quitting on my Qatar players. They all have their new training CD’s and the
Qatar Federation and other gulf counties have already confirmed they will be organizing camps in Ireland with my academy in the summer of 2008.
The P.J. Nolan Academy Of Champions
My new Coaching Academy is something I am very excited about and I aim to offer the best
training program anywhere in the world to prepare players and teams for major competitions.
I have already got assurances from almost all of the top Irish players and some of the next
generation who want to sign up and join my new Academy.
Also players and federations from around the world have expressed interest about wanting to
come to Ireland and receive training in my academy.
It will be easy to notice my academy players on the circuit, because they will all have the
Academy of Champions logo on their waistcoat and on the cue case.
I hope it will be the logo that every player wants to have.
My new academy web site will be broken into two areas, with free content and a members site.
All the free material will be a sample of what is contained in the members area.
All of my new training programs, manuals, booklets will be available on-line to the members of
the Academy and will help players of all levels from a junior player to the player on the main tour.
Another section of my site will be to answer any questions from all players from all around the
world.
The next chapter
I really believe there are a number of junior players in Ireland who can develop their overall
game to perform on the world stage.
It will be a big honour for me to work with them.
During the next 6 - 12 months I will travel around Ireland and attend as many tournaments as
possible searching for new up and coming talent.
Hopefully the next chapter of my story is to help more Irish players achieve their goals and
dreams and whatever happens I promise all my players 100% commitment and I will get them to enjoy the game more, and you can follow it all on my new web site on www.foul4.com
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