Massé Tournament Director and Club Coach, New Zealand Cue Sports Champion Jimmy ‘The Professor’ Henry, has coached another successful School Holiday Programme. This took place at the Hamilton and Pukekohe branches of the Club. Jimmy explains that he has seen some outstanding skills from the kids that attended over the last couple of weeks. “These kids have only been playing for under a year but are well on their way to reach up to the level of the Senior A-Grade players”, he explains.
Professor Jimmy’s Story
Jimmy says that his passion for coaching pool to kids stems from his love and enjoyment for the game as a child. Jimmy said he never had access to coaching in his early days of learning, so from the age of seven to his late teens his skills were completely self-taught. Despite this, Jimmy has had a very successful career conquering lots of New Zealand championships and travelled the world playing professionally. He says he’s thankful for meeting New Zealand National Cue Sports Coach, Gary Gillard, when he was old enough to start competing. Gary showed him the techniques of how to stand and control the ball. Jimmy says he finds coaching school kids extremely rewarding and that it is his way to give back to the community. “It’s amazing to see how quickly their skills advance with some guidance”, he says.
Tournament winners from last Friday’s session with Jimmy at Massé Hamilton:
A- Grade winners – Alexandria (12yrs) and Taare (15yrs)
B- Grade winners – Flynn (12yrs) and Regan (11yrs)
C- Grade winners – Chloe (11yrs) and Emilee (11yrs)
The ages of kids in the programme range from nine years old to approximately fourteen years old, with a mixture of boys and girls.
In June this year, there are 15 Massé juniors travelling to compete at the VNEA Junior International Pool Championships in Pennsylvania, USA!
Sign up your kids for the next School Holiday Programme at Massé
If your kids are interested in joining in on the fun and playing a great sport, Massé runs free coaching for Massé members every week across all clubs. Junior (under 18) and Student memberships are only $10 for the year. Get in touch: contact@masse.co.nz