The Squash WA Newsletter (SWAN)

May 2026 - Issue 123

The recent news from Squash Queensland is a timely reminder that our sport depends on people who are willing to step up, contribute and lead — often with little thanks and lots of pressure. 

The resignation of the whole Queensland Board due to ongoing issues, has meant that Squash Australia will temporarily step in to support Squash QLD. We are watching this space closely to see what impact this may have on squash.  As we’re all aware, the squash community is a RESILIENT community, so I have every confidence that Queensland will rebuild, better and stronger than before.

Speaking of volunteers, National Volunteer Week took place between 18 and 24 May. As such, I'd like to give a HUGE shout out to all the volunteers who continue to help Squash WA punch above our weight. As I've said numerous times before, we may not be perfect, but we are giving it a red-hot go with what we have.

Still on volunteers, I’d also like to give a special shout out to our Metro Club Captains - we have 37 teams in the Tuesday Night Pennant comp, which is 7 more than last year, and 2 more than Winter 2022. Thank you for everything you are doing for squash: Craig Taggart (Mirrabooka), Rob Kiely (Leeming), Jason Hardwood (Marmion), Anthony Campbell (Blue Gum), Ferris Xu (Vic Park), Garry Robbo Robinson (Kensington), Raelene Marriott (Belmont), Brendan Marsh (Belmont), Mike Clement (Cambridge)

Our new website is now up and running, and uniform with our national and fellow state bodies.  We are aware that there are a few links missing here and there; if you stumble across this, please help us out by letting us know so we can jump in and fix it up. The new website has a  number of features that allow us to integrate with Revo more easily, improving access to elements such as events, league and pennant fixtures and results, WA player rankings, news articles, and Live Scoring is still there.

We are closing in on the end of another financial year, so your club committees are in the process of updating each membership type. From this coming financial year onwards, early bird registrations will be available from 1 June 2026.  Any new member that registers between 1 and 30 June this year, will be covered for 13 months (until 30 June 2027).  We are working with Squash Australia to try and make this even earlier for the 2027-28 financial year.

Special shout out to our court operators and club committees for getting so many of their members signed up in Revo.  This time last year we reached roughly 1,500 members, which we’ve smashed with a current figure of 1,971. 

The states are working with our national body to establish a National Sanctioning Policy that allows Squash Australia to deal with sanctioning matters across the country. Expecting for this to be live from 1 July 2026, some of the benefits include:

• Taking the burden off volunteers.
• Ensuring consistency in sanctions across the country.
• Reducing potential conflicts of interest with matters dealt with outside of our state.

Lastly, the office is looking to engage someone who is passionate about our sport, particularly in the junior area.  At the moment, this casual/part-time position is 10-15 hours per week.  Please contact me if you are keen to know more.

Until next month, happy squashing…

Attention all juniors!

Keep an eye out during the State Junior Championships, as we are hosting some Junior Community Workshops. Several small sessions will be run throughout the day on Saturday 4 July.  You can just sign up on the day and pick a session that doesn’t clash with your match times!

Players, parents, grandparents, coaches, junior co-ordinators - anyone interested, with any thoughts, feelings, criticisms, hopes and dreams about juniors is warmly welcome.

Come and have your say – what should Juniors look like now and in the future? 

Kim Duffecy

Statistics are current as at the 25th of each month.

The prestigious 2026 WA Open is upon us!

Come on down to Squashworld Mirrabooka this weekend to see the finest in WA, Australia and overseas battle it out for cash and GLORY!!  

With local favourites such as Erin Classen, Pascale Louka, Zoe Petrovansky, Hannah Slyth, Clare Slyth, Amanda Hopps, Jo Hitch, Daniel Marsh, and Arthur Law, you can be GUARANTEED some EPIC battles on court (as well as the usual succulent toasties from the canteen, raising funds for Mirrabooka junior programs and squads). 

Whether you're playing or not, get on down and support your favourite players!

Thanks Geraldton Squash Club!

The Geraldton Squash Club extends its sincere thanks to all players and supporters who travelled to compete, to our volunteers across the three days, and to the wider community for your continued support. 

Across the weekend, the courts were alive with a full schedule of matches across all divisions, delivered with intensity, focus, and a consistently high standard of play.  From the opening rounds through to the finals, the level of competition reflected both the commitment of our players and the strength of squash in the Midwest, drawing competitors from across Western Australia.

Click HERE to read more and see the presentation photos.

Thanks Craig Taggart!

Well after 7 rounds of the regular Monday night pennants season along with several public holidays just to stretch the season out a bit longer, followed up with two rounds of finals all played at Squashworld Mirrabooka, it all came down to the last night to see who would take out GRAND FINAL GLORY.

Click HERE to read more and see the presentation photos.

Thanks Sue Cowell!

Having the Grand Final fixture hosted by the Marmion Squash Club @ The Squash Factory created an atmosphere that we haven't encountered for many many years! We had our 4 central courts and then court 5 operating with players, supporters and local social players all watching on. Our social players just sat back and took it all in watching the State Grade and Division 1 players of whom they were very jealous for their athleticism and movement about the court. Quite often I heard the comment "Are you made of glass?" as I stopped to watch an intriguing rally!

Click HERE to read more and see the presentation photos.

Thanks Broome Squash Club!

What an incredible weekend celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Broome Invitational Squash Tournament, another fantastic event has been ‘run & won’ for the year.

A huge thank you to everyone who travelled near and far to be part of this milestone tournament and helping make it such a memorable occasion. The standard of squash, sportsmanship, camaraderie, fun and laughter on and off the courts was amazing.

We were especially honoured to welcome Sports Australia hall of famers Geoff Hunt AM MBE & Sarah Fitzgerald AM, along with squash greats Brett Martin & Melissa Martin. Your presence, stories, encouragement, coaching and support meant so much to our club and wider squash community.

To Bridgy & Sue, along with our volunteers, sponsors and committee members thank you for your hard work and dedication in making this event another huge success!

Well done to our tournament winners;

• Women’s Open Winner - Hollie Braid, Runner up - Lauren Smith
• A Grade Winner - Fred Peace, Runner up - Dan Taylor
• B Grade Winner - Antony Montgomery, Runner up - Justin Winters
• C Grade Winner - John Tetlow, Runner up - Craig Taggart
• D Grade Winner - Emma Handreck, Runner up - Chester Cutinha

Here’s to 10 amazing years of the Invitational Tournament and many more to come…

Click HERE to see all the photos. 

As we read above, two very special guests in Geoff Hunt AM MBE and Sarah Fitzgerald AM took part in the fun and games at the 2026 Broome Invitational. 

Geoff and Sarah were kind enough to share their experience with us.  You guys are champions, thank you for spending time with our WA community and getting to know so many people that look up to you both. 

Click HERE to read more.

Thanks Marmion Squash Club!

On Saturday 16 May we held the Marmion Junior Teams and we had 4 divisions! Big thank you to Laney, Sue, Josh for running the event and the canteen!!

Division 1

Winner - Bok Choy (Kayla Clarke, Ella Clarke, Evie Clark)
Runner Up - Two Nicks & a Jess (Jessica Jellis, Nic Whittaker, Nick Auger)

Division 2

Winner - Mirrabooka Marvels (Ethan Shahar, James Salter, Patrick Lynch)
Runner Up - The Mixtures (Richard Koh, Harrison Hitch, Vienna Hadingham)

Division 3

Winner - Mirrabooka Machines (Amelia Rouse, Lillian Gallemore, Talia Shahar)
Runner Up - Mirrabooka Magpies (Eleanor Jones, Caleb Thomas, Patrick Treacy)

Novice Division

Winner - Mirrabooka Novices (Haashir Saeed, Aariz Faizan)
Runner Up - Marmion Midgets (Mia Savic, Jace Jones)

Thanks Paul Kershaw!

Parents, share this with your up and coming juniors! 

Movement for Juniors

If you want to improve quickly in squash, the first thing to focus on is not your swing - it’s your movement.

Good movement allows you to:

• Reach the ball earlier and in better balance
• Play more accurate, controlled shots
• Recover faster for the next shot
• Use less energy during rallies

Simply put, move well, and you will play well.

Click HERE to read more. 

Asthma

An asthma attack can happen to anyone with asthma at any time, especially during high intensity sports like squash. 

Do you know what to do if someone starts having an asthma attack in front of you?

Click HERE to read more. 

Squash Australia is hosting the World Squash Masters Championships in Perth from 30 August to 6 September this year, and are on the lookout for fantastic volunteers to help ensure this is a memorable tournament for all involved!

If you are interested in registering to volunteer or know someone who may be, please find more information on the Squash Australia website here: https://www.worldsquashmasters.com/volunteer. To register simply click the Register Now button on the page and fill in a short form.

With an array of roles available there is something for everyone!

For more information contact Amy Crawford: info@worldsquashmasters.com.au.

Thanks Neil Butler!

Two of the most important principles for squash are not actually within the body of the rules but in the “Introduction”.

Squash is played in a confined space, often at a high speed. Two principles are essential for orderly play: 

1. Safety: Players must always place safety first and not take any action that could endanger the opponent. 
2. Fair play: Players must respect the Officials and the opponent and play with honesty.
   

With these two principles in mind it is interesting to note that they only refer to the players.

Two parts of the rules which keep cropping up and I continually get quizzed on are the Warm-Up and Faults.

Click HERE to read more. 

Thanks Mirrabooka Squash Club!

On Saturday 9th May, we hosted a Multicultural Come & Try Day in collaboration with the Multinational Sports & Community Network. We saw 41 men, women and children attend, who all had an absolute blast! MSC Network President Asim Chaudhry graciously stated we had "exceeded expectations" in his speech during presentations.

Click HERE to read more and see the photos.

Thanks Dan Taylor and Jason Mennell!

The Busselton Squash club took it upon themselves to organise an opportunistic workshop with David Fear to grow our capacities as a club to train juniors. This tied in well with the planned Sunday second upskilling event based in Bunbury preceding. 

Click HERE to read more and see the photos.

Thanks Evie Clark!

On Saturday 23 May we held our own Quiz Night!

A big thanks to everyone who showed up and supported our club,  to Laney, Jess and Evie who were your hosts for the night, and a big thanks to Sue, and everyone else who helped in making the night fall into place!

A massive thanks to The Squash Factory for letting us use the venue for the night, and to everyone who donated stuff for our prizes and raffle! Also another big thanks to Wanneroo's Kmart and Coles for donating $30 gift vouchers!

And to our sponser Westminister Finance who supplied us with pens and raffle prizes!

The group who ended up with the most amount of points after the 8 rounds was... Let's get Quizzical!

Best Dressed Group - Al Capone and his mob

Best Dressed Female - Kayla Blakey (Minnie Mouse)

Best Dressed Male - Jason Rawling (Tom Cruise from Risky Business)

WA Events

Dampier Squash Club is now calling for team nominations for the 2026 FeNaClNG squash tournament to be held Friday 31 July - Sunday 2 August 2026.

The format will be similar to previous years with a welcome dinner on Friday night, squash both Saturday and Sunday with Grand Finals Sunday afternoon. Presentation and meal on Sunday evening in the club Amphitheatre from 6.00pm will conclude the event. 

To keep with tradition it will be a 4 person team running grades A, B, C and D. I have provided an entry form below for completion for team registration submission. We encourage you to give your team a name or stick with the traditional club representation name - but please specify.

If you have extras or can't make a full team please also add as I am sure other clubs will be in the same boat and we will do our best to accommodate. 

The cost of the weekend will be $100 per player ($400 per team), this includes 3 to 4 games of squash per player, two complimentary dinners and a brilliant weekend. 

For all those who are electing to camp at the courts, we have once again been granted access to utilise the tennis clubs real-estate right next door to the squash courts. Camping will be free of charge with plenty of room for your tents or swags. The squash courts also have ablution and BBQ facilities which you are free to use over the weekend. 

All nominations will need to be submitted to, Fenaclngsquash@gmail.comby no later than 17 July. This is to allow the draw to be put together and distributed in a timely manner.

Download your entry form HERE. 

You read that right, the WORLD Masters Champs are coming to our humble little Perth!!

Spread across multiple squash centres as well as a glass court smack BANG in the middle of Karrinyup Shopping Centre, you do NOT want to miss THIS.

Registrations are open now and are swarming in with WELL over 400 entries received already!  Compete against squashies from around the world, including the UK, US, Canada, Portugal, Brazil, Mexico, India, Italy, Hong Kong, Namibia, South Africa and MORE.

Click HERE to visit the World Squash Federation to sign up today. 

Nationwide Events

Contact the office for a high quality copy of this poster to display at your Club.

Contributions to the SWAN are ALWAYS welcome.  We LOVE to hear about events, awards, funny stories, and more!  Simply send an email to engagement@squashwa.asn.au.

This newsletter is compiled and edited by BLOOM word + design.