Growing our sport

Just a few weeks ago, while the snow blustered outside the VRC, we revved up, engaged and had 20 high school students sweating in their first introduction to squash.

Imagine an opportunity to inspire youth to be healthy through your own sport. Imagine building a bigger and more inclusive community around squash. I think these two statements can become a reality but it will require a belief in our sport of squash. According to Squash BC 2019-2022 are meant to be growth years – lets get on board and help this initiative.

Although squash will most likely be left out of the Olympics again in 2026, I say good riddance. Let’s focus on what we have and make our community and our sport as strong as ever. We don’t need the bribes and strangle hold of the IOC to improve and grow this wonderful game. 

I couldn’t imagine my life without squash. I have played many sports, many at competitive levels, and in my opinion squash offers some of the best value. Yet squash participation continues to decline. We could blame this on changing societal needs and expensive clubs but these are excuses. For a little inspiration on the matter watch a wonderful TED talk on classical music by Benjamin Zander. We could look at our problems or we could look at what we have and our potential for growth. We still have facilities, players from different generations, and there are growth stories occurring as we speak! Growth happens one player at a time, one creative idea, one fun weekend. The potential is there and the time is now. 

Evergreen is moving ahead with plans to expand, the VRC has junior players playing more than 1x per week for the first time in 10 years and thanks to the effort of women like Bev Lawton the VRC is attracting more women to the sport. 

The VRC is a prime club to introduce and spark a interest in the sport. Our courts are heavily used but there are still gaps in the day between 9-11 and 2-4. Perfect times to get local high school kids on the courts and running around! Schools don’t need courts but the students need access within walking or biking distance. As an example, most schools don’t have ice rinks yet hockey thrives at all levels. We don’t just want elite players we want players at different levels and ages enjoying and playing this game. 

I have heard of great stories at small clubs in Nelson and Chilliwack which are growing and looking to expand. See what Nelson is up to here and here. 

At the Vancouver Lawn Tennis Club Viktor Berg is experimenting with different tournament formats for both novices and youths. Its great to see!

I would love hear more ideas and stories of growth in our game. Write a post and share it with our community. Let’s start feeding off inspiration.

Cheers

Dave

Physio and squash enthusiast.