Sandman, Jorgen

Jorgen Sandman is one of the most influential and enduring figures in the modern history of pool and billiards sports. Across more than five decades, he has served the game as a player, coach, instructor, room operator, promoter, author, federation leader, international administrator, and Olympic advocate. Few people have touched as many parts of the sport, and even fewer have done so with the same combination of humility, persistence, imagination, and service.

Born in Sundsvall, Sweden, Jorgen grew up in a sports-minded environment where competition, discipline, and teamwork were part of daily life. His father had played ice hockey, and Jorgen learned to skate almost before he could walk. Hockey became his first great sporting passion, and the lessons he learned on the ice stayed with him for life. One of the earliest and most important was the value of fundamentals. His hockey coach famously insisted that young players first learn how to skate before they were allowed to focus on sticks, pucks, and scoring goals. That approach later became central to the way Jorgen taught pool: learn the foundation first, then build the game.

As a youngster, Jorgen tried many sports. Hockey, volleyball, speed skating, football, table tennis, and other activities helped shape his coordination, competitiveness, and understanding of athletic development. He would later become a strong advocate for young people experiencing multiple sports rather than specializing too early. In his view, broad athletic experience develops better motor skills, better instincts, and a greater chance of discovering the one thing at which a person may truly excel. One of his most memorable beliefs is that there is a world champion inside everyone; the challenge is finding out in what.

Jorgen’s first encounter with billiards came in 1968 during a family trip to Stockholm. His uncle had an important billiards match and invited Jorgen and his brother to watch. The two boys found the players’ struggles so amusing that they laughed until the cue was handed to them. Jorgen’s own first attempt was humbling—he even missed the cue ball—but that moment sparked a lifelong fascination. Back home in Sundsvall, he began seeking entry into the local billiard club. At first, he was too young to be admitted, but his persistence eventually won out.

That first billiard club became a defining place in his life. Located downstairs, with tables lined through the room and coin-operated lights above them, it introduced him to the atmosphere, characters, and culture of the game. It also introduced him to Rolf Larsson, an important mentor who encouraged Jorgen to begin teaching even before he considered himself an accomplished player. Larsson’s advice was simple and powerful: learn by doing. That motto became one of the guiding principles of Jorgen’s life.

By 1973, Jorgen was coaching pool. At the time, formal instruction was almost nonexistent in Sweden. Players learned by watching others, copying techniques, and discovering the game through trial and error. Jorgen approached teaching with the same logic he had learned in hockey: start with the basics. Before students could run racks, they needed to know how to stand, how to hold the cue, how to aim, how to stroke, and how to build reliable fundamentals. Over time, he developed a coaching philosophy based on three essential steps: observe, analyze, and communicate. A great coach, in Jorgen’s view, does not need to be the greatest player. He needs to understand what he sees, identify what matters, and explain it in a way the student can understand.

His early years in pool coincided with Sweden’s remarkable embrace of the game. Through the work of pioneers like Rolf Larsson, the Swedish Billiard Federation gained recognition within the Swedish sports system, and pool tables were introduced into thousands of schools. At one point, Jorgen recalls more than 4,500 Swedish schools having pool tables. This was a remarkable development, decades ahead of what many other countries would attempt, and it helped make Sweden an important part of European pool’s growth.

Jorgen was also a natural promoter. As a freelance sports journalist, pool room operator, and entrepreneur, he understood that the sport needed visibility as much as it needed talent. When *The Color of Money* helped renew interest in pool, he worked with cinema operators to put offers on the backs of movie tickets, giving moviegoers a reason to try the game themselves. He staged professional events, wrote about pool, attracted press coverage, and used every available platform to raise the sport’s profile. His simple belief was that an idea has no value until someone puts it into action.

That same attitude helped carry him into international governance. Jorgen became deeply involved with the European Pocket Billiard Federation and later played a central role in the formation and development of the World Pool-Billiard Association. He was part of the generation that believed pool needed a true world structure, not just scattered national efforts or isolated professional events. The challenge was enormous. Communication was slow, money was limited, and national federations often lacked the resources to travel and meet. The solution was to build around continental federations, allowing regions to organize nationally and then come together globally.

One of the most important milestones was bringing the United States into the world structure. At the time, American players were widely regarded as the strongest in pool, and Jorgen understood that any world championship without them would lack credibility. The eventual support of the Billiard Congress of America was a turning point. Jorgen still recalls the long fax that arrived confirming American participation and interest in joining the global effort. For those working to build the WPA, it was a champagne moment.

Jorgen’s influence extended well beyond pool. He was also deeply involved in the broader effort to unite billiards sports—pool, carom, snooker, and English billiards—under the World Confederation of Billiards Sports. This unity was essential to gaining recognition from the International Olympic Committee. The process was long and often difficult. Some sports officials questioned whether billiards was truly a sport at all. Jorgen and his colleagues had to explain, present, persuade, and persist. Their work helped move billiards sports into the Olympic-recognized family, a historic achievement for cue sports worldwide.

Throughout his career, Jorgen has also remained devoted to youth development. His training camps in Europe helped create a culture of quality instruction, structured practice, and international exchange. What began with a small group of young players grew quickly as word spread. Those camps helped shape players, coaches, and federations, and they contributed to the rise of European pool on the world stage. Jorgen believes that Europe and Asia caught up to the United States largely because they built stronger systems: clubs, regional federations, national structures, coaching programs, and junior development pathways.

His work also reached emerging pool nations. One of his most memorable stories involves helping introduce high-level pool to Russia, including staging competition in a state circus and arranging for the donation of twelve nine-foot tables. He later reflected that those early efforts helped plant seeds for Russia’s future success in the sport.

Jorgen’s life has included profound personal hardship as well. In December 2020, he and his wife survived the devastating landslide in Gjerdrum, Norway, which destroyed homes and took lives. They lost nearly everything, but chose resilience, gratitude, and forward motion. The international billiards community rallied around them, a testament to the deep respect and affection Jorgen had earned through decades of service.

Today, Jorgen Sandman remains a symbol of what one determined person can do for a sport. He helped teach it, promote it, organize it, internationalize it, and bring it closer to the Olympic movement. Yet when asked how he would like to be remembered, his answer was characteristically modest: as another pool player with a dream. For Jorgen Sandman, that dream became part of pool history.