Sensory Snooker Programme Wins UK Coaching Award
Sense Active’s Sensory Sport Programme, which featured a Sensory Snooker Programme supported by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), has won the Inclusive Coaching Award at the 2024 UK Coaching Awards.
The awards ceremony was held on Tuesday 10 December in Leeds with the most impactful coaches and organisations being recognised and celebrated.
The Inclusive Coaching Award is for a coach, project, programme or intervention that uses #GreatCoaching to encourage more people from diverse backgrounds to get and stay active.
Sense Active’s Sensory Sport programme was created to meet a bold and vital ambition: to enable people with complex disabilities to enjoy high quality opportunities to play team sports and enjoy the physical, mental, and social benefits.
Snooker has played a large role in the programme since hosting the first sensory snooker session at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds in April with the aim of reinventing and creating simpler versions of the sport for people with complex disabilities.
The pilot ‘sensory snooker’ session was hosted by WPBSA Head of Coaching Chris Lovell alongside qualified WPBSA coaches Andrew Highfield and Mark Peevers.
The multi-sport Sensory Sport programme has engaged 432 participants across 24 sessions to date, with further sessions in the pipeline.
The programme is part of a broader scheme to promote the inclusivity of snooker, with regular ‘Introduction to Snooker’ sessions held across the country in association with Parkinsons UK.
The group at the Elite Snooker Club in Preston, which is held twice a month by Chris Lovell, held its Christmas party this week where the group were treated to gifts and a breakfast brunch while taking part in festive games and enjoying seasonal greetings via video from WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson and for world champions Steve Davis, Dennis Taylor and Shaun Murphy.
Phil, one of the participants of the sessions in Preston, said: “We look forward to the sessions as it gives us something to look forward to and helps to improving metal health. Taking part is great fun and looking back the day afterwards is a wonderful memory.”
WPBSA Head of Coaching Chris Lovell said: “We are incredibly proud to have played our part in Sense Active’s Sensory Sport Programme which has now been rightfully recognised by the UK Coaching Awards.”
“Snooker is a sport that everyone can enjoy and we look forward to continue working alongside Sense Active in the coming year to promote the inclusivity of our sport.”
Alice Turner, Active Lifestyles Lead at Sense, said: “We are thrilled that the Sensory Sport programme has received the recognition it deserves through winning the UK Coaching Awards.”
“By breaking each sport down and making activities truly person-centred, we have seen hundreds of people with complex disabilities engaging in sports such as snooker for the first time and gaining many physical, social and mental benefits from taking part.”
“We are so thankful to the National Governing Bodies such as the WPBSA who have collaborated with us on the programme, helping to ensure the content and pathways are appropriate and really support people to access the sport.”
