Who can blame squash administrators during the boom years in Australia for not engaging the wider community as part of long-term sustainability and growth? Everywhere one looked there were courts, players and a social buzz around the sport.
The noise has waned, while squash courts and player participation have since fallen by the wayside and the next few years will be critical as Australia prepares for squash’s hopeful Olympic stay before Brisbane 2032.
At Squash Queensland, where Shantel Netzler is CEO, the body was long connecting with the community before the Olympic announcements.
Netzler took over the role in 2021 from Colette Sultana, a Maltese national player, and says success is down to “working smart” as squash fights for attention. “It is a competitive sporting market and it’s about working smart and building on our strengths,” she says.
Netzler, a mother-of-four, was the first Samoan woman to be appointed on to the Queensland Rugby Union Community Advisory Panel and the Brisbane Junior Rugby Union Board.
She also realises, with her children all playing sports year-round such as basketball, volleyball and rugby, that squash isn’t a sport offered in schools in Queensland. “But we are working hard to change that,” she adds.
“The strength of squash is to make sure it is part of a larger ecosystem.”
Netzler came in originally as a part-timer “due to the state of the game” and is now full-time and leaning hard on government relations which she says is one of the state’s strengths in the last 12 months.
Squash Queensland has engaged with 12 out of 77 councils, with their players stretching right from Weipa down to the Gold Coast.
“Beforehand, there was no engagement with the wider sporting community due to the strength of squash,” she admits.
“The strength is our community clubs, not just pennant players. People have changed their lifestyle since Covid, we have two working parents compared to the 1970s and 1980s.”
Netzler is at pains to partner with other sports — and clearly knows the value of community — partnering with basketball and rugby clubs, which have prime real estate in Brisbane and are open to having squash courts in their facilities.
“Coming from a rugby background into the sport, I’m very much from the community and what it takes to run a successful club,” she admits.
She points to how three-year-olds have watched squash on Bluey [a cartoon character and one of the most watched programmes in the US] an episode which is based on a club in Queensland and was somewhat a coup for the sport given the young eyeballs watching.
“It is leveraging those cross-promotional opportunities and taking the court out into the council and school events,” says Netzler.
“As soon as you put a racket in someone’s hands and let them go, it’s not about the coaching, it’s allowing them to have a go and they don’t want to come off. It doesn’t have to be so complex.
“What I’ve loved about my engagement this year is seeing their eyes light up. A lot of the people I have spoken to have had some affinity with squash in the past, it’s bringing those good feelings back into the game, be it as a fan or getting back onto court.”
Admittedly, people still tell her that they don’t know where their nearest court is, but Squash Queensland is seemingly on the right lines to changing perceptions.
And Netzler is well versed to deal with the task at hand after running the largest rugby association and an 8,000-strong junior competition in Brisbane.
Although she won’t get into the specifics of the current ‘Right Ball’ campaign, which Squash Mad has been running, she is eager to engage in making sure kids who try out squash aren’t put off.
“If you look at every successful sport, they have modified rules and learning, it’s about getting more engaged in the sport,” she says.
“I’ve seen some matches with one hit, one serve and where’s the enjoyment in that? It’s about competence, confidence and being able to enjoy the game.”
With around 100,000 playing squash nationally, she estimates around 12-20,000 are on her patch and wants to add numbers through outdoor squash activation and school squash.
She says: “I am really excited about Brisbane 2023 and being able to leave a legacy.
“With the Australian Open in March, rolling out the biggest governance project in Queensland and being able to unlock the most funding for the sport in 20 years, we are only scratching the surface and being able to deliver some real outcomes for our members.”