the major drawback that is affecting squash is tv coverage. I can not understand why the governing body of squash is not broadcasting squash free of cost on sports channels like ESPN. And it is a misconception that squash is not TV friendly. the few matches I have been able to watch on the net had very good quality videos and this has scope for improvement. By making it pay per view and making the audience pay for watching squash on the net PSA is not giving squash the chance it deserves. Every other sport is free to watch on tv then why should not not squash be. If tournaments are shown on tv live as well as recorded squash would capture public image and people would begin to understand squash.

If it is not commercially viable to broadcast squash at prime time then it can be shown recorded at other hours but it should be made free.

 

 

 

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Vitty - I hope things don't go sour due to lack of $$$$ and sponsorship since, from my experience, affiliation fees only keep the wheels of administration turning over. Shaun Moxham was one of our locals so he should know the story too well.

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Congratulations, Vitty!
First steps taken from your media... Next step should be taken from National Squash Organization ... keep us updated ...

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Hi all,
I´m proud I can announce you a big moment for squash here in Czech Republic: on 17th October,squash was for the first time on our television.It was for 30 minutes (vow!),and about Shaun Moxham´s help for one club in Prague,and about squash here generally.I know it may sound funny for someone,but in our country it´s like a real "revolution".No mention about squash in main media until now.I hope things go better...Vitty

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Hello, Vitty & the other readers,
Well, I can understand your friend who did not find the squash match exciting enough (Kneipp-Willstrop exhibition game)... Few hints for you then to hook on him again: get the DVD from the glasscourt (filmed/ produced proffesionally by Jean De Lierre), i.e. from TOC, British Open, or any World Open games (find it at psalive or squashlive). It does look different. Slow motion replays, different angles of the camera, it all makes the game more exciting and let you understand the matery of good shots.

Secondly – I tend to agree that this sport may be found "boring" (60 sqm of a court and two sweating men chasing a small ball, yelling LEEEET every five minutes, and there is no sun at all).Even if we do find the game elegant/ subtle and sophisticated... If you're not keen on this sport, you'll never understand it. Look, Vitty, tennis has been broadcasted from "ages" and majority of the people do understand the rules and even if not, they enjoy the beauty of the game and players (few of them are celebrities). I truly hope that squash will reach this level. 20 years from now you will watch Dunlop British Open in the prime time on Eurosport.

And last point for today: Yes, watching live in action guys like Nicol, Shabana, Willstrop (i love this guy's style), Abass, Ong Beng Hee, White, Tuominen, Gaultier is fun and inspiration. But thanks God I live in the country that loves squash and I can watch them more often :-)

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Hi Slavi,my neighbour :-)
Well,I have to agree with you.My brother plays tennis,for 10 years or so.I showed him one match from guide-to-squash.org (Kneipp vs.Willstrop,very funny,a "must see") - and guess what he said - THIS is squash ?! Hm,what´s special in this sport ? They´re just changing in the corners ! I said "Can you imagine how hard is doing this ? You´re going to play with me next week,and you´ll see !!!" I think he´s going to change his opinion! (PS:Do you remember "squash butt",in the times you were playing once in week or so ? :-))
But jokes apart...My brother is a "ordinary/average" spectator.Can it be true,that squash is a boring game for people who don´t play it ? I can´t belive it,if I compare it with tennis,it´s faster,more emotional...But I´m biased,I know...
At the end,one thing which isn´t connected with the topic - I´ve got two friends,both of them is about 40th place in my country.I saw them play recently...Squash can be so beautiful,elegant,fast...I want to be as good as they are...
Slavi,if I understood you well,you had been on the Hungarian Open ! If you really were,I´m jealous,"country for the horse" if I could see Shabana vs.Gaultier on my own eyes !!! You´re lucky man !

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Vitty - sorry I did not see Slavi's reply (not sure why) when I put in my post as he did a good job on the topic - totally agree with his points.

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Hi Vitty - yeah we have been asking ourselves this question for a long time. This is a "forever" problem for squash. It is a sport that ranks highly on the player participation stats but low on the viewers list, as it is not so attractive to "couch potatoes" and unfortunately they are the people who contribute the cash flow. It all seems unjust, but without the public demand, sponsorship suffers - lack of big match spectators, especially when you compare it to rugby, tennis, cricket, golf.
Squash is highly supported by Governments, and they sure are not in favour of public money going towards TV commercials, etc.
Sadly, in a nutshell, this story is about dollars, not health.

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Vitty, Welcome-To-The-Club of courious people :-)

I am not going to answer your questions here. What i will do I will try to release some pressure, ok?

So, as you may know, squash is a very young discipline comparing to Tennis (some people call it the grandson of Tennis) . And unfortunately for us, squash is far less exciting/intersting for the regular audience to be enjoyed in the fullest.
May i ask the question, why on the Hungarian Open (just finished one week ago) in the audience you could see ONLY amateur and proffesional squash players? Eventually friends of the players? If you go for any tennis tournament – there you may meet many "ordinary" people in the audience. Answers are not that easy, but you can understand that squash is still very niche sport activity. This goes as the answer for your TV-related question. It's not as exciting as tennis or football for average viewers. I do not really agree on that, but this is what I have heard from the cameraman on the mentioned above Hungarian Open... even the scoring system, rules and regulations are not that easy to understand gor the average viewers. You play yourself so you know how many times you are unsure about let/stroke situations :-)

Last but not least, we do not have any celebrities in squash yet. Who knows the names as Peter Nicol or Jonathon Power? Sarah Fitz-Gerald? Vicky Botwright??? I am not even mentioning your fellows as Pavel Sladacek, Jan Koukal or my Hungarian friends, Mark Krajcsak or Marton Szaboky. But everybody have heard of Anna Kurnikova, Williams Sisters or Liam Hewitt, Andree Agassi, Roger Federer are pretty well know sportsmen, aren't they?

it's such a bad luck (?) that squash won't be the part of the forthcoming Olympic games... though we should not give up. Thanks god the PSA invented PSALIVE :) because I believe that in few years squash will be more popular.

Speaking of Eurosport – we discussed the same topic in the Polish squash forum. I was shock that they were broadcasting POKER games on the Eurosport channel. And one of the arguments raised in this fomum was the cost of the court/ racket/ shoes etc. But again, I do not agree as the Tennis court and equipement is at the same level. So, your conclusion, Vitty is pretty common for majority of us.

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