Croatia Crowns WSF Ambassadors' Balkans Tour by Howard Harding 28 May 2015
- The Croatian Squash Federation brought the 2015 WSF Ambassador
Programme tour to the Balkans to a mighty climax with an action-packed
two-day visit to the Croatia capital Zagreb.
Malaysia's world No.1 Nicol David and Spain's highest-ranked squash
player of all-time Borja Golan led the latest World Squash Federation
initiative in the third leg of a week-long trip which began in Serbia
and then took in Romania.
Launched four years ago, the ongoing WSF international promotional
project takes two leading squash players, together with an
international coach and referee, into younger squash nations to help
raise the sport's profile - through clinics, exhibition matches,
refereeing and coaching seminars, and media presentations.
A 7.00am start on the opening day saw David & Golan discussing the
appeal of squash live on the HRT1's "Good Morning Croatia" - and less
than an hour later, the WSF Ambassadors were welcomed in the Zagreb
Town Hall by the city's dynamic Mayor Milan Bandic.
"It's a great honour to host you here in Zagreb," said the sport-loving
Mayor (pictured above with David & Golan) who is in his fifth
four-year term. "We are more than ready to host more events in squash
here."
Bandic, who later posted pictures of the visit on his Facebook page,
was so taken by the squash ambassadors that he invited them to join him
for lunch later in the day at the city's annual flower show at Bundek
Park.
But the group's next appointment was with the Croatian Olympic
Committee and Vice President Morana Palikovic Gruden. "Squash is a
great sport," said Ms Gruden, who is also Chairwoman of the Women in
Sport Commission.
Croatian Squash Federation President Vedran Režić thanked Ms Gruden for
the NOC's backing. "Our association has always had the full support of
the Croatian Olympic Committee and we are very grateful for that.
"The squash family in Croatia is small, but the world family is a big one."
Gruden added: "The city's mayor is a big friend of sport. We hope that Zagreb will be the European centre for squash."
The WSF party also met Croatian Olympic Committee President Zlatko
Matesa, a keen squash player (pictured above, centre, with [L to R]
Režić, Golan, David & Andrew Shelley). "The success of squash in
Croatia is all down to Vedran Režić," said Matesa.
Media interest in the sport's Zagreb visit continued unabated back at
the city's biggest club SquashTower where a press conference attracted
a variety of media including HRT1, Nacional, HRT Radio, Zdrava Krava,
24H, Radio Kaj, Radio Martin, Radio Z1 and Jabuka TV.
After lunch with Mayor Bandic, the party returned to SquashTower to meet Croatian players (pictured above).
The climax of a six-month wait for Franka Vidovic came when the 10-year-old stepped onto the court with Nicol David.
"I want to be like Nicol," gushed the local prodigy who only took up
the game two years ago and won the Croatian U13 title when she was nine
years old - and is already No8 in the European U13 rankings!
Roko Voncina (pictured above with David & Vidovic) is another
promising Croatian junior, also coached by Vedran Svonja. After playing
Golan, the 14-year-old from Zagreb said: "Before the match, I just was
thinking about playing squash full-time - but now I have decided that I
will!"
The four-court SquashTower Club was packed with enthusiasts from far
and wide who revelled in the spectacle of watching David and Golan
playing against locals, and against each other. Amongst the crowd was
NOC President Matesa and Croatia's Malaysian Ambassador Mohd Noh Md
Yunus.
In addition to further TV interviews with Zagreb TV, Croatian National
TV 1 and 2, RTL TV, and Sports TV, the WSF Ambassadors also undertook a
variety of press interviews - one of which resulted in a 3-page colour
feature on David in the weekly news magazine NACIONAL (see below, David
reading the article in Zagreb's main square).
In summing up the success of the Croatia visit, federation President
Režić said: "The WSF Ambassador Programme is a great opportunity for
squash countries which are developing squash. It helps and gives hope
for young players to train more and achieve better results, maybe one
day as Nicol and Borja.
"Also it offers a great opportunity for national team and local and
club members (seen above in the ultimate Croatian squash 'selfie') to
meet and play with such outstanding athletes.
"I had never before met Nicol and Borja in person before and I have to
say that both of them are outstanding athletes and are great promotors
of squash. There are not many outstanding athletes with such nice
personalities!
"The Croatian Squash Federation has been working for the last seven
years, mainly with juniors, and I strongly believe that in a few years
we will have more juniors in the European top 10 lists and that we will
bring a medal from the Olympic Games. We are a lucky country in that we
already part of the Olympic family in Croatia and have their support.
"Once again, many thanks to the WSF for this opportunity," Režić concluded.
Nicol David, a 'veteran' of all but one of the WSF Ambassador visits,
said: "This is my first time in the Balkan region and the moment I
landed at our first stop in Belgrade, I knew I was going to experience
something pretty special.
"Each country we visited had a lot of similarities but are completely
different in their own way as we explore their capital cities further
while the locals share their stories about their countries' history.
The squash people that have hosted us throughout our tour have been
really hospitable in every sense of the word.
"The thing that stands out the most is their passion for squash just
from their enthusiasm and commitment to the sport. Serbia's first
squash club, SquashLand, is only 10 years old - and yet they already
have a group of young players competing within the Balkans and Europe.
All the kids we met in each country have had a lot of squash knowledge
and were excited to show their skills against Borja and myself.
"It's also my first time traveling with Borja and he was really
engaging with the kids and players everywhere we went. He's such an
unassuming person and it was nice to get to know him better outside the
squash tour as well. It was a real pleasure working together with him
throughout this tour.
"I came to the Balkans not knowing what to expect but after the whole
week, I've just been truly inspired by the lovely people that have
shared their joys and struggles to make things happen for squash in
their country. I hope that our WSF Ambassador Programme will help them
get more awareness within their country to grow the sport further.
"The federations and everyone involved from each country have put a lot
of effort into making our trip a successful one and they certainly made
it all worthwhile for us. Thanks for making us feel part of the Balkan
squash family!"
Ambassador debutant Borja Golan, added: "Firstly, I want to thank the
World Squash Federation for giving me the opportunity to participate in
this great event. I had never visited Serbia, Romania and Croatia
before and I was surprised how nice these three places were.
"Squash still has a short life and tradition in these countries but the
hard work they are spending to put the sport in another level is simply
admirable and I'm sure they will have great players in the near
future," explained the former world No.5.
"Also I felt really honoured to share these last few days with the
world number one Nicol David. I knew how good she was on court but
didn't know how humble, charismatic and accessible she was outside -
always with a smile in her face.
"And the last and probably most important is how well the Serbians,
Romanians and Croatians treated us. They gave 200% to make this trip
perfect for us. I can't believe how well they looked after us!
"When someone asks me what I most like from squash, normally I say I
like to compete, know different countries, be your own boss, etc. But
the best thing without any doubt is the people you meet in the squash
world. More than any win or trophies, they will always be in my
memories."
WSF CEO Andrew Shelley concluded: "The countries we visit tend to say
that having the WSF Ambassadors group there inspires them - but we are
hugely inspired too. The enthusiasm and passion of the players and the
Federations is infectious. They love squash, they want it to grow, they
will not rest until it does.
"More courts will be built, young champions nurtured and we will
certainly see the initials of the Balkan countries after more names in
Tour event draws. Our help in enabling media and player interaction is
only a small thing compared with the efforts made on an ongoing basis
by the local sports leaders.
"We are blessed by having players such as Nicol and Borja, along with
referee Roy (Gingell) and coach Ronny (Vlassaks) freely giving their
time, and the relationships made will only grow in the coming years. We
are blessed having the catalysts in the countries."
The WSF Ambassador Programme first visited the Baltic country of Latvia
in 2011, followed by a trip to the African countries of Malawi and
Namibia, then Panama and Venezuela in 2013, before last year journeying
to Papua New Guinea.
