Squash, what is the reality? Is it on a path of sustainable rise or gradual demise?
It has become clear in the past several months that squash is
struggling in a serious way. Rejected by the Olympic community; fewer
tournaments; a canceled Women’s World Championships (later saved by
Penang, Malaysia); sponsorship troubles across the board. And most
tellingly, in both England and Australia, (traditional stalwarts of the
game), national sporting organisations are cutting funding due the
national squash associations lack of achievement in terms of real
participant growth at the recreational level. In Australia they also
mention the diminishing returns at the professional level.
As a comparison, let me provide some numbers: In the world rankings for
Badminton, there are listed 1,871 men singles players. For women
singles, there are 1,050 players in the world rankings.
In the squash world rankings the PSA has 470 active players, and the WSA has 220 active players.
So quick calculations tell you that on the men’s side, squash has
roughly 25% of the number of professional level competitors in
badminton. For women the number drops even further, with squash only
fielding 21% of the numbers that badminton puts on the tournament
courts worldwide.
A count and comparison of the recreational and competitive amateurs in
badminton and squash would reveal an even larger disparity. In the
early 80’s Badminton and Squash were probably on a par in terms of
recognition, and respect among elite sports. But in the intervening
decades badminton has capitalised on its sheer participant numbers,
translating those numbers in to ever increasing sponsorship, of course
increased value as a spectator sport, and continuing increases in
participation numbers at all levels.
Now add to the existing chasm-like difference in the numbers of elite
athletes, along with the relative paltry number of participants….. to
the diminishing number of players in two historically powerhouse
nations: England and Australia, squash is not headed in the right
direction. The powers that be, have for years, decades even, focused on
promoting the elite level, and yet the results have not been at all
positive.
Will the fact that England now boasts the world champion for both men
and women, cause a turn around in the ongoing trend of smaller and
smaller participant numbers in the UK? I would venture that England
Squash and Racketball will probably see a slight, and temporary, up
tick in numbers. But, it is very unlikely that the overall downward
trend will be reversed by the current form of Massaro and Matthew.
No, I would argue that primary focus should be on the grassroots, all
efforts targeted towards increasing participant numbers. There are
examples in both the USA and Egypt of grassroots development. Efforts
that have resulted in increasing numbers of recreational and
competitive players.
In the end it comes down to increasing the number of courts; expanding
the demographics of the socioeconomic groups that are not only
attracted to the game, but also enabled to play economically, socially,
logistically; and finally, developing the coaching ranks.
However, it all starts with filling the courts we have now. If
governments and other national sporting organisations continue to
observe squash courts under-utilised, how can anyone successfully argue
for the public or private investment for more courts, much less likely
than closing courts and putting the real estate to better, more
profitable use?
If we create an overwhelming demand for the existing facilities, then
financiers, both public and private will be able to confidently predict
a return on investment that justifies building of more facilities.
Kenneth Tuttle Wilhelmis an accredited squash coach and educator based in Asia, and writes the squash coaching blog squashstepbystep.blogspot.com.
He’s been coaching sports and teaching in international schools for
many years. In a previous life he was a competitive badminton player
reaching the A Grade level, and briefly held a world ranking in Men’s
Doubles.
What's On My Mindis a column by rotating authors. Contact DailySquashReport@gmail.com
