England Squash and Racketball

England Squash & Racketball is the governing body for squash and racketball in England and is responsible for the organisation and promotion of the sports. It comprises of 38 County Associations, approximately 1,000 clubs and 50,000 individual members aged from eight to 80.

If you are looking for a great way to get fit, meet new people, and have fun, squash and racketball could be the sports for you. To get started all you need is a ball, a racket, and a wall (preferably four of them though!)

England Squash & Racketball develops programmes and resources across the whole spectrum of the sports, from grassroots development, through coaching and competitions for all ages and abilities, to producing World, European and Commonwealth champions on a regular basis. England currently has 4 men and 3 women ranked in the top 10 of their respective world rankings.

The South West Regional Manager Matt Baker and Administrator Lee O'Donnell, based in Exeter are there to promote and develop squash and racketball on a regional basis, listening to and helping clubs, players, coaches, referees, and volunteers, as well as promoting both sports to people who have yet to pick up a racket.

Mini Squash

Mini Squash is an exciting game that encourages children aged 5 to 11 to get on court and have fun. Using specialised equipment designed to help children learn the basic skills as well as develop coordination and balance, Mini Squash provides the ideal introduction to squash. For more details please visit http://bit.ly/qeSMrB

Racketball

Racketball is the UK’s fastest growing sport! It is played on any regular squash court and is similar to squash. In racketball a larger ball, which does not need warming up like in squash, and a shorter racket are used, as shown below.

The fact that the ball is bigger, more bouncy and does not need warming up means that the rallies last longer, as the ball moves slower giving the opponent more time to react and get to the ball. The shorter racket also helps with hand eye coordination making the ball easier to strike. Overall this makes the game much easier to pick up than many other sports like squash or tennis. Racketball is said to be, "Easy to learn yet difficult to master" which is one of the key factors in the sports recent growth.

Friends Go Free

‘Friends go Free’ is a simple yet effective initiative for your Club which encourages you to open your doors and allow existing members to bring a friend for free. What could be easier?!

The flexibility of the programme from England Squash & Racketball will allow you to tailor the offer to meet your Clubs needs. As an ESR affiliated Club we will provide you with posters and leaflets which promote the programme. We’ve attached a generic PDF of the poster and signup sheet for you to use but remember get back to us by the 19th December and we’ll personalise them free of charge!
Very simply we recommend that you decide on date(s) between the 14th January and 12th February 2012 that you will run the initiative and highlight these on the calendar printed on your posters. Why not make a real event of it and organise some beginner coaching, exhibition matches or evening entertainment to really make your potential new members welcome.