Snooker Player

Professional snooker players play snooker in tournaments, to entertain the public and to earn money.

The Work

As a professional player you could be:

• using a cue to roll coloured balls in a certain order across a green baize table top into pockets at the side, to gain points


• practising every day, for several hours, under the guidance of a coach or manager


• keeping yourself physically fit between tournaments, through diet and exercise


• playing exhibition matches


• visiting clubs to challenge the top players there.

Conditions

• Most of your matches would be in the evening or at weekends.


• You would travel to tournaments, and sometimes spend nights away from home, perhaps abroad.


• Tournaments only take place at certain times of the year, so you might find your work is seasonal.

Getting In

• The first step is to join a snooker club with a good coach – it is important to get your technique right and not learn bad habits.


• You must practise, with the club coach and then take part in amateur matches, perhaps in a local league.


• If you make a successful start you might then move on to become a professional snooker player.


• You would then have a manager to arrange contests and publicity, and to negotiate terms.

What Does It Take?

You need to be:

• self-disciplined and dedicated


• willing to persevere


• competitive


• able to remain calm under pressure.

• good hand-to-eye coordination


• self belief


• the ability to concentrate for long periods


• good technique


• a steady hand.

Training

• You train by practising and gaining experience with help from your club coach – even top players have coaches.


• Some clubs offer better training than others – so try to join a good one.


• World Snooker accredits official coaches, based in various countries. See the website for contact details.

Getting On

• As your game improves you might move from local competitions to national or international ones.


• You might have a relatively short career as a professional player and move into another job in mid-life.


• You might become a snooker coach, accredited by the World Snooker scheme.


• You could also move into promotion or management of the game.

Pay

Your income will be irregular and variable because it depends on sponsorship, appearance fees and prize money.

As winner in a local league, for example, you might get £1,000.

Winning the World Championship in 2010 earned Australia's Neil Robertson £250,000. The prizes continued with each level taking a smaller purse until those in the last 48 got £8,200 each and those in the last 64 got £4,600 each.

But although a few top players earn large sums, the vast majority have to do an ‘ordinary’ part-time job as well.

More Information

There are 190 professional snooker players registered with World Snooker in the UK. The game is rapidly gaining popularity in China and in the Middle East.

There are junior summer schools at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield for players of all standards aged 17 and under. The World Snooker website has details.

Addresses

The following organisation(s) may be able to provide further information.