New facility opens in April 2018
By HOWARD HARDING – Squash Mad International Correspondent
In a unique collaboration between a court manufacturer and a leading squash coach, ASB Squash has teamed up with Australian Shaun Moxham to launch a new high performance squash training facility in the USA.
The new MSquash Accelerator Center is a high-tech training facility featuring the most innovative training solutions from ASB Squash, interactiveSquash and Affectiva.
The center, in Port Chester, NY, will house six ASB courts. It will be the home of Shaun Moxham’s MSquash Academy and will offer two interactiveSquash courts, a 7-camera 360° video analysis glass court with a data tracking glass floor, and three standard courts for normal play.
MSquash Accelerator will be the home of a dedicated Junior and Pro Academy, yet will welcome many newcomers to the game with interactiveSquash (pictured below being enjoyed by Germany’s world No.9 Simon Rösner). The center will be led jointly by Moxham and former Belgian pro Katline Cauwels.
Shaun Moxham was the coach of former World Champion David Palmer and has coached many other international pro-players, as well as many leading US junior players. The duo is renowned for their focus on the mindset and mental part of the game.
“Together with ASB, the world leader in squash court construction, we have developed a cutting-edge High Performance Center, including a glass court, a lit-up data-tracking glass floor and interactiveSquash,” said Moxham.
“ASB was there with us from conceptual thinking, through design to installation soon – and we will continue to design new interactiveSquash apps and products with them, as this is the future of effective coaching.”
The MSquash Accelerator Center will incorporate technology in the development of athletes to accelerate the learning curve in an athletic and life-achievement context.
“Some 65% of people are visual learners,” Moxham continued. “We bring the visual aspect into the learning process with 360° video analysis, a data-tracking glass court and interactiveSquash, which lights up target zones for athletes and gives feedback about the results straight away. Athletes and children will see where they need to hit the ball, it will increase focus dramatically and give them immediate court-side feedback.”
On the other hand, technology makes learning more fun, focuses on play and problem-solving, offers many more ways to give feedback and remember the lessons learnt.
Cauwels explains: “Athletes and children use technology in every part of their lives, it is time to bring technology into athlete development in squash.”
The NY Times recently reported that American teenagers, more than ever before, suffer from severe anxiety to perform. The MSquash Academy stresses the importance of happy performers. They will use interactiveSquash – a serious gaming technology to help kids love the game and train in the most fun way.
They will work with Emotion AI company Affectiva on building resilient kids and athletes who better understand their emotions, and learn to manage them better, through a lifelong affiliation to sport.
Rana El Kaliouby, the CEO of Affectiva, said: “The idea of our technology is making your emotions more visual and quantifiable. It is a data-driven approach to managing your emotions. The visualization improves the awareness and mindfulnnes of your state of mind. It will help kids to better act and change their state of mind.”
Markos Kern, CEO of interactiveSquash, added: “The system is a game-changer in the way we attract kids and new players to this amazing sport. Apart from providing vast data and analytics, the system changes training and fun play into a full, immersive gaming experience. With this ‘gamification’ of squash, the physical activity and improvement becomes a very fun and easy thing. Apart from that it’s highly addictive, and who wouldn’t want that!”
In partnership with the German ASB and interactiveSquash, MSquash Accelerator will be the first Showcase and Experience Center worldwide. The partnership with Affectiva will allow athletes to work on their emotion management using the MIT Start-up’s disruptive technology and bring Emotion AI to sports through facial and voice recognition.
ASB CEO Christof Babinsky describes the initiative as a breakthrough for coaches, squash court owners and the digital world alike, saying: “The new training experience with all the interactive aspects will create new possibilities to modernise squash training.
“This will be vital for professional players but will also bring new audiences to the squash court, as well as providing new training alternative to current players.”
MSquash Accelerator is now in construction. It will bring a total new dimension to the way athletes play and train squash. Opening in April 2018, MSquash offers charter memberships summer camps for kids and ambitious squash players.
“The summer camps will give kids worldwide premiers in squash training and are sure to sell out very soon,” concluded Moxham.
For more details, see www.msquash.com
About M Squash and ASB:
Founded in 1997, MSquash Academy is the High Performance Squash Academy based on the vision of Shaun Moxham, whose innovative and passionate coaching developed 2x World Champion David Palmer and many other top pro and Junior Players. The coaching philosophy is based on three pillars: Mindset, Movement and Match Strategy. Together with Katline Cauwels, wife of Shaun Moxham, former Belgian national champion and world #42, MSquash innovates once again by building a high-tech, high-performance squash training center in New York. MSquash Accelerator will open its doors in April 2018. Registration for summer camps and Charter Memberships is open now at: www.msquash.com
ASB SquashCourt is a leader in its market and has to date supplied more than 7,000 squash courts to satisfied customers in 70 countries all over the world. ASB SquashCourts have also worked very closely with the World Squash Federation (WSF) and the Professional Squash Association (PSA) to deliver show glass courts for the most prestigious events all over the world.
Further event highlights information: asbsquash.com/highlights/
Picture courtesy of ASB