Belfast Boat Club squash player Shriya Drawid took up the sport when she was eight and it was her older brother Rohan who first inspired her, and has gone on to become a recipient of the Mary Peters Trust athlete awards.
“Along with mum and dad, I was always around squash and squash players, watching Rohan compete and experiencing the vibe. I just loved it and wanted to be part of that world,” Shriya relates.
“I joined the junior section of Belfast Boat Club, then took private lessons and trained very hard. By age 10 I was playing in U13 as well as U11 tournaments and at that stage I realised I was good at squash. It gave me the impetus to really push forward.”
The Methodist College, Belfast student has finished Year 1 of her GCSE studies and became a Mary Peters Trust athlete in Spring 2022. Shriya has met Lady Mary on several occasions, including at the Trust’s Athletes Academies held each year and bringing together young sports people from across Northern Ireland to officially celebrate their funding awards.
Massive thank you to Local Sport Women for running Shriya’s story – Full story here
Irish Squash has announced the Under 13 and Under 15 team to play in the 5 Nations tournament between Ireland, France, Wales England & Scotland. The tournament will be held in the Squash Wales Centre in Cardiff from Friday 5th April to the 7th.
We wish all the players the best of luck and congratulate them on their selection for the international team.
The teams are:
The WIS Racket Sports Team -Tennis Ireland, Badminton Ireland, Irish Squash and Table Tennis Ireland – are
delighted to announce our new Women in Sport leadership event. The event will take place at Carlow Lawn Tennis Club, Oak Park Road Carlow, R93 K402 on Saturday 27th April at 2.00pm – 6.00pm.
This event is open to qualified female Tennis, Badminton, Table Tennis and Squash coaches. The event will include a talk from guest speaker Chloe Magee and give participants a chance to gain experience by leading
a participation event. There will be great networking opportunities on the day with refreshments included and a free t-shirt for all participants.
Register here for the event: https://forms.gle/zWJHfNkdboHQQz1dA
For more information email wisrackets@gmail.com
Participation Event
The WIS Racket Sports Team -Tennis Ireland, Badminton Ireland, Irish Squash and Table Tennis Ireland – are delighted to announce our new Women in Sport initiative, ‘Come and Try It’ Day. The event will take place at Carlow Lawn Tennis Club, Oak Park Road Carlow, R93 K402 on Saturday 27th April at 4.00pm – 6.00pm.
This event, organised jointly by the 4 sports, will create opportunities for females of all ages and abilities to try a new sport(s), meet old friends and make new ones, but the main aim will be to interact with one another through sport while having fun.
As well as welcoming existing members of the 4 sporting bodies, we will be delighted to see females with no sporting background. Coaches from each of the 4 sports will ensure everyone gets a chance to experience the sports and make it a fun day for all.
The event is Free of Charge, please register your interest here: https://forms.gle/Qu3zNEUYu6RfTWsZ7
Irish Squash have selected Hannah Craig, Breanne Flynn, Emma Lundy and Hannah McGugan for 2024 ESF European Division 3 Squash Championships in Bucharest, Romania from April 17th – 20th. Ciara Moloney Doheny is named as a non-traveling reserve.
Off the back of her second national title and a stellar few months on the pro-circuit, moving to 91st in the world, Irish no.1 Hannah Craig is included in the side. She is joined by 2024 national finalist and multiple time national senior champion, Breanne Flynn. Craig’s fellow Lisburn Racquets Centre team-mate, Emma Lundy has secured her seat on the plane with some impressive performances throughout the season. With bronze medals in the senior nationals and Leinster senior open this season, Hannah McGugan completes the travelling team.
The addition of pro-circuit sensation, Craig and multiple national champion Flynn, puts team Ireland in a very promising position to avenge last season’s finish, when they were relegated from division 2 and the women will no doubt fancy their chances of rebounding back up a division in April.
Team Coach Ken Flynn says he’s “very excited and upbeat as Coach to select and participate in the 2024 European Championships with Irelands strongest players available for selection this Championship”. He added, “our realistic goal with such a strong team is to regain promotion back to Division 1-2 and regain our rightful place among Europe’s elite teams”.
There are high hopes for a squad marrying form, youth and experience with promotion the goal as action is set to get underway on April 17th.
Updates will be provided across our social channels as the girls get underway in April and their opponents, schedule and results will be available here – ESF European Team Division 3 Squash Championships 2024
Irish Squash Federation Constitution Mark Up Recommened by the Board
Irish Squash Federation Constitution Clean Copy Recommened by the Board
Irish Squash Organisation Structure Summary
Draft Terms of Reference for Interprovincial Forum
The five new sports heading to the LA28 Olympic Games have come together on International Women’s Day to inspire inclusivity in sport.
Squash World No.1 Nour El Sherbini was joined by baseball softball’s Kelly Maxwell, cricket’s Smriti Mandhana, flag football’s Diana Flores and lacrosse’s Erica Evans in a video message promoting this year’s International Women’s Day theme: #InspireInclusion
View the full story and incredible video here – https://www.worldsquash.org/new-olympic-sports-inspire-inclusivity-on-international-womens-day-2024/
The eagerly awaited Irish Masters Closed 2024 took place across Fitzwilliam LTC, LCC SC and Mount Pleasant LTC last weekend with 13 categories up for grabs across the Men’s and Women’s age groups.
This year’s event mirrored the phenomenal displays at home and abroad all season long, with exceptional and exciting squash being played across Friday and Saturday with many matches going to the wire.
There was a record number of entries for this years event, with plyers competing in 35+ categories to 70/75+ categories, proving once again that squash is a sport for life.
The podium places across all the categories can be seen below while full results are available here – https://www.sportyhq.com/tournament/view/Irish-Squash-Masters-Closed-2024
Action was livestreamed on Irish Squash TV and you can rewatch all of the matches here – https://www.irishsquash.com/live/
Maxine Strain joins a growing staff team at Irish Squash as Club & Community Development Officer, focusing on Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion. The part-time position is funded through the Dormant Accounts scheme administered by Sport Ireland, enabling Irish Squash to further our strategic objective of positioning squash as an open and welcoming sport that embraces diversity and inclusion.
Maxine brings new energy and experience to Irish Squash, having owned and operated a successful sports coaching business for the past five years. She has also been appointed as a Coach Tutor and Developer for Sport Ireland and several leading sport’s governing bodies. Maxine has a passion for developing inclusive sports programmes and is delivering an important initiative for Sport Ireland: the newly developed ‘Coaching Teenage Girls’ workshops.
As a volunteer, Maxine sits on the board of Triathlon Ireland, bringing a strategic perspective to the suite of participation programmes and initiatives delivered by the NGB. She also Chairs the Women’s Committee at European Triathlon.
The staff team at Irish Squash has expanded from two to six in recent months and is committed to professionalising the organisation and growing the sport by supporting our network of clubs and volunteers.
Staff Team
Scott Graham, Chief Executive Officer – scott.graham@irishsquash.com
Paul Nugent, Chief Operations Officer – coo@irishsquash.com
Tiernan Harris, Administrator – administrator@irishsquash.com
Maxine Strain (part-time), Club & Community Development Officer – Equality, Diversity & Inclusion – maxine.strain@irishsquash.com
Will Nicholson (part-time), Club & Community Development Officer – Northern Ireland – will.nicholson@irishsquash.com
Paul Conroy (part-time), Games Promotion Officer – Leinster – gamespromotionofficer@leinstersquash.ie
The long-awaited Irish Masters Closed takes place this weekend (1st-2nd March) across Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club, Leinster Cricket Club and Mount Pleasant Lawn Tennis Club
True to form, after massive participation numbers all season, this year’s national masters will be the biggest ever with 132 players confirmed across the various Mens and Womens age categories. Squash has always been labelled “a sport for life” and this year’s age range of entries emphasises this with master’s from 35 y/o to over 75 y/o set to take Dublin by storm this weekend.
The quality of squash on show is set to be spectacular as our master’s have performed exceptionally well in national and intercontinental competitions throughout the season, taking home 4 golds from the recent Portuguese Masters Open to go alongside 5 podium places in the ESF European Masters in Hamburg earlier in the season.
Action will be livestreamed over on Irish Squash TV – https://www.irishsquash.com/live/ across both days, while the full tournament schedule and results can be found here – https://www.sportyhq.com/tournament/view/Irish-Squash-Masters-Closed-2024
