Nine Ireland U19 players have learned their fate in the individual events at the World Squash Junior Championships in Cairo – including Nathan Hann, who is primed for a round of 128 match against the men’s No2 seed, Korea’s Joo Young Na, who was the runner-up last year in Houston.
Six Irish players will participate in the boys’ individual section, which attracted 134 entries, but Hann will be the only one of coach David Noone and Breanne Flynn’s team drawn to start his campaign on July 21 in the round of 256.
He will face Hungary’s Benjamin Vida in the first round at the Black Ball Sporting Club, hoping to win his way through to a glamour clash against the Korean Na, who, if the seedings work out to plan, is in line to face the defending champion, Egypt’s Mohamad Zakaria, in the July 26 final.
Four of the five Irish players who received first-round byes, Frank O’Flynn, Conal Jackson, Christian Dromgoole and Aaron Knox, were pitted against seeded opposition in round two.
O’Flynn will face Malaysia’s Low Wa-Sern, a 5/8 seed with a third-round fixture up for grabs versus Switzerland’s Fabian Seitz or Australia’s Kasper Cheung.
Jackson faces the 9/16 seed Jack Elriani of the USA, with a third-round tie versus Canadian Arham Izhar or Macau’s Ka Hei Lei up for grabs.
Dromgoole will face Hart Robinson of the USA (17/32 seed) in the second round, with the winner set to take on either England’s Ronnie Hickling or Macau’s Wu Cheok Io.
Knox has been paired against another 17/32 seed, Canadian Youssef Sarhan, with New Zealand’s Maximus Mathews or Japan’s Shunsaku Kariyazono the prospective third-round opponent.
Lynch, the fifth and final Irish player to get an opening-round bye, will play Brazilian Bernardo Jorge Guimaraes. The winner will then play Pakistan’s Anas Ali Shah (17/32 seed) or Canadian Luke Yang in round three.
After the individual tournament ends, Jackson, Dromgoole, Knox and Lynch will join together for the team event from July 27 to August 1.
Switching to the girls’ individual championship, which attracted an entry list of 100, all three Irish players will face seeded opposition in the round of 64 if they progress from the opening round of 128.
Riley Slade, who placed 23rd at last weekend’s Dutch Junior Open, will begin in Cairo against Hana Al Nayal of the Netherlands, with a match against Hong Kong China’s Helen Tang (9/16 seed) the reward if she wins.
Ella Walsh will start against Leelou Laporte of France, with the prize of a match against Charlotte Sze of the USA (17/32 seed) awaiting.
Meanwhile, Zeo Yeomans will be up against the Russian Anna Musikhina, with a fixture versus Poland’s Sofiia Zrazhevska (17/32 seed) the reward for the winner.
After the individual tournament, Slade, Walsh and Yeomans will be joined by Ella Erickson for the girls’ team event.
Ireland’s contingent of 14 players rounded off the four-day Dutch Junior Open with 32 wins in 75 matches – a 42.6 per cent win rate.
Eleven of the 14 Irish participants were part of the new Junior Performance Academy set up by Squash Ireland, and there were plenty of impressive performances at the highly competitive tournament in Amsterdam.
In the girls’ section, Daisy Morrissey stood out with three wins in her five matches to finish 13th in the GU13.
Over in the boys’ section, two players ended with more wins than losses. Jamie Morrissey had four victories in his six games to clinch 13th in the BU13, while Marcelino Cronin also had a W4 L2 record in the same age grade to secure 18th.
GIRLS SECTION
Riley Slade (GU19 – W2 L3): Finished 23rd with a 3-1 win (11-9, 12-10, 8-11, 12-10) over England’s Renitha Srindran. This was after a 0-3 (2-11, 5-11, 4-11) loss to American Elinor Feldman, a 0-3 defeat (3-11, 2-11, 1-11) to Austrian Kristina Begeba and a 3-0 win (11-9, 11-9, 11-3) over Iranian Armiti Ghoroghchian in placings matches following a 0-3 loss (2-11, 0-11, 0-11) to Dutch player Renske Huntelaar in the round of 32.
Lucy Lynch (GU15 – W0 L4): Finished 47th. Bowed out in the round of 64 with a 0-3 defeat to American Laura Techar (1-11, 2-11, 2-11). Then lost play-off matches to Canada’s Isha Saraf (0-3: 10-12, 3-11, 5-11), Russia’s Julia Kozlova (0-3: 10-12, 3-11, 5-11) and Lara Berntsen of the Netherlands (1-3: 3-11, 11-8, 4-11, 6-11).
Zoe Nyhan (GU15 – W3 L3): Finished 27th with a 3-1 win (7-11, 11-8, 13-11, 11-6) versus American Samaira Athalye. After losing 0-3 (2-11, 6-11, 6-11) to England’s Maya Goel in the round of 32, she lost 0-3 (1-11, 4-11, 0-11) to American Arushi Saha, beat American Lilly Lake 3-0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-9) and lost to Canada’s Fin Ryding 0-3 (6-11, 2-11, 5-11) in placing matches. Began with a round of 64 walkover against South African Nhlamulo Masingi.
Daisy Morrissey (GU13 – W3 L2): A 3-0 success (11-5, 11-4, 11-7) versus Belgium’s Lime Hendrickx secured 13th place. Began with a 3-0 qualification round of 16 win over Dutch player Sophie Verhulst (11-6, 11-7, 11-3) but beaten 0-3 (5-11, 4-11, 3-11) in the round of 16 by top seed Kadija Bondok of Egypt. A 0-3 (5-11, 6-11, 5-11) play-off loss to American Asha Ponnuru was next before a 3-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-4) win over Egypt’s Shaden Elsayed.
Caoimhe English (GU11 – W1 L3): Finished eighth with a 0-3 loss (10-12, 7-11, 11-13) to American Noelle Rabaa. Started with a 3-1 round of 16 win over Angela Cao of the USA. A 0-3 quarter-final loss (2-11, 5-11, 5-11) to America’s Loretta Pochoda-Nowell was followed by a 0-3 play-off defeat (3-11, 4-11, 2-11) to Queenie Zhang of the USA.
Maia Morrissey (GU11 – W1 L4): Finished 16th after a 0-3 loss (5-11, 2-11, 9-11) to England’s Lyla Blumberg. Began with a 3-1 win over England’s Maebh Lovely 3-1 (4-11, 11-8, 13-11, 13-11) in a qualification quarter-final before losing 0-3 (0-11, 0-11, 2-11) to another English player, Abigail Zeng, in the round of 16. The play-offs then featured a 0-3 loss to American Paige Smith (0-11, 2-11, 0-11) and another 0-3 defeat to Colombian Veronica Martinez (9-11, 4-11, 7-11).
BOYS SECTION
Ben Lynch (BU15 – W2 L4): Finished 40th with a 0-3 loss (4-11, 6-11, 7-11) to Argentina’s Mirko Rigotti Dominquez. Began with a 0-3 loss to Denmark’s Mathias Berliner in the round of 64 (6-11, 5-11, 9-11) before winning two placings matches, defeating Dutch opponent Milan Wiersma 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-4) and Switzerland’s Benedikt Ammann 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-4). Then came a 0-3 loss to American Leon Solinhac (6-11, 3-11, 8-11) and another 0-3 defeat to Hong Kong China’s Jules Achouch (7-11, 7-11, 7-11).
Josh Archer (BU13 – W3 L3): Finished 29th with a 3-0 win (11-5, 11-7, 11-1) win over Dutch player Jenson Meijer. Defeated American Colin Dimarino 3-0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-5) in the round of 64 and lost to Zachary Yu, another American, 2-3 (11-8, 4-11, 13-11, 8-11, 3-11) in the round of 32. Then came 0-3 play-off losses to England’s Xavier Rowe (6-11, 6-11, 7-11) and France’s Gabriel Martini (3-11, 9-11, 6-11).
Ailon Chen (BU13 – W1 L4): Finished 16th after a 1-3 loss (3-11, 11-9, 11-13, 7-11) to Harry Knox, his fellow Irish player. Began in the round of 32 with a 3-0 win (11-4, 11-1, 11-2) over Joris Willems of the Netherlands, but lost 0-3 (3-11, 4-11, 3-11) to American Carter Macdougall in the round of 16. Further play-off losses followed, 0-3 (5-11, 5-11, 4-11) to Canadian Nolan Ryding and 0-3 (3-11, 5-11, 6-11) to Jamie Morrissey, another Irish teammate.
Marcelino Cronin (BU13 – W4 L2): Finished 18th after a 0-3 defeat (10-12, 10-12, 5-11) to Egyptian Mohamed Ghait. Started with a 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-4) round of 64 win over Qatar’s Alian Hassan, but lost 2-3 in the round of 32 to England’s Logan Willstrop (11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 6-11, 12-14). The play-offs then featured a hat-trick of 3-0 wins over France’s Gabriel Martini (11-4, 11-4, 11-3), England’s Xavier Rowe (11-6, 11-4, 11-8) and Louis Lavergne of France (11-1, 11-3, 11-6).
Harry Knox (BU13 – W3 L3): Finished 15th with a 3-1 win (11-3, 9-11, 13-11, 11-7) over Irish teammate Ailong Chen. Began with wins over American Sebastian Bakker 3-0 (11-2, 11-5, 11-4) in the round of 64 and then France’s Louis Lavergne 3-1 (13-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-5) in the round of 32. Beaten 0-3 by American Lars Daly in the round of 16 (5-11, 4-11, 4-11). The play-offs started with a 1-3 loss (7-11, 3-11, 12-10, 4-11) to American Anderson Morgan and another 1-3 defeat (8-11, 11-5, 9-11, 8-11) to Zachary Yu, another USA player.
Jamie Morrissey (BU13 – W4 L2): Finished 13th with a 3-1 win (11-13, 11-6, 11-7, 11-0) over American Zachary Yu. Began with a round of 64 win over Croatia’s Viktor Jankovic 3-0 (11-2, 11-4, 11-5) and another 3-0 (15-13, 11-8, 11-6) win over Switzerland’s Livio Ferrarini. Beaten in the round of 16 clash by American Graeson Smith 0-3 (4-11, 7-11, 1-11) and then lost to Hungary’s Alex Kosztyu 0-3 (7-11, 7-11, 6-11) in the play-offs before beating Ailon Chen, his Irish teammate, 3-0 (11-3, 11-5, 11-6).
Alfie Knox (BU11 – W2 L3): Finished 15th with a 3-2 win (8-11, 11-7, 4-11, 11-5, 11-8) over Egypt’s Youssef Mohamed Osman. Defeated Pakistan’s Azhar Noman 3-0 (11-0, 11-1, 11-1) in the round of 32 but lost 1-3 to Gavriel Azoulay of Israel in the round of 16 (2-11, 11-9, 5-11, 2-11). Then lost play-off matches, 2-3 to Poland’s Antoni Urbanski (11-6, 11-6, 9-11, 15-17, 6-11) and 0-3 (6-11, 8-11, 11-13) to Jack Liu of the USA.
Liam Mahony (BU11 – W3 L3): Finished 20th following a 1-3 loss (12-14, 8-11, 11-8, 6-11) to Qatar’s Maaz Bin Fahad. Began with a 3-0 (11-2, 11-4, 11-4) qualification round of 16 win over Raff van Altena of the Netherlands but was beaten 0-3 (2-11, 4-11, 2-11) by American Lukas Daly in the round of 32. Then beat Israel’s Ido Lavian 3-0 (11-3, 11-6, 11-5) and Canada’s Jasper Che 3-0 (11-3, 11-4, 11-0) before losing 2-3 to Egypt’s Seif El Sadat (11-7, 11-4, 11-13, 4-11, 2-11).
Squash courts at Limerick Lawn Tennis Club were filled with energy, movement, music and laughter this week as 15 teenage girls took part in the DISCO Squash HER MOVES programme.
Organised by club squash coach Avril Cairns in collaboration with Squash Ireland, and funded by Sport Ireland’s HER MOVES initiative, the programme welcomed girls aged 13-16 who were completely new to squash.
Over the five days from Monday, June 30, to Friday, July 4, they enjoyed a blend of squash skill-building sessions mixed with fun, creative and confidence-boosting activities such as Zumba, aerobics, yoga, crafts and Tabata workouts.
The week finished on a high with the squash court transformed into a glow-in-the-dark discotheque with UV lights, fluorescent decorations, neon balls, rackets and the girls’ custom-designed T-shirts made earlier in the week.
They played matches under the lights to the beat of their self-chosen playlist, creating an electric atmosphere that perfectly captured the spirit of the programme.
The DISCO Squash programme is rooted in the HER MOVES pillars, which aim to:
Every part of the week in Limerick was designed with these values in mind – from the inclusive games on court to the arts and movement sessions that brought the group together.
This programme was about more than just squash. It was about fun, freedom, friendship and giving girls a chance to shine.
Ireland players have battled hard at the Dutch Junior Open in Amsterdam, with several in line for high placings in the 11-event tournament that attracted 593 entries.
Fifteen entries were Irish, and 14 made it to the start line on Thursday at the four-day competition. Here is how they have fared so far:
GIRLS SECTION
Caoimhe English (GU11): Defeated Angela Cao of the USA 3-1 (11-13, 11-8, 11-3, 11-7) in the round of 16. Now faces another American, Loretta Pochoda-Nowell, in Friday’s quarter-final.
Lucy Lynch (GU15): Bowed out in the round of 64 with a 0-3 defeat to American Laura Techar (1-11, 2-11, 2-11). Now has a 33rd-48th place play-off against Canada’s Isha Saraf.
Daisy Morrissey (GU13): Got off to a fantastic start with a 3-0 qualification round of 16 win over Dutch player Sophie Verhulst (11-6, 11-7, 11-3), but came unstuck 0-3 (5-11, 4-11, 3-11) in the round of 16 against the high ranked Kadija Bondok of Egypt. The next step is a ninth/16th place play-off against American Asha Ponnuru.
Maia Morrissey (GU11): Defeated England’s Maebh Lovely 3-1 (4-11, 11-8, 13-11, 13-11) in qualification quarter-final but lost out 0-3 (0-11, 0-11, 2-11) to another English player, Abigail Zeng. Now has a ninth/16th place play-off with American Paige Smith.
Zoe Nyhan (GU15): Had a round of 64 walkover against South African Nhlamulo Masingi but lost 0-3 (2-11, 6-11, 6-11) to England’s Maya Goel in the round of 32. Arushi Saha, an American, now awaits in the 17th/32nd place play-off.
Riley Slade (GU19): Went down 0-3 (2-11, 0-11, 0-11) to Dutch player Renske Huntelaar in the round of 32 and now faces Iranian Armiti Ghoroghchian in the 17th/32nd place play-off.
BOYS SECTION
Josh Archer (BU13 – W3 L3): Defeated American Colin DiMarino 3-0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-5) in the round of 64 and lost to Zachary Yu, another American, 2-3 (11-8, 4-11, 13-11, 8-11, 3-11) in the round of 32.
Ailon Chen (BU13): Began with a brisk round of 32 win over Joris Willems, winning 3-0 (11-4, 11-1, 11-2), but lost 0-3 (3-11, 4-11, 3-11) to American Carter Macdougall in the round of 16. Now take on Canadian Nolan Ryding in the ninth/16th place play-off.
Marcelino Cronin (BU13): Started with a 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-4) round of 64 win over Qatar’s Alian Hassan, but agonisingly lost 2-3 in the round of 32 to England’s Logan Willstrop (11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 6-11, 12-14). Started Friday with a 3-0 (11-4, 11-4, 11-3) win against France’s Gabriel Martini in the 17th/32nd place play-off. Now takes on England’s Xavier Rowe in the 17th/24th place match.
Alfie Knox (BU11): Comfortably defeated Pakistan’s Azhar Noman 3-0 (11-0, 11-1, 11-1) in the round of 32 but lost 1-3 to Gavriel Azoulay of Israel in the round of 16 (2-11, 11-9, 5-11, 2-11). Now faces Poland’s Antoni Urbanski in the ninth/16th place play-off.
Harry Knox (BU13): Won his two Thursday matches, defeating American Sebastian Bakker 3-0 (11-2, 11-5, 11-4) in the round of 64 and then France’s Louis Lavergne 3-1 (13-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-5) in the round of 32. Beaten 0-3 by American Lars Daly in Friday’s round of 16 (5-11, 4-11, 4-11) and now faces another American, Anderson Morgan, in a ninth/16th place play-off.
Ben Lynch (BU15): Lost 0-3 to Denmark’s Mathias Berliner in the round of 64 (6-11, 5-11, 9-11) but has since won two placings matches, defeating Dutch opponent Milan Wiersma 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-4) and Switzerland’s Benedikt Ammann 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-4).
Liam Mahony (BU11): Began with a 3-0 (11-2, 11-4, 11-4) qualification round of 16 win over Raff van Altena of the Netherlands but was beaten 0-3 (2-11, 4-11, 2-11) by American Lukas Daly in the round of 32. Has since beaten Israel’s Ido Lavian 3-0 (11-3, 11-6, 11-5) and now faces Canada’s Jasper Che in a 17th-24th place play-off.
Jamie Morrissey (BU13): Enjoyed an excellent Thursday with a round of 64 win over Croatia’s Viktor Jankovic 3-0 (11-2, 11-4, 11-5) and followed it with another 3-0 (15-13, 11-8, 11-6) win over Switzerland’s Livio Ferrarini. Beaten in Friday’s round of 16 clash with American Graeson Smith 0-3 (4-11, 7-11, 1-11) and next plays Hungary’s Alex Kosztyu in the ninth/16th place play-off.
The loyalty of squash players in Ireland has been praised by Ed Dunne, the racquets sports manager of the West Wood chain of six fitness clubs across Dublin.
Interviewed by Squash Player about the fitness club’s plan to open a seven-court squash centre in Leopardstown with an all-glass court equipped to host major tournaments, Dunne highlighted the importance of squash to the West Wood – even though the sport equates to just 2.5 per cent of overall membership.
West Wood’s Leopardstown facility already has three squash courts regularly used by around 300 members at the fitness club, where membership since the pandemic has grown from 7,000 to 12,000.
Management now want to repurpose the existing squash courts. Why? Squash apparently plays a disproportionately significant role in the vibrancy and financial viability of the club.
Dunne said: “When staff are showing potential new members around the club, they start with the squash courts. There are generally people on court having fun and getting sweaty, people in the corridor chatting; it’s a happy, thriving section of the club.
“While squash is buzzing and there is a great atmosphere, you go up to the gym and everyone is on their phones. It’s silent. They do their classes, they leave.
“Squash is a complete contrast, and that is why they love showing it off to potential new members. West Wood (management) look at it and think, ‘It’s a no-brainer!’”
Squash doesn’t feature at the West Wood’s other five locations in Dublin, but the loyalty of its Leopardstown membership is another reason why the club is keeping faith with squash by investing in a new seven-court centre.
According to the Squash Player article, gym members only stay at West Wood for an average of 13 months, so every month West Wood lose 60-80 members and has to employ a sales team to keep new ones coming in. By contrast, most squash members at Leopardstown have been there for years.
“Squash players don’t leave – it’s as simple as that,” enthused Dunne. “It took a bit of time for the club to recognise that, but they see it now. That’s why they are investing so heavily in the new courts. The community, the atmosphere and camaraderie that squash can create is the best advert for the club brand.”
Subject to planning permission, the construction of the €1.5million squash centre at the West Wood Club in Leopardstown will be part of a Racquets Centre of excellence which also includes two new domes for tennis, padel and pickleball.
The new squash centre will feature three glassback courts opposite each other with a communal social area in between and an all-glass court at the end with retractable seating behind the back wall.
Several members of the new Junior Performance Academy are competing in this week’s Dutch Junior Open.
A total of 15 players from Ireland are registered for the four-day tournament in Amsterdam, which gets underway on Thursday and runs until Sunday.
They will be supported by Squash Ireland’s junior development coach, Michael Conroy, in what is the first targeted event for the JPA.
Registered to compete in the girls section are: Raghad Aboelela (GU13), Caoimhe English (GU11), Lucy Lynch (GU15), Daisy Morrissey (GU13), Maia Morrissey (GU11), Zoe Nyhan (GU15) and Riley Slade (GU19).
Josh Archer (BU13), Ailon Chen (BU13), Marcelino Cronin (BU13), Alfie Knox (BU11), Harry Knox (BU13), Ben Lynch (BU15), Liam Mahony (BU11) and Jamie Morrissey (BU13) are listed in the boys section.
Squash Ireland CEO Scott Graham said: “The JPA allows a wider group of players to compete as part of an Ireland team. The longer we keep them in the game, the more chance they have of progressing to an elite senior level.”
Perth has been named as the host city for the 2026 World Squash Masters Championships, the flagship event for competitors aged +35.
Last year’s tournament in Amsterdam created a new participation record with over 1,200 players – among them a 27-strong team from Ireland.
Five podium finishes were achieved last August, including first place to Mary Sceney in the W+65. There was a hat-trick of second-place finishes – Arthur Gaskin (M+35), Nicholas Staunton (M+50) and Willie Hosey (M+60), with Neil Macarron taking third in his M+45 category.
The bi-annual world festival will now move from Europe to the southern hemisphere with Australia, the most successful nation in World Squash Masters history by total medal count, set to stage the event it last hosted in 2001.
Next year’s tournament will take place from August 30 to September 6 and will feature an all-glass show court that will be erected in the City of Stirling suburb of Perth. Action will also take place on the 14 courts of Mirrabooka Squash Centre and the eight courts of Bellmont Squash Centre.
Squash Australia CEO Robert Donaghue said: “On behalf of Squash Australia, I would like to thank the Western Australian Government through Tourism WA and the City of Stirling for the incredible backing they have given us.
“With their support, we are confident this will be the biggest squash event ever hosted in Australia and we are looking forward to welcoming the world to Perth.
“Hosting international events in Australia is an important part of our strategy, not only does it provide our players with an opportunity to compete against the best in the world, it is critical in providing experience to our coaches, referees, administrators and volunteers, which they can take back to their local clubs and centres and continue to build on the capability and capacity of their local squash community.
“We also see this event as another great opportunity to expose the sport to the wider community and inspire them to come and try squash and experience all the benefits participating in our great sport can offer.”
Squash Ireland has officially become a full member of the Olympic Federation of Ireland following a vote on Wednesday evening in Dublin.
With squash confirmed as one of six new sports added to the programme for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Squash Ireland was granted associate membership of the OFI last year.
This affiliation has now led to the approval of full membership at the OFI annual general meeting (AGM), which took place at the Alex Hotel in Dublin.
Scott Graham, the CEO of Squash Ireland, attended the AGM along with president Rosie Barry. He stated: “It is an honour for Squash Ireland to join the family of Olympic sports in Ireland.
“We have been developing our high-performance structures with the recent appointment of a head coach and two junior performance coaches. Additionally, we are increasing support for players at all stages of their development.
“Three of our top professional players have reached career-high world rankings and continue to improve. We look forward to being active members of the Olympic Federation of Ireland and striving for excellence on the world stage.”
Item nine on the OFI AGM agenda detailed the conversion of associate members to full members. It read: “The executive committee is recommending the following six associate members be converted to full members of the Olympic Federation of Ireland:
• Lacrosse Ireland (representing lacrosse)
• American Football Ireland (representing flag football)
• Squash Ireland (representing squash)
• Cricket Ireland (representing cricket)
• Softball Ireland (representing softball)
• Baseball Ireland (representing baseball)
“All six of the above sports have been confirmed as being on the 2028 Los Angeles Games programme and as such the organisations above are eligible for full membership of the OFI.
“Their application submissions have been assessed, and all necessary paperwork has been received. Members will be asked to approve the conversion of these memberships by voting on an ordinary resolution. This requires a simple majority to pass.”
Sport Ireland have approved the newest part of Squash Ireland’s coaching pathway, an L0 Introductory Coach award that will sit beneath the current L1 and L2 qualifications.
In its programme approval report, the Sport Ireland education and training council said: “The council commends Squash Ireland on the high standard of the programme documentation.
“The council have approved the programme as presented for inclusion on the Coaching Development Programme for Ireland (CDPI) at introduction level.”
Delighted with the approval, Eddie Murphy, the Cork-based Squash Ireland education officer, explained: “Up to now, a Leaders course would have been somebody who wouldn’t become a coach but who could help a coach – but they wouldn’t get a qualification when they finished it.
“What we have done now is changed that Leaders course into a foundation level coaching course, the Introductory Coach award.
“As an introductory squash coach, the qualification would let them bring beginners into squash and it would stop where we introduce the squash racket into the curriculum.
“We are trying to get people interested in a bit of coaching, the basics like hopping, skipping, jumping, hand/eye coordination – we need to develop that bit, put in the foundation before they get the racket.
“We need to do one pilot course first before we start advertising. We will be encouraging people who would like to get involved in coaching to do this one-day course and get a bit of experience from the tutors, showing them that this introductory course badge is the way to start.
“If we can do that, then going forward we are putting in a good foundation from a coaching perspective for our certification.”
Scott Graham has lauded the “big strides” Squash Ireland have taken in the last 12 to 18 months. Nearing the second anniversary of his appointment as CEO in 2023, the administrator is preparing for next Sunday’s latest AGM at the Sport Ireland campus in Blanchardstown.
Ahead of his presentation at that meeting, Graham reflected on the progress made by Squash Ireland in recent times. “Look, it has been fantastic,” he said about the development that has happened.
“One reason I took the role in Squash Ireland – or Irish Squash as it was at the time – was because I saw the potential within the sport.
“We always want to do more. We see that we are certainly not perfect, but we have made big strides in the last two years and there is definitely more to come – we are only getting started on this stuff.
“It is really satisfying. Within the Irish sports system, we are recognised now as one of the leading smaller national governing bodies. We were shortlisted for the NGB of the year award for two years running.
“We also gave a presentation at the European Squash AGM earlier this year and from a European perspective we are probably recognised as the fastest developing federation in Europe.
“We are making good strides, but we recognise there is obviously a lot more to do. We have a very ambitious board, a very ambitious staff and some great volunteers who support the mission and who love the sport. We are in a great place.”
Drilling into some of the specifics, Graham added: “What we have done over the last 12 to 18 months is tried to put the foundations in place so the sport can grow in years to come.
“From a governance perspective, there was a change to the constitution, a change to the board whereby it’s a more strategically focused board and they don’t have those operational roles that they would have had in the past.
“We have independent directors on the board now which has added a lot to the organisation in terms of expertise, oversight, governance and real rigour around how we do things, what we do and our strategy and planning for the future.”
Referencing other Squash Ireland foundations that are now in place, Graham continued: “We have a finance manager in now who started one day a week and due to the level of grant activity and the complexity of the different grants that we are managing, he is up to three days a week now.
“We hired a number of different development officers… and that is just a taster of some of the foundations we have put in place. We are looking to build and grow, to really move the metrics that matter with participation numbers, tournament entries, the number of qualified coaches and so on.
“We are working more closely with the Sport Ireland high-performance unit now about our programme and how we can develop and professionalise it.
“We moved from a day rate system with various national coaches across all the age groups and now have Arthur Gaskin as our national coach, David Noone in junior performance (U17/U19), and Michael Conroy who looks after the younger ages. They are all part-time with us now and we hope to increase that capacity over time.
“We have also just recently launched our Junior Performance Academy, so that will look to provide more structure and professionalised support to the young players.
“There will be a whole suite of squad sessions but educational stuff as well around nutrition, strength and conditioning, anti-doping, mindset, all of those different tools that people need in their tool kit to be the best that they can be.
“On the high-performance front, squash will be an Olympic sport and will be in LA in 2028. We have long felt there is good potential in Ireland within this high-performance element of the sport.
“We have a long history in terms of former world number threes, number sevens, a lot of top 20 players, huge success on the international stage.
“It’s just about bringing our current crop of players through and giving them everything they need to be the best that they can be.”
