Let's Talk Squash - SUSPENDED

Viper

Does any of your clubs reserve a place on the committee for the junior voice to be heard ?
I think all club committees should have one place put aside for a junior so the future of the club is represented.

Is is easy to get your point of view across, if so how does it work at your club ?
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........ Squash is a drug - and remember there is always someone better than you........

Ed · Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2007 12:10 am Post subject:

I am 18 and have been on my club squash committee since I was 14, the secretary of that committee since I was 16. I also am secretary of my provincial squash association. It was strange to be on the committees at first but after a while you find others listen and respect you views. I am now an influential member of my club at all levels.

Viper · Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2007 12:14 am Post subject:

Fantastic Ed, this is how it should be.

I suspect you are a rarity though, did you find it hard to get taken seriously at first ?
How big is your club ?
Does the GAA play a major role as they used to at many squash courts ?
_________________
........ Squash is a drug - and remember there is always someone better than you........

Ed · Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2007 12:24 am Post subject:

I didn't find it that hard really because I had always been around the club helping out at tournaments etc. So it was the next step I guess. I am also on the board of Irish Squash which is a whole different world of squash.

My club is in the West of Ireland, is primarily a Tennis club but has Squash and Badminton courts. There is about 600 members with about 150 squash members.
It is not part of a GAA club however several clubs do operate out of GAA clubs in Ireland; they are becoming increasingly less used, which is unfortunate.

Adam Hildred · Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2007 11:12 pm Post subject:

I've been on the committee at my local squash club since late 2005 when I was 13. I fitted in really and I was taken seriously because I already knew a lot more about squash than most in the club and did more for it than most of the committee - I had been doing the programmes for our BSPA Boston Open, club website, helping out at any events at the club, refereeing etc...

As I said in another thread, the club had made a big push junior wise a bit ago when we had new rainbow courts, Lottery funded which replaced some pretty horrible, enclosed traditional courts. It's simple died off really... It was nothing ground breaking that would produce World Class players, but if we had kept it up we would have provided a constant supply of county players and been Lincs League champions for decades to come, because it was nothing to be taken lightly. We were going around schools, club coach was doing 15+ individual sessions per week for free I think, and group coaching sessions attracted 20-30.

I got into squash as it had dropped off really. The 'crop' were just getting bored of squash, and our club didn't do much to encourage them to stay. To be honest, we still probably will win the Lincs League and have county standard players for a while to come, because we tend to get one new good player in each year just by chance of new members - we're probably the best club facilities wise, but underperforming.

I think what really stood out was when an England Squash area rep came to one of our committee meetings, we talked about club charters a bit. We said our Bronxe has lapsed and needed to be bought up to date. He said that with a little bit of effort, applying for the appropriate grants, eh thought we could become a Gold Charter club, and that he thought that we should be up their with the likes of Pontefract and the Park producing top players. He's right, because we have a fair number of courts (five), are a members' club, financially secure really, and importantly in my opinion, are a SQUASH club - not squash courts tacked on to a tennis centre that gets treated as an after-though!

Anyway, Lincolnshire Squash is fairly poor. The Lincs SRA was a committee of three - chairman, leagues secretary and junior/womens' coordinator. The junior/womens' coordinator just resigned, and it's liekly that I'll be running the Lincs junior League next season while playing in it!

To be honest, it's an ambition of mine to become our club chairman and then push the club into development. My dad's been chairman for about 15 years now, so I want him to cling on for a bit longer until I go through university and stuff, settle in Bosotn (UK, by the way) and then take over. Wink

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Adam Hildred
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Viper · Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2007 12:59 am Post subject:

Great story Adam, if there was more of your ilk the future would be brighter.

Does your club have a web site and has your club embraced the web as an important tool in its development or have they been slow to take it up ?

I see you run the web site and it not working ! Chop, Chop Adam work to do........... Wink

What is a rainbow court BTW ?
_________________
........ Squash is a drug - and remember there is always someone better than you........

Marro · Prolific Contributor Joined: 04 Jul 2007 Posts: 77

Take a look at the rainbow court here...

http://www.asbsquash.com/english/produkte/details/raincourt/raincourt.html

Viper · Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 12:41 pm Post subject:

Thanks

_________________
........ Squash is a drug - and remember there is always someone better than you........

Adam Hildred · Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 11:04 pm Post subject:

Yep. We have nos 1, 2 and 3.

Basically, they're what people who win on say "wow they're pretty neat, never seen them before" and people who lose on say "they're a disgrace to squash."
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Adam Hildred
PM me or something if you add me to MSN please!