Michelle's story

"I think it’s fair to say my journey with squash didn’t necessarily get off to a flying start. I first discovered this amazing sport when I signed up to a new gym a couple of years ago and they had these curious looking courts. I had a knock with a few friends and immediately thought ‘hey this is fun’ (and perhaps even a little dangerous with my flailing swing at the time). It’s so dynamic and a great way to get a good work out in 40 minutes, far more inspiring than slogging it out on the treadmill. I then asked a friend that was a regular player to give me a game and unfortunately he was less than complementary on my technique (it is reassuring to know there are always people you can rely on for their honesty). I may have scoffed at his cruel jibes as I chased after the ball but there was no way I was going to let that deter me, if anything, it fuelled my motivation to get stuck in!

"After moving to a new club, I struggled to find people to play against, it was nearly all men in the league and there were no beginner sessions to make squash feel accessible. After a lot of searching I found some group coaching, however it was a fair distance from where I lived and didn’t provide an opportunity to meet people in my area that I could play with on a regular basis, that were of a similar standard. So the timing couldn’t have been more perfect for a Squash Girls Can Campaign to come along. I saw a flyer for a Women and Girls Squash Festival advertised at Reading University and signed up– I had an awesome time! It was so encouraging to see lots of women and girls trying something new and not being afraid to have a go. It was exactly the boost I needed to throw myself back into learning the game and I signed up to the follow-on coaching course. It left me thinking ‘it’s crazy that there aren’t there more initiatives like this’.

"I really wanted to get more women and girls playing squash and to help remove the barriers that I had faced. I ended up signing up at the last minute to the Squash Girls Can level one coaching course in January 2016 and since then things have really steam-rolled! I was in the process of starting to set up my own squash girls can beginners sessions when the opportunity came up to get involved with Berkshire Squash. I decided to take on this challenge and am now the Junior Development Coordinator for the county! Of course, this has to be balanced with work commitments and even though I have had to put delivering ladies squash on hold for now, it’s still something I am very passionate about. I want to be a strong advocate for women picking up a racket, giving squash a go and not letting the nay-sayers stop them!

"Squash is great fun to play and you get a brilliant workout. The more people we have getting on court, the more clubs can stay open - I would love to see squash increase in popularity. Anybody can and should give it a go!