The Squash WA Newsletter (SWAN)

November 2025 - Issue 117

It’s a short and sweet one this month, but still LOTS going on ‘behind the scenes’!

New Board Members

Following our second Annual General Meeting for the year, and to align with the change from calendar to financial year, Squash WA is pleased to welcome our new Board members.

For four years running, Squash WA have successfully maintained the required 50/50 male/female ratio of Board members.  We are now also proud to announce that for the first time in a number of years, our board is also 50/50 Metro and Country! 

Here are our four new Board members.  Scroll through this newsletter further to read more about what makes them tick.

The 2026 Calendar is OUT!

For all our tournament and event enthusiasts, the 2026 Calendar has been released and is available on our website here: https://squashwa.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/2026-Calendar-v1.6.pdf. Download your copy and start booking your time off work!  We are so grateful to our active clubs around Western Australia for putting on such a wide variety of terrific events, year after year. 

Speaking of events, please save the date for the following important occasions:

Squash WA Awards Gala - Saturday 21 February 2026

Nominations are open NOW for the squash celebration of the year, and with a few new award categories, this will no doubt be a night to remember.

More information here: https://squashwa.asn.au/squash-wa-annual-awards/ 

Club Forum - Wednesday 4 Feb 2026

Club Forums are a unique opportunity for club representatives to come together to discuss matters from grassroots to state level, and help the office and Board make important decisions for the benefit of our sport moving forward. 

More information coming soon.

On a final note about grassroots squash, we were absolutely delighted to have Mia Ararat from Squash Australia visit the State Centre to deliver a demonstration of the Squash Stars initiative.  The majority of Metro Junior Coordinators attended to ask questions about the program, and watch a live demonstration of a few activities.  Thank you to the Belmont and Vic Park juniors who came along to help with the demonstration.  With numerous benefits for all centres and clubs across the country, we are excited to see what Squash Stars will bring to our sport.  Read more about Squash Stars here:https://www.squashstars.com.au/clubs-and-centres. 

Happy squashing!

Leigh-Anne Kaye
General Manager
Squash WA

Monthly membership reports are based on current members as at roughly the 25th of each month.

Note: Digital members from previous financial years are NOT included in these figures.

Thanks Josie Jones

Although the 2025 WA Closed didn't attract quite as many entries as one could hope, it was a short and sweet weekend with some of the strongest competition in the state. From Friday evening all the way through to Saturday arvo, Belmont was pumping with action and an electric atmosphere. 

Click HERE to read the full report.

Thanks Katanning Squash Club

A whopping 120 individual players came from all corners of the state to compete in the 2025 Great Southern Wheatbelt Team Championships from 14 to 16 November.  Hosted by Katanning Squash Club this year, there were nine divisions, mostly featuring 4 teams of 3 people playing a round robin format.  The exception was division one which featured 2 pools of 3 teams, due to the high standard of entries received.

Click HERE to read more and see photos and full results.

Thanks Tim Cowell

A little bit lost for words on how to start summing up this year’s event.  So much work has gone into both the event and the centre in the lead up to it.  One of the first additions to this year was achieving PSA satellite status; USD1000 prize money for both men's AND ladies divisions.  The most important part of these type of events are the launching pads our local PSA players need to be able to get into higher rated events. 

Click HERE to read more, and see the results and presentation photos.

Thanks to the wonderful folks over at Fuel to Go & Play, check out these wind up activities that will help teach your juniors about good nutrition.  We think they're VERY cool!

Click HERE to read about them. 

Harcher

Thanks Derek Bird

This month we bring to you one of our treasured sponsors of Country Week!  Anyone who organises any sort of event on the squash calendar would know that these just would NOT exist without the support of the LEGENDS within our community!

Harcher (formerly The Distributors Perth), started WA operations in 2009.  They are a family owned and operated business, employing more than 120 West Australians!

Click HERE to read more. 

Young Daniel Marsh is currently bouncing back from an Achilles rupture and is edging closer to a full return to playing in tournaments.  Daniel would love any help at all from the squash community in support of him chasing his dream to get to the top!

Click HERE to read more. 

Click HERE to read more. 

Did you know that the rest time between games is about to increase from 90 seconds to two minutes?  

This is a friendly reminder about a number of changes in the Rules of Squash that will apply to all domestic competitions from 1 January 2026. These changes came into effect globally and for all Australian PSA events on 1 September 2025.

If you have not yet watched the WSO Rules webinar, please ensure you do so and familiarise yourself with the updates before 1 January 2026. It is our expectation that all Australian referees are fully aware of, and up to date with the new rules.

You can watch the Rules Webinar HERE, and you can download the Rules of Squash from the WSO website HERE.

The WSO website contains a range of excellent resources and videos. Please review these materials if you are unsure about any aspect of the game.

For further information and support you can either reach out to the office via engagement@squashwa.asn.au, or direct to Squash Australia via education@squashaus.com.au. 

Back to Basics

Our junior programs are seeing very young children more and more but a lot of grassroots club volunteers would have no idea where to even start!  In this edition of Coaches Corner, Level 2 Coach and Coach Tutor Paul Kershaw strips it right back to basics. 

Click HERE to read more. 

WA Events

Nationwide Events

Contributions to the SWAN are welcome.  We LOVE to hear about events, awards, funny stories, and more!  Simply send an email to squashwanewsletter@gmail.com.