Hong Kong Head Coach

Terry Griffiths Snooker's Director of Coaching Development, Wayne Griffiths, has recently been confirmed as the first ever Head Coach for Billiard Sports at the Hong Kong Institiute of Sport (HKSI). This exciting new role will see Wayne responsible for promoting and growing snooker and pool in the region, developing coach education and working closely with Hong Kong's elite players.

Based in Sha Tin in the New Territories, the Hong Kong Institute of Sport is a state of the art training facility housing many Olympic and non-Olympic sports. The Institute is currently undergoing a period of re-development that involves almost HK$1.8 billion funding from the Government. The construction works commenced in March 2009 and will be completed in three phases over three years.

Billiard sports qualified as an elite sport in Hong Kong in 2009. This allows the sport to fall under the umbrella of the HKSI and releases funding to develop the sport. This allowed HKSI to start a world-wide search for their first Head Coach for Billiard Sports. In conjunction with the Hong Kong Snooker Association (HKBSCC) interviews were carried out with potential candidates, culminating in a short list of applicants arriving in Hong Kong for a two day selection process in early June.

Wayne was informed in July of his successful application and will now start work in Hong Kong at the end of September, 2010. It will be a baptism of fire, as soon after starting his new role Wayne will accompany Hong Kong's elite stars to the Asian Games in China and the IBSF World Amateur Championships in Syria.

A buisness graduate and former Project Manager, Wayne has also been active as the European Snooker Association's Senior Trainer for National Coaches and qualified as a World Snooker Association Coach in 2007. In his time as Coaching Development Director at Terry Griffiths Snooker, he has been responsible for the design and launch of the Terry Griffiths Snooker website, the co-design and launch of snooker's first dedicated software analysis tool, Snooker Lab and he is currently working on ground breaking snooker related development projects with both Swansea University and UWIC.

Hong Kong's gain will be Terry Griffiths Snooker's loss as Wayne will now obviously be unavailable to fully support his coaching commitments here at the Terry Griffiths Snooker academy.

Good luck Wayne!