His Ireland selection job done, it’s now down to the business of coaching top-level squash for David Noone across the two weeks of the Junior World Championship in Canada.
It wasn’t easy for Squash Ireland’s junior performance coach to get to this stage, so encouragingly high was the 2025/26 season standard. “It came close this year; there was good competition,” he reflected, looking at a rankings system that provided seven picks while there was also one wild card.
U19 Nationals champions, Celtic’s Aaron Knox and Belfast’s Shriya Drawid, made the cut domestically and they will be joined at Niagara-on-the-Lake by the Sutton quintet consisting of Conal Jackson, Christian Dromgoole, Tyler Dromgoole, Zoe Yeomans and Rebecca Jackson. Then, linking in with them across the Atlantic for the team event, will be the Georgetown-based Ella Erickson.
The variety of experience assembling is a smorgasbord: one player featuring at his third Worlds, four at their second and three more making their debut. It’s going to be intriguing how it all unfolds. “Conal Jackson, this is going to be his third World Championships. He was in Texas in ’24 and Egypt ’25 and now going to Canada in ’26.
“That is pretty unusual, but we had it last year with Danny Lynch, who did three Worlds. It’s quite interesting in that there is someone with that experience at that young of an age. Then you have Christian, Aaron, Zoe and Ella all in Egypt last year, and debuts this year for Shriya, Tyler and Rebecca; it’s their first World Championships. It’s a very interesting dynamic, and they have a busy group as well.
“They have had a long season, and some have been doing Leaving Cert examinations, so they have really had to lengthen out their season. Almost like the equivalent for the World Cup soccer players – their season was intense, but they had to maintain throughout exams and holidays, and then they have to peak towards the end of July. It’s a big ask for the players but a real privilege. They are all in good shape and looking forward to it.”
Only the annual Europeans compare to the two-week adventure set to start in Canada. Ireland and several of Noone’s picks for Niagara were on deck in Poland earlier this year, a tournament where the 27th place Knox and the 21st place Drawid led the way for the Irish in the individuals before an 11th place finish was secured in the mixed team event.
In the Americas, the individuals, featuring a total of 185 players, begin on Monday before 40 teams representing 24 nations compete in the respective boys and girls events from July 26th. “It’s one of those tournaments that are really long,” explained Noone.
“Poland was a long event as well because you have your individual event and then you have your team event back-to-back. It’s similar at the Worlds. The intensity obviously ramps up at the Worlds, but that [schedule] is one of the things that is definitely worth having experience of because you have to factor in your nutrition, your recovery, your motivation.
“How long those events go on for is only at U19 level; you don’t get that anything below U19s or above. Any senior event, it doesn’t happen. Anything below U19s, it doesn’t happen.
“It’s just specifically for the U19s where they have these really, really long events. It’s really fun obviously, and they are a great team, great bunch, but it emotionally takes its toll. It’s long, intensive; every match is hard as well. There’s nobody at these events that is going to be an easy match.
“The guys have a lot of work in their legs already over the season, which will stand to them going into these events, and they have the experience as well of how to manage themselves, so yeah, it’s going to be interesting. I’ve heard White Oaks is quite a nice venue as well, which is where it’s on beside Niagara Falls, so that always helps if the venue is nice and the climate is nice.”
Nice but daunting at the same time given the calibre of opposition in attendance. “It’s unprecedented,” said Noone about the standard of squash players registered. “The junior world No.1 seed is Mohamad Zakaria, and he is world No.7 at the moment. He is going to be the highest-ranked player to ever play at the Junior World Championship.
“A generational talent, people are calling him. It is going to be interesting to have someone like him knocking around. He is going to be trying to get his third Junior World Championship. And then the No.2 seed is really high level as well (Adam Hawal); he has beaten the No.2 in the world senior (Paul Coll) in a one-off match in Egypt, so a lot of Egyptians are again dominant.
“On the female side you have Anahat Singh, who is No.1 seed. Again, a phenomenal, super, super high level. So, it’s really exciting for the Ireland team to be around those kinds of players. The level is astronomical, to be honest with you; it’s really big, and squash has grown so much around the world. The level seems to be rising all the time and the interest for these kids to get over and just to compete with the best, it’s just brilliant.”
The messages of encouragement that Noone will deliver to each Irish player will be tailored to the individual rather than the collective. “It varies from individual to individual,” he explained, detailing the approach he takes when coaching at the World Championships. “Some will relish the opportunity to get on court with these guys and compete and try to put themselves into that sphere of, ‘I want to be this good, I want to be that level’.
“There are other players who might go into a bit of a shell, which is more than normal, and be like, ‘Oh, this is something that is new to me’ and it’s such a high level that you can kind of just step back from it.
“But you deal with each individual and how they approach their match with their personalities as well, but they are a really good bunch of kids. Some are 18 years old, so they are not necessarily kids, but they are a great bunch and they motivate each other as well.
“They are a good team, and they work so hard. There will be no shortage of effort from the players and mentally that will be how they approach the matches when it could be a daunting prospect playing someone like Mohamad Zakaria, but you have to absorb and learn. It’s an opportunity to play with some of the best players in the world.”
A level three World Squash Federation certified coach, Noone, who learned the game at Galway LTC, has been involved in Squash Ireland’s national coaching set-up since 2015. He is now flying out to impart his knowledge in Canada, having this year had the experience of coaching the Ireland seniors to their European Team Championship Division 2 title double in May.
“That was class,” he enthused. “I have been lucky enough to do a few seniors. I did the 2019 World Championships, did a few European Championships, but to win two golds, that’s testament to the players,” he said, looking back on a fantastic week in Amsterdam.
“I am just lucky to be part of that, and they are another fantastic bunch. But two golds, that is the first time Amhrán na bhFiann has ever been played on the squash court back-to-back with the women’s team winning and then the men. That was quite special on the podium, in a fantastic venue as well.
“They deserved that. They demonstrated their level so well, how strong they are, how much work they have put in over the years. They really separated themselves from the rest of the field.
“That was a real privilege for me to be a part of that and again, just to work such good guys and girls; they are just such brilliant people. So it was another learning experience for me, more that I can pass that information on to as many people as I can, coaches and players, and I am excited for the future.
“This is just something that in Squash Ireland we hope will be capitalised on and built on and, as much as we can, try and support them. That was really exciting.
“Coaching-wise, you are always learning as a coach,” he added, looking ahead to the task now on his plate with the Irish juniors in Canada. “I just absolutely love squash. I love being around squash, I love those team events. They are rare in squash. You really have to be performing at such a high level to get to play for Ireland.
“I have been coaching with the national teams since 2015 and every year it is exciting, every year there is no shortage of sort of nerves and excitement going to each one, but I just try to learn as much as I can all the time. Learn from the players, learn from other coaches, learn from different situations, so for me it’s a privilege and I just want to do my best for the guys as much as I can.
“That’s all I really view it as, a learning experience, and I try to do my best for them with the knowledge I have accrued over the last decade and more of national coaching, so it has been quite interesting.”
