It is one year since Georgina Kennedy and Paul Coll had Commonwealth Games gold medals carefully placed around their necks amidst scenes at Birmingham University Sports Centre that no-one present will ever forget.
Birmingham 2022, like the six Games before it in which squash has been part of the roster, saw our beloved sport escalated to a level of public appreciation that transcends the annual treadmill of PSA World Tour events.
Venerable as the World Squash Championships, British Open and Tournament of Champions may be, they do not pierce the squash bubble and capture the eyes and minds of the non-squash playing public. Only multisport Games can do that.
For a magical fortnight, every medal matters – so squash matters.
The cancellation of the 2026 Games by its intended hosts, the Australian state of Victoria, and Canada’s cancelled bid for 2030 has brought the future and relevance of the Commonwealth Games under scrutiny.
Along with the exorbitant cost of hosting the event, some nations and bigger sports such as swimming and athletics have devalued recent Games by not sending their highest-profile athletes. In addition, several nations are contemplating leaving the Commonwealth and the death of the Queen is perceived to have further weakened its power.
However – while the IOC continue to ignore squash in favour of conkers, Fortnite or whatever trifling adolescent nonsense might currently be attracting ‘the yoof’ – the Commonwealth Games remains the best vehicle to elevate squash to the sort of status it deserves.
Every four years, squash becomes important. It takes its place alongside mainstream sports, and it delivers. I covered squash for the official Games News Service at Birmingham 2022 (the best gig of my career by a distance) and every day I encountered spectators who had never been on a squash court but who were utterly captivated by what they were watching. As a lifelong squash player and fan, the atmosphere in that arena swelled my chest with pride.
Part of its appeal was that it palpably meant so much to the players. Gina Kennedy’s tears, Paul Coll and Joelle King’s spine-tingling haka after winning the mixed doubles, Donna Lobban and Greg Lobban’s intense husband-wife rivalry when Australia faced Scotland in the mixed doubles quarter-finals, the stunned faces of Declan James and James Willstrop after winning men’s doubles gold for England on the final day: these memories endure because of the unbridled emotion and the profound meaning it had for the protagonists.
And, of course, it showcased the brilliance of our product: the rallies, the personalities, the sweat-soaked athleticism and the intriguing complexity within an ostensibly simple game.
The very concept of the Commonwealth itself may be struggling for relevance in the modern world, but squash must fervently hope that a new host can step in for 2026, and that Games thereafter continue to provide a glittering stage for us to show our game at its best.