Growing the game

Ivy Pochoda backs call for outdoor courts in USA By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor As the calls grow louder across the globe for more outdoor squash courts, two American national champions have been sampling the delights of playing on an open-air facility in Los Angeles. The Daily Squash Report has kindly given permission [...]

England Squash chief fights for greater freedoms for our sport when the latest lockdown is lifted By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor England Squash chief Keir Worth is demanding greater freedoms and fewer restrictions for squash players when the latest coronavirus lockdown is lifted. Worth is working with other racket-sport federations to lobby the [...]

Black Ball Club to host back-to-back men’s and women’s events in December By ALAN THATCHER and SEAN REUTHE Egypt will host back-to-back men’s and women’s PSA World Tour Gold events between December 7 and 18, 2020 when the CIB PSA Black Ball Open takes place at the spectacular Black Ball Sporting Club in Cairo. A [...]

World Squash Day 20th Anniversary date is confirmed for Saturday September 11th 2021 By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor and World Squash Day Founder World Squash Day celebrates its 20th anniversary next year, with Saturday September 11th, 2021, confirmed as the date. Plans are already under way to launch major global campaigns in conjunction [...]

Coping with Covid and building a sunny future for squash as an outdoor sport By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor Just as squash players were enjoying their return to court, along came a new wave of guidelines and restrictions that threaten the game’s existence in many parts of the world. Squash continues to face [...]

Lots of energy and new faces as New Zealand copes with Covid (but we can still pick up tips from pickleball) By ROD BANNISTER – Squash Mad NZ Correspondent New Zealand has been in a unique position while many countries around the world, including our neighbours Australia, have had to deal with unique situations when [...]

From The Pyramids to Loch Ness, World Squash Day is a massive success By Squash Mad Correspondent Even the Loch Ness Monster made a rare appearance to join the fun as World Squash Day overcame Covid restrictions across the globe to relaunch the game in style. Enthusiastic players took to the streets, uploaded crazy videos [...]

Jahangir Khan backs World Squash Day project: Trade in your racket for a new one from UNSQUASHABLE and the old one goes to a good cause … plus you save £100 By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor Jahangir Khan, a 10-times British Open Champion and a former WSF President, is supporting the latest World [...]

Squash has a great product to sell, but who is doing the advertising? By EDUARDO ALVAREZ – Squash Mad Correspondent Who is advertising squash these days? We all know the conversations in the pub related to growing the sport: “We need to get into the Olympics and then the sport will explode” “We need to [...]

On this day … how World Squash Day was born By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor The world changed on this day in 2001 when two passenger planes were hijacked by terrorists and flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan. Many New York-based squash players were killed in the [...]

Rod Bannister interview: “We must change the stodgy way this game has been run and make it cool, funky, and easy to access” Interview by ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor Rod Bannister had just 24 hours to sell his property, pack his bags and move his family from Gold Coast back home to New [...]

Scottish Open: Plans for 2021 “sign of growing confidence and collaboration” in Scotland’s squash community By MICHAEL GREGSON – Squash Mad Correspondent Unmistakably confirming that squash is back from Lockdown, Scottish Squash and partner Springfield Homes have laid down an early marker for August 2021, trumpeting Inverness as the venue for the £20,000 Springfield Scottish [...]

Myyr Squash: Finns foil falling figures by breaking down barriers to welcome new players By LUUKAS RAATIKAINEN – Squash Mad Correspondent Squash needs to be affordable, visible and welcoming, break down any perceived or real barriers to entry, and reach out into local communities to attract new players, according a Squash Club Development Day held [...]

The NYC Squash Renaissance: Reasons for optimism By CLEVE MILLER – Squash Mad Correspondent I have read with interest the ​article by Eduardo Alvarez​ in Squash Mad and ​the response by Guy Cipriano​ published yesterday in the Daily Squash Report. I’d like to comment on Mr. Cipriano’s post. (Shame he didn’t post here. Ed). Mr [...]

World Squash Day: 50 days to go until squash takes to the streets! By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor Today marks a major milestone in the countdown to World Squash Day 2020 – with just 50 days to go to the big event. Squash takes to the streets on Saturday October 10th as part [...]