Hillingdon inspiring thousands through primary school squash coaching

Hillingdon Squash Club has introduced over 2,500 children to squash by taking the sport off the courts and into local primary schools.

As part of the London Squash Project, a five-year strategy to increase participation in the capital, the Uxbridge-based club, with funding from Middlesex Squash, delivered two squash festivals and more than a dozen in-curriculum taster sessions across 14 local schools throughout April and May.

With mini balls, rackets and portable nets, Hillingdon Squash Club coach Trevor Peynado used racket skills activities on playing fields and playgrounds to offer many pupils their first taste of the sport.

"We made contact with one of the School Games organisers, Becci Cooke, and built relationships with her network. That’s how we evolved," explains Trevor.

"We had a couple of mini tasters at the festivals they held and then seven days’ worth of in-school taster sessions. It was fairly intensive, but it opened up some eyes from the teachers and the kids.

"There was a curiosity factor – out of a typical 30 kids, maybe one or two had some idea of what squash is – but just getting a ball and racket in their hands, hitting the ball, doing tap ups, they loved it."

Off the back of the sessions, 70 pupils from six participating schools attended free taster sessions at Hillingdon Squash Club, with 16 signing up at the club for Squash Stars – the England Squash programme for 5-9 years.

Another series of in-school taster sessions are planned for later this year and Trevor aims to maintain local interest with summer camps throughout the school holidays and another Squash Stars programme in September.

Further down the line, he plans to introduce an inter-school competition and upskill local coaches.

All this, he believes, will help tackle one of the biggest barriers to participation in squash, namely lack of exposure.

“Kids see, feel, touch football and other high-profile sports on a regular basis but if squash is ever on TV, you often need a subscription, and courts tend to be hidden at the back of sports centres. How are kids engaging in a sport they don’t see on TV, don’t play on the streets, don’t talk about with their friends? That’s the challenge,” Trevor says.

“What we’ve been able to show is you can start the engagement process at school in an environment they’re comfortable in. It’s a big hurdle to ask the school or parents to go to a squash club when they know very little about it, but this [way] we open our doors.

“I was quite astonished by the take up but that’s come from a kid who’s gone home and said, ‘Guess what I did today?’”

His advice for clubs and schools hoping to emulate Hillingdon’s success is simple: “Coaches are used to dealing with adults and teenagers, talking about grips and technical advice. We try to get kids into a squash court environment. But these kids are at the stage where you just want to expose them to the sport. You just have to package it differently.

“Get some school champions, find a couple of teachers to engage, and they’ll help. A lot of schools want new sports and something different for the kids.”

Keen to deliver Squash Stars at your local club/venue? Find out how to become a delivery partner. If you're a parent interested in finding your nearest Squash Stars venue, keep an eye on squashstars.co.uk where new sessions will be added from September.