Over 760 players from 46 different countries have descended into Birmingham to participate in the World Masters Squash Championships across four West Midlands based venues. The event is proving to be a great success so far, with a packed out show-court audience for an enthralling exhibition match between James Wilstrop and Saurav Ghosal.
Our world masters are not the only ones to benefit from this fantastic event. The West Midlands Regional Team has made it their priority to ensure there is a lasting legacy, with both local coaches and young people alike benefiting from the tournament.
Saturday 21st July not only marked the opening of the tournament, but also the beginning of the legacy target. An obvious place to start to maximise the legacy effect is with our coaches, as they are the ones delivering our wonderful games across the region. With this in mind, six of our finest local coaches embarked on a coaching workshop on the glass show court which, placed upon the newly built Bramall Auditorium at the University of Birmingham, provided an inspirational back drop for our coaches.
The workshop, led by ESR Elite Performance Coach Paul Carter, was both a classroom and court-based session, where ideas were enthusiastically shared prior to an informal lunch, before the coaches took to the show court where practical skills and coaching drills were demonstrated.
Feedback from the coaches involved was extremely positive, with all coaches feeling that they benefited highly from the one-off opportunity. Informal plans have also been made to hold a more frequent ‘Coaching Forum’, providing a regular opportunity for the sharing of knowledge and expertise.
Up next to experience the spectacular glass show-court were our West Midlands local juniors. Almost 50 West Midlands juniors excitedly descended onto court which, for some, was their first experience on a glass court. Youngsters arrived from several of ESR’s key clubs including Leamington, Stourbridge, Barnt Green and our Club of the Year runner up Kenilworth. Players were coached with those from a similar age group, but, to ensure variation, were mainly educated by a coach from a different club.
ESR are proud that so many people have benefited from the region holding the World Masters, with both juniors and coaches alike enjoying the excellent glass show-court and thriving atmosphere within the host venues. We hope that they will aspire to one day play in the World Masters themselves!
Our List of ‘Aspiring World Masters’ Juniors
Dan Agaiby
Nathaniel Williams
Finlay Collinson
Tom Knight
Lucien Williams
Reeve Lewis
Libby Corke
Jack Williams
Mark Richmond
Ross Williams
James Stanford
Charlie Stanford
William Parsons
Sam Wynne-Jones
Bean
Patrick Thurlow
Lewis Anderson
Becky Strong
Daniel Brown
James Cumiskey
Kiera Marshall
Ellen Jenkins
Georgia Reece-Morris
Katie Rowe
Adam Dean
Sophie Williams
Grace Cumiskey
Ellie Rowe
Dan Pearce
Lucy Green
Owen McConville
Josh Drew
Daniel Cochraine
Alex Lovelock
Daniel Haggerty
Harry Rogers
Max Sharpe
Jamie Runsberry
Will Barnett
Tom Hackett
Jack Cooper
Zac Marshall
Sam Osborne-Wylde