Squash Ireland is thrilled to announce the launch of our brand-new Social Tour for 2024, designed to bring together squash enthusiasts of all levels for a fun, engaging, and inclusive experience.
The Social Squash Tour is a series of 1-day events all around Ireland where people meet, play squash, socialize and have fun.
Each event will promote squash as a healthy activity for any age and gender, with a social environment welcoming everyone, no matter their level, abilities or skills. We aim to bring together the community of beginners and improvers who aren’t eager to compete in official events, but are looking forward to challenge themselves, meet new people and share the love for our sport.
Each event will consists of a few hours of timed matches, to ensure everyone gets on court as much as possible. Everyone plays everyone. No winners or losers, no final ranking. Just a lot of games, chats and fun!
Registrations are open on SportyHQ, free of charge. Each participant will receive a t-shirt provide by Squash Ireland.
Limerick Women’s Social Tournament – FULL
Kilworth Women’s Social Tournament – October 21st – CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Kilworth Men’s Social Tournament – October 22nd – CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Rathnure Women’s Social Tournament – November 8th – CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Any club interested in running a social tour event can contact [email protected] highlighting:
1. Day, time and location of the event
2. Min and Max number of participants (1 court per max 6 players, min 2 courts)
3. Target group: open to all, over a certain age, women-only etc.
Funds will be provided to help towards running the event.
Irish Squash has expanded its team of Club & Community Development Officers to three part-time staff, with Amanda Burgio set to join on July 29th.
Amanda brings a wealth of experience in sports development, club development, and participation programme design, having previously served as Club Support & Participation Officer at Volleyball Ireland. Many of the projects and programmes led by Amanda contributed to Volleyball Ireland being named National Governing Body of the Year in 2022.
Some of the highlights include organising and delivering the first-ever Women in Volleyball conference, designing a programme to empower female university students to take leadership roles in sport, and developing participation and inclusion programmes in collaboration with the Irish Wheelchair Association, Special Schools, and Local Sports Partnerships.
In addition to her professional experience, Amanda holds an MSc in Entrepreneurship and Business Development, a Bachelor’s in Industrial Engineering, along with several certificates and qualifications specific to the sports sector.
Commenting on her appointment, Amanda said: “I’m thrilled about the opportunity to join Irish Squash in their path to growth, and can’t wait to support clubs and contribute to fostering inclusivity in the squash community.”
Irish Squash is committed to professionalising the organisation and growing the sport by supporting our network of clubs and volunteers and delivering on the objectives set out within the Connecting the Dots Strategic Plan.
If your club would like development support, please get in touch with a Development Officer or another member of staff.
Club & Community Development Officers:
SQUASH is going through a resurgence in Ireland – north and south – and it’s the girls who are leading the field. In Northern Ireland eight of the top players are female.
Northern Ireland’s most famous squash champion, Banbridge’s Madeline Perry, looks back on a stellar sporting career and talks about the development of squash internationally and at grass roots level as well as the opportunities for young people locally to reach squash’s top tier.
A former Mary Peters Trust supported athlete, Madeline Perry is a real inspiration to Northern Ireland’s new crop of potential squash champions, many of whom are currently funded by Mary’s Trust.
Back in April 2024, the Irish Ladies team won the European Division 3 Championship and three of those four players hail from Northern Ireland – Hannah Craig, Emma Lundy and Hannah McGugan. Other up and coming young female players are teenagers Shriya Drawid (below) and Lydia McQuillen – both still students at school.
Full Story – Local Women Sport – Madeline Perry Story
Last Friday marked the successful conclusion of the inaugural “Squash – Supporting Children’s Physical Literacy Journey in Primary School” Teacher’s Summer Course in Ballina and Thurles. Over the week, 33 enthusiastic primary school teachers participated, learning how to seamlessly introduce the dynamic game of squash to their students while aligning with the Primary Curriculum.
The course culminated with an engaging visit to the Ballina and Thurles Squash Clubs, where teachers had the chance to try the game firsthand, meet with some club officials and explore the excellent facilities available. The feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive, with teachers now equipped with the necessary resources and expertise to bring squash into their classrooms in the upcoming school year.
This groundbreaking initiative was made possible by the collaborative efforts of many dedicated individuals and organisations. A heartfelt commendation goes out to the course authors and tutors, namely Ivan O’Mahony, Michael Hassett, Mark Healy and to Michael McKenzie from the Mayo Education Support centre for driving the programme. Special thanks are also due to the members of Irish Squash who provided unwavering support through their commitment of time and expertise and to staff at the Thurles and Mayo Education Support Centres and for their exceptional administrative and logistical support, as well as for managing the resource pack loan scheme for schools going forward. The Directors of the three centres deserve recognition for backing the course, selecting it to run in their catchment areas, and funding the necessary provisions for tutors and participants.
The success of this course has laid a solid foundation that can be replicated in other regions across the country next summer, with additional planning and recruitment of tutors., in turn creating more opportunities to build a squash community in the schools across Ireland. This initiative not only benefits teachers and children but also fosters the growth of squash, creating a lasting impact on the sport’s future in Ireland.
The WIS Racket Sports Team -Tennis Ireland, Badminton Ireland, Irish Squash and Table Tennis Ireland – are delighted to announce our new Women in Sport leadership event. The event will take place at Carlow Lawn Tennis Club, Oak Park Road Carlow, R93 K402 on Saturday 27th April at 2.00pm – 6.00pm.
This event is open to qualified female Tennis, Badminton, Table Tennis and Squash coaches. The event will include a talk from guest speaker Chloe Magee and give participants a chance to gain experience by leading
a participation event. There will be great networking opportunities on the day with refreshments included and a free t-shirt for all participants.
Register here for the event: https://forms.gle/zWJHfNkdboHQQz1dA
For more information email [email protected]
Participation Event
The WIS Racket Sports Team -Tennis Ireland, Badminton Ireland, Irish Squash and Table Tennis Ireland – are delighted to announce our new Women in Sport initiative, ‘Come and Try It’ Day. The event will take place at Carlow Lawn Tennis Club, Oak Park Road Carlow, R93 K402 on Saturday 27th April at 4.00pm – 6.00pm.
This event, organised jointly by the 4 sports, will create opportunities for females of all ages and abilities to try a new sport(s), meet old friends and make new ones, but the main aim will be to interact with one another through sport while having fun.
As well as welcoming existing members of the 4 sporting bodies, we will be delighted to see females with no sporting background. Coaches from each of the 4 sports will ensure everyone gets a chance to experience the sports and make it a fun day for all.
The event is Free of Charge, please register your interest here: https://forms.gle/Qu3zNEUYu6RfTWsZ7
The five new sports heading to the LA28 Olympic Games have come together on International Women’s Day to inspire inclusivity in sport.
Squash World No.1 Nour El Sherbini was joined by baseball softball’s Kelly Maxwell, cricket’s Smriti Mandhana, flag football’s Diana Flores and lacrosse’s Erica Evans in a video message promoting this year’s International Women’s Day theme: #InspireInclusion
View the full story and incredible video here – https://www.worldsquash.org/new-olympic-sports-inspire-inclusivity-on-international-womens-day-2024/