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More than 40 girls across Manchester came together to attend the region's largest girl gathering on 2 July.
The Northwest Squash Girls in Motion festival, hosted by Lancashire Junior Squash, saw former world no.1 Laura Massaro in attendance at the National Squash Centre for a meet and play with girls of all abilities aged between five and 17-years-old.
Thomas Eccles, whose Salford-based company Red Tree Building Contractors Ltd sponsored the event, hopes it will encourage more local clubs to engage more young girls playing the sport.
He said: “All the directors of the business see community sports as part of the glue that binds communities together, so the big concept was to try and do something that did that.”
Eccles, who hails from Warrington, explained the idea for the Girls in Motion event came after taking his nine and 11-year-old daughters to an inter-counties squash tournament and seeing their excitement at the number of girls there.
With the two girls left buzzing by the experience, Eccles wanted to be part of putting on similar events for girls.
England Squash coaches Thomas Fairhurst and Julian Tomlinson, amongst others, contributed to organising the event and ran sessions on the day with the assistance of older junior players.
Speaking about the meet, Eccles said: “It was great seeing it all come together and the turnout was fantastic.
“There was so much energy and excitement from the people there that it felt like we’d capitalised on something.
“I certainly felt proud.”
He continued: “We [the organisers] wanted to inspire the girls, make the sport of squash more exciting and sustainable, and to make them feel part of something larger than themselves.”
Eccles thanked the support given by England Squash, who provided merchandise for the event and hopes they will continue to help with such meets in the future.
He said: “England Squash provided the gravitas to make it feel like a proper event which wouldn’t have been possible without their support.”
Eccles paid tribute to the parents who brought their children to the Girls in Motion festival with many of them full of praise for the event.
Nicolette Barry said:
“Both my girls absolutely loved every part of it!
“All the different exercises, interactive wall games and playing on the glass court.”
Barry added both her daughters made new friends and that being able to hit a ball in the same space as Laura Massaro was a big highlight.
Ste Newton, whose daughter also attended, hailed the organisation of the event.
He said: “The organisation of this squash meet was second to none. The event coordinators really outdid themselves.
“It was obvious that a lot of effort went into planning and executing this event and I can't praise this summer squash meet enough.
“The organisers truly nailed it!”
Asked whether he and Red Tree Building Contractors would be looking to get involved with events in the future, Eccles said: “We would like to keep doing some more Girls in Motion events.
“We're taking on board all the feedback we received, and the organisation group will decide what’s next.
“We definitely want to support more girls-only squash events in the Northwest.
“It won't be the last one, that’s for sure.”
