It seems if we can hang onto the courts long enough there could be a resurgence of interest.  Fair enough. So in the Victorian town of Beechworth the squash club is being brought back to life.  What a great story for squash when the businessmen in the town save the courts, revitalise them, and now put squash back on the map.  Good work.

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It is not only England that Court Watch is a topic for discussion, but many other countries.  Now the Lithgow Courts, where David Palmer first took to the court, is having a hard time keeping going.  It seems this time it is not the owners saying I am going to knock it down, but the lack of operators wanting to take on the business in this downwards trend.  I guess the Government and Councils cannot bale every downwards market out, and we have heard a lot about the economy this last few months. Then you pick up a paper and money is being handed out to organisations who come up with the best solution to assist children being active, trying to arrest the health of the nation, eg diabetes, asthma, obesity, etc which then leads to increased costs of health care, medications, and it goes on.

It was said 25 years ago that squash in this country would go like overseas in the future and become private clubs with multisports facilities; but more to the point, is the adding of pokies, public bars, etc. to the centres to keep them viable.  So this circle continues to go round and round.

If people have never been fit they will never know what they are missing out on I suppose.

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Court Watch, England, has highlighted the plight of squash to survive in some areas throughout the UK. Here is an article about campaigners putting forward draft plans as a last chance to save Sobell

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Rippa, this is a worrying, if not unsurprising development, in the UK.  As I have mentioned on here before, my local authority has recently closed 2 courts reducing capacity by 50% in one fell swoop at the leisure centre where I play mostly.  This was an easy decision for them to justify based on declining usage (albeit without any effort from them to redress this in terms of marketing squash) and almost total lack of usage during the daytime. 

The spaces have now become kids multi-gymns/creches/table tennis areas etc. but what annoys me most about this is that the reverse situation now occurs - during the busy squash times, these converted spaces are no longer in use!  I agree with you that more imaginative use of these spaces could have saved the squash courts.  After all, a squash court is just a large open space and if easily portable equipment was used and the floors could have been protected, then there was no reason why our courts could not have been preserved for use in the evenings when the kids multi-gymn etc. is not needed.  The alternative uses of a squash court can and should be complimentary and not competing and could actually serve to protect the courts rather than threaten their existence.  It's a shame my local authority did not see it that way.

At the end of the day however, squash needs to promote itself more effectively as a form of physical and mental activity, particularly to the younger generation, if it is to survive and thrive into the future.  It will be interesting to see what the results of the recent England Squash survey reveal about the state of the sport over here.  I hope an honest report will be made available.

Cheers

Jimbob

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