Championing gender equality at upcoming Aspire Teams

A new selection criteria is being introduced for the 2024 Aspire Team Championships to provide more opportunities for girls to compete at the highest level.

The Aspire Team Championships is a prestigious annual event, which brings together the best players from each of the eight Aspire regions for two days of competitive team squash.

At the 2024 edition, which will be held from 29-30th June, the regions will be required to select 12 boys and 12 girls in their 24-person squad, with four boys and four girls from each age-group (U17s, U15s, and U13/U11s).

Each 24-person squad will contain three teams of eight, with the top eight players competing in Division One, the next eight in Division Two, and the final eight drawn from the U13/11s age-group in Division Three. These teams of eight must also follow the new 50-50 gender split, with four boys and four girls.

These changes to the selection criteria are designed to prevent talented female players from being restricted to Division Two level, as has happened in previous years, while supporting England Squash’s strategy and ongoing commitment to drive greater gender parity in the sport.

Aspire East Head Coach, Emily Ison, who championed the changes to the selection criteria said:

“I fought quite hard for an even split between the girls and the boys to make sure we represent our female athletes as well as we represent our male athletes.

“It teaches both boys and girls the importance of female sport. I don’t think there’s any merit for leaving girls in the second team and having a 16-year-old girl playing a 13-year-old boy. It doesn’t make the boy feel good and it definitely doesn’t make the 16-year-old feel like she’s achieved anything.

“It’s also about getting to say I am the best girl in my region, and I deserve a space in the top team.

"We’ve had some situations where, say, the best girl at under 15s in a region would be in the second team. Actually, if you’re the best under 15 girl, you should be in the top team.

“In the east region, we have a 50-50 split in the Aspire cohort but not every region is as fortunate to have as many females. We can see where we’re at with female activities and where across the country we need to help make that the norm. A couple of regions might struggle but let’s band together and sort that out. We’ve got to nurture talent.”

Lucy Townley, Junior Talent Pathway Manager at England Squash, added:

“There's a lack of girls playing the game, so for the girls that are playing, we want to keep them motivated and say you are the best in your region, and you are Division One.

"It’s fair because they deserve to know they’re Division One level in their region and not Division Two just because there are more boys available.

“From an organisation side, because Division One was predominantly boys last year, if you were an external party or a funder, you’d think it was a boys’ event. It’s an equal and open event and if you walk into a Division One venue, you’ll see boys and girls’ squash.”

With the Championships returning in June, any regions that are unable to fulfil the selection criteria are encouraged to contact Lucy at their earliest opportunity to talk through options: lucy.townley@englandsquash.com.