World Squash Figures Praise iLoveSquash from Tour Media
May 29 2012
- During last week's British Open at London's O2 Arena, iLoveSquash
became the latest success in the sport which is bidding to join the
Olympic Games programme in 2020.
Launched on Facebook
in 2009, the standalone page provides regular news from the world of
squash for Facebook fans - not using the presence to drive traffic onto
a separate webpage.
The daily posts inform the Facebook squash community of tournament news, player features, pictures and videos.
In addition the posts
are also fed onto the www.i-Love-Squash.com site which provides
additional information for those who want more than the brief Facebook
content.
Now with more than 30,000 fans, iLoveSquash leads its social media rivals in the sport by a significant margin.
"The aim for the next
year is to create partnerships with players, clubs, tournaments, the
governing bodies of the squash nations and the leading associations in
the world of squash to support the principal aim - to get Squash into
the Olympics," said co-founder Peter Schmidl.
PSA CEO Alex Gough
said: "iLoveSquash is a real success story for squash in terms of the
game reaching as many squash fans as possible. I am sure they will
continue to reach more and more fans and help to grow the sport
further."
Andrew Shelley, CEO of
the World Squash Federation (WSF), added: "Squash players are great
communicators, and iLoveSquash provides a great platform. It has been
growing well since its formation and I am sure that it will get bigger
and provide a great service in the years to come."
Tim Garner, Tour
Director of the Women's Squash Association (WSA), said: "iLoveSquash
has really grasped the social media concept and given those who love
our sport the perfect vehicle to connect. It's obvious from the number
of fans that it is a success and I am sure that it will grow
organically as our game evolves towards Olympic inclusion!!"
Leading players are
also taken by the successful initiative: "I think iLoveSquash is a
great idea about informing people and the squash community about all
the world of squash," said Frenchman Gregory Gaultier, the world No2.
"We know how many people use Facebook and how important it is to talk
about our sport and try to attract as many people as possible to be one
day part of the Olympic family. I love the idea of the iLoveSquash
concept."
Nick Matthew, the
two-time world champion from England, added: "Social media is very
important in the modern world. iLoveSquash is a great way for squash
fans of all ages, from everywhere in the world, to interact and share
their love for our game online." Nicol David, the
Malaysian who has topped the women's world rankings since August 2006,
is also a fan: "The main aim for Squash is to be in the Olympics and I
would do anything to get squash that spot it deserves in the Games.
Squash2020.com is our bid campaign and it's a way for the public to
play their part in supporting squash to get into the Olympics.
"If Squash gets the
bid in 2020, then I would continue to work hard and get myself ready to
participate in the Games eight years from now. iLoveSquash is going to
be a driving force for this too."
Nico Limmeroth, the
site's creative partner, concluded: "We will implement new ideas to
maintain our growth rate to get to 50,000 fans over the next 15 months."