This weekend the 22nd and 23rd February my 147 Academy was invited to Belgium to hold a coaching clinic in The Sandrine Vlamynck Snooker Room in Chatelet. The club is near the Belgium, French border and was named in memory of former lady number one French snooker player Sandrine Vlamynck who tragically died last year. In this area of Belgium, snooker is really booming and among the players who attended this camp were three players who will represent their country in next month’s EBSA European Snooker Championships in Serbia and a number of local players. The three players bound for the EBSA Championships in Serbia from the 18th – 28th of March had come for a coaching session were French up and coming junior players Niel Vincent, Nicola Mortreux who will both represent France in the Under 21 European Championship.
These young whiz kids are aged 10 years old and 12 years old and they will be the youngest competitors in Serbia. The French Snooker Association must be congratulated in sending two young players to a major Championship as they are the future of French snooker. The other player was experienced International player Alain Vandersteen who will compete in the European Team Championship for Belgium. He was joined by other Belgium players from the host club Mathieu Protin, Sebastien Taets and Raphael Profeta, Vincenzo Marchica and Lady player Jennifer Lemielle. One of the leading Belgium junior players 11 year old Sybren Sokolowski also attended and showed why he is regarded so highly with a superb display in his session.
All the players were recorded and received training routines and a DVD of the lesson to study at home. I worked on the players shot selection and cue actions in delivering the cue on the line of aim. The players trained very hard in their sessions and it was great to be back in the club where I have so many good memories and another camp is planned for later on in the year.
