It has been reported by various sources, such as The Telegraph, BBC and many websites dedicated to bringing squash news to the public, that in recent years the amount of participants playing squash has dropped considerably.
Data has been gathered regarding this matter, as The Telegraph (2016) state, “Participation in the sport in England has fallen to 196,500 weekly players from 290,000 in 2010.” This includes the influx in participation between 2008-2013 which was aided by England Squash who put a focus on increasing the participation of girls, women, and ethnic minority players.
This decline then raises the question of what will be done to increase the participation? Since last year, the number of participants has increased slightly, going from 325,000 monthly players to 342,300. Though this is not a massive increase, it shows that England Squash, amongst other governing bodies, are going in the right direction to increase how many people play squash in England.
Though organisations still have a large task to get squash participation back to what it was previously, the primary ways England Squash are promoting participation is through advertising the advantages of playing squash, such as the health benefits, as it was crowned by Forbes (2015) as being the healthiest sport in the world, excelling over the likes of rowing, rock climbing, swimming, cycling and a plethora of different sports. The factors that were taken into consideration when deciding this were how many calories the sport burned, the cardio and muscle endurance and injury risk, which when the ratings all added up, put squash just ahead of rowing.
Another strategy that England Squash have implemented is the ‘game changer’ which has cemented their partnership with Places for People Leisure, who, as a National Governing Body, run over 100 courts across England. ‘Game changer’ is a long term strategy which England Squash hope to see increase participation on public squash courts and which will focus on socialising, having a good time and learning the game itself. There is a cost however, the 6-week blocks that will run will cost around £10, though participants who choose to pay will have the possibility of winning vouchers or their own Squash Racquets.
It’s also worth mentioning that England Squash have participation managers, who focus on different parts of the country, some working primarily in the North and some in the South of England. One of these managers also focuses on another England Squash strategy called ‘Squash Girls Can’ which focuses on getting girls more involved in the game of squash through socialising and learning about the game through sessions which cater to both beginners and people who haven’t played in a while.
In conclusion, England Squash have taken into consideration the decrease in participation, and have acted upon it with implementing new strategies and working with different communities, schools and leisure centres to increase how many people play squash, including both adults and children.
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