do any of u guys speak english, the reason people r not playing squash is because kids are getting to lazy, playing computer games all the time. when i was growing up i was the only one at my school which had even heard of squash, let alone of played it.

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Interesting comments Ray, having run a squash center you are definately in a better position than me to make comment.

Having said that again squash is similar to skiing in ways.

Many wonder what the top level skiing associations are about as well, in general terms they promote the elite of the sport and appear to do little to promote the grass roots, this is seen to be at odds with their charter.

What is seen as Squash Australia's prime function ?

After a bit of a search I found their mission statement and it seems promoting the sport in a broad grass roots sense is their prime charge as well.

Is the national body seen to be doing this ?


"Mission Statement
6. To provide innovative leadership and direction for the growth and development of Squash in Australia."

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hi viper et al

quite honestly, in australia the squash associations simply do not have the human or financial resources to promote the sport.

it has been my experience that, when presented in the right way, young people love squash. when i was running a squash centre a few years ago we started of with about 4 regulars between 18 - 30 years. 12 months later that had gone to about 10. 12 months after that we increased it to about 60 after we had figured out what to do and how to do it.

i repeat that it is up to the squash industry to make this happen. it is up to individual venue/club operators to make it happen. it is possible but most operators need to change the way they do things to succeed.

i would be very interested in hearing from those in other countries, how much promotion goes on.

check this link to my activators program

ps changes which we are completing at the moment will give the forum more tools to work with. - coming at the end of october

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Also the turn around in snowsports was driven by the manufacturing companies initially, they could see the sport was becoming dull and declining and their profits diminishing , the sport itself through the resorts then got on board and embraced the "new style skiing"

Squash is crying out for some type of "new style" so it can attract the marketing machines demographic, ie disposible income 17-35 age bracket.

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First of all thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed response.

Ok so that is why we are now where we are.

1. Is squash currently in a holding pattern or is the slide still continuing ?

2. In Australia are the state and national bodies doing all they can to turn the sport around ?

3. Is there now a combined approach by all the squash centres to act as one (through their state bodies)or are they still mostly acting in their own interests ?

4. All those administrative problems you outlined were clearly a handicap to the game but at the end of the day I think it was still the "sport" itself ie the game that became unpopular.
As far as I can see this fundamental problem still exists, ie the game has not progressed in any way so it can ignite interest in new generations.
Take snow sports for instance, like squash it was declining big time up until say 7 years ago, the sport recognised this so they introduced and supported snowboarding and freestyle skiing both of which were made to look edgy and cool to the kids, suddemly the sport turned around and now there is a real energy back in snowsports.

Squash needs a similar injection of spark, being good for you and fun is just not enough, there is too much competetion for peoples lesiure time.

5. Where do you see the future of squash ?

NOTE:

Some side questions.

Does this forum software have the capabilty to turn on an edit function, emotion icons, private messages, spell check etc ?
It would really help to speed up the thread process.

Thanks Viper

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Hello Viper - a bit of background about Squash in Australia.
Seems we keep getting back to this same topic every now and then, but whilst what I have to say will not help the situation in Australia it does make me feel better to share a few things.
This is only about squash in Australia as it is/was a private industry, as compared to many overseas countries. And that in many ways was the good thing about our industry as anybody could play at any time, including kids, without expensive joining fees. Question, should 20 cents of every player's court hire been siphoned back to the State/National body for marketing and development?

In the current day and age "investors" buy/build/dismantle squash centres. In the 60/70's families who loved the game built squash courts, two and three (and that was not enough courts to run a decent competition), and they were mostly family "on-site" businesses. The children played, brought their school mates, swept the courts, took the bookings, showed the new players how it was done etc all as friendly helpful service. Clubs were formed, of which the court owner was part of the committee, and clubs were built and outfitted. Constitutions were put in place, etc. Boom times.

So, the 80's came along and squash was going well so partnerships were formed, larger complexes were built and managers/lesees were engaged but, at the same time, so was the profit halved. Another story!
Schools started to play squash in their rec time and junior clubs were formed, teachers who played squash brought their class to play and taught them the rules. After school coaching (unpaid amateur coach) and round robins were organised by parents/teachers/captains, and subsequently Inter-club competition became a natural progression, especially of interest for the Court Operator as it was a regular source of income.

Promotion and marketing costs money. Players begrudged paying affiliation fees and would say "what do I get ouf of my $?". Clubs and Associations were reluctant to increase their fees. Fines were introduced by Committees if the clubs did not do the right thing with player registrations, etc and grading so the Constitution started to become a force, so nobody would do anything unless it was constitutional.
Smart operators gave priveleges to members who worked constantly for the club, eg free racket, court hire, and so on.

So dog eats dog!

Association competitions, in the main, supported squash in Australia (State team titles, junior development,referee's committees,national and state administration, etc) and each member paid affiliation fees; the Hon Committee members (including workers) ran the Club (competitions, kept the results,applied for liquor licenses, outfitted the club rooms, etc) and if a new idea was suggested and the members did not like the idea they would vote that person out of office, irrespective of the fact it might be for the good of the game!.
So as a result of this work with inter-club competition teams, the Court Operator/Lessee/Owner thought "hey, I'm losing out the Club is more financial than me" so they wanted to run the competition, and the bar, etc so splinter groups started to be formed with Ladies Daytime, In-house Social, and these players paid no affiliation fees, and was offered at a slightly cheaper price. This gradual decline in national affiliation fees (income) prevented the clubs and associations from having promotions, eg mainly coaching and referee seminars, bus trips to other clubs, etc. The Court Operator subsequently was almost the Club, the Competition Organiser, the Social Convenor, and Honorary workers were becoming scarce.
Also the introduction of the Coaching Accreditation scheme and Coaches insurance, etc. really stepped in the way of amateur coaches, and parents, etc. because of the legal liability.
When it was suggested fees should rise to aid junior development the players with no kids said "I'm not paying extra fees for kids" even though they were often then of a standard to be used as "fill-ins" for competitions. So, complaints about the cost for kids to play adult competition came forward, so clubs subsidised juniors who filled in (some clubs at this state had about 40 regular juniors practising and playing junior comp so what a great thing for the standard of squash in Australia having kids start at 9 years of age and go right through).

Do I dare say, how pro-active squash was!! As I write this it seems I am following a stone rolling down a hill - pity about that.
By the 90's squash was getting left behind, still trying to do things as they had been done in the 60's, but under a different baseline. So private centres were/are beneficial to squash but also the fragmentation of bodies meant there was not a cohesive front, and much duplication, and at times neglect. This lack of cohesion was detrimental when putting together sponsorship proposals, Govt funded initiatives, etc. Good solid coaches, and referees, tournament controllers,etc got fed up and disillusioned and withdrew their time and support. Lifestyles had also changed, computers were necessary in business, the world was moving faster, Constitutions were hampering quick changes, stats were necessary for forward planning, operators lacked training in centre management/business skills and it was like paperwarfare to keep a track of all the members details, competition results, etc now the job for the paid workers!
Frustration set in, and the country centres felt lack of support, and withdrew their member's affiliation fees, and wanted to do the job themselves. No value for money idea.

Some centres started to diversify to save the day so they pulled down courts and put in gymnasiums, as well as erect basket ball hoops,and withdrew their energy from the overall structure of squash, and concentrated on their own centres, so this all was a downward spiral to the popularity of squash. Never mind about the shift in recreation and exercise for children whose parents worked, providing more in-house facilities like TV, DVDs, and more money to spend on less active pursuits.

Are you sorry you asked? 'Cos there is much more !!!
Heavens, I was asked to keep this post short - impossible for me!

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This is encouraging : http://www.victoriansquash.com.au/JnrPrograms.htm

Next, to find out if it is translating into sustained growth.

Boy I wish this forum had an edit post function and emotion buttons (smile)

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I have just read this interesting discussion on this very topic. (http://www.squashgame.info/articleview.php?artid=544)

It seems others share my dismay at the decline.

I think the old saying rings true for squash, "it just aint sexy" and unfortunately I do not see this ever changing.

Sports that are generally growing in this day and age are "marketable" no matter what way you look at squash it does not present many appealing marketing opportunities.

Having said that I was taken by some of the points raystrach made.

A fat busy Australia needs a quick hard workout that squash can offer.

This begs the question :

Given the Federal govt is behind a big "we are getting fat" campaign at present has the state and national bodies recognised this as an opportunity to grow the game again and gone to the Govt and lobied for funding to promote squash in a big way.

I would be very interested in hearing from the experienced people here on this forum regarding this point.

Cheers Viper.

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Thanks for the replies.

A couple of things.

It is the state and national squash associations charter to further the sport in this country, the sport is dying and some of the responsibility for stemming that decline lies with these state and national bodies.

When was the last state or national marketing initiative undertaken I wonder ?

Is it actively promoted in schools ?

Also it is not so much land value that have caused the closure of squash centres it is the failure of the sport itself, most centres are still open and able to survive with different activities, ie gym, dance, aerobics etc.

Thanks Viper

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I do answer Ray's request regarding the "popularity" of game called squash in my country. Or "the condition" of the game. Well, in country where I do live for 4 years now (Hungary) it seems to be very popular sport. For Amateur players as well as for Pro-players. I am pretty well informed about Hungarian squash and we have a lot of squash courts in all over the country, big number of tournaments (including A/B/C/D/E games, doubles, team championships, etc.), a lot of Clubs do organize the events for amateur players, a lot of players do have their own websites, our Dunlop Hungarian Open Squash is a pretty big tournament and it's respected by the PSA players. And local Squash Association is really active and they do a lot to promote this game...
So, I can't complain actually. Or if I do so I target my complaint on the prices (squash is not a cheap sport,) :-)

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hi viper, thanks for the question

1. yes, the sport is contracting, mainly in the big cities due mainly to the fact that squash centres are closing (mainly due to land values being greater than the value of the business)
   
2. i will chase up numbers for you and report later
   
3. the squash associations simply do not have the resources to promote the sport except that they take care of some junior development and in some cases, competitions. It is really up to the industry (ie centres, clubs) to take that role although most of them will blame everybody else!!
   
4. More countries are playing squash and i believe places like usa are converting hardball (racquetball) courts into squash courts (i invite others to post about the situation in their own countries)places like britain are struggling like us in australia.

but don't despair, i believe squash has a great future but it may take some time to re invigorate it.

ps squash is HUGE in egypt and malaysia

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