Welcome To South Yorkshire Sport

Squashis played by more than 500,000 people in England, from the elite players like South Yorkshire World Champion Nick Matthew all the way down to the thousands who take part in local leagues and events. If you are looking to improve your fitness, squash provides an intense cardiovascular and muscular workout – perfect for burning calories.

With a match lasting around 40 minutes, there is plenty of time to take on your friends or colleagues during your lunch break and get back to work or University with bragging rights intact.

Racketball is very similar to squash, but is played with a slightly larger racket and a bigger, bouncier ball, making it easy to get a rally going. This ensures a good workout for both players, so if you have never picked up a racket before, or the old wooden racket is gathering dust, grab a friend and get on court.

Although both sports use different equipment, most clubs and centres have rackets and balls available to hire cheaply, so you just need to bring some sports clothes and trainers (do check with the club or centre about non-marking soles though).

The rules for both sports are almost identical, and to put them simply, you hit a ball against a wall! It’s as easy as that.

So, we’ve covered why you should play, touched upon how you play and what kit you need, all you need now is somewhere to play.

There are 5,000 courts in England in clubs, leisure centres, universities and colleges so you will be able to find plenty of great facilities in your local area. Most leisure centres allow you to pay and play without signing up for a membership, and courts tend to cost around £5 per hour. Many regular players go on to join a club, which can provide access to competition, coaching, and a thriving social network. Find out more about types of club at the Where to Play page on the England Squash & Racketball website

Interventions

England Squash and Racketball (ESR) plans comprises of eight interventions.  These are set out in detail in the following pages, and are summarised here.    In order to deliver outcomes for Sport England, ESR will focus on:

• Clubs– Visible, Vibrant and Viable (Grow/Sustain): providing a range of initiatives through which clubs can develop in all aspects – use of assets, competitive opportunity, coaching,   local marketing, developing volunteers,  business support

• Public Facilities(Grow/Sustain):  38% of courts are publicly owned and under-utilised.  The creation of programmes to stimulate sustained activity in public facilities will provide real value to facility owners and operators, as well as offering a broader range of opportunity for the customer

• The University Sector(Grow/Sustain/Excel): there is enormous potential for creating dynamic Squash & Racketball communities within universities and as part of the wider community – not just playing, but developing the coaches, referees and volunteers of the future

• Workplace Squash & Racketball(Grow/Sustain): in a busy world, people are looking for time efficient and fun ways of getting and keeping fit. Attrition rates for gym usage are well known.    Through existing projects we know there is an appetite for achieving high levels of satisfaction through workplace intervention

• Young People(Grow/Sustain/Excel): we have already delivered hundreds of school projects through our successful PESSCL programme.  Through the Schools Equipment Scheme we can make a real impact on Hours 3 and 4 of the 5 Hour Offer

• Talent Development(Excel):  ESR’s pathway – the National Coaching Scheme – and coach education environments are well established.  This intervention will allow us to create a comprehensive structure through which players can develop to their fullest potential.

• Elite Performance(Excel +): ESR’s Performance programme is among the most successful of all English sports – it produces World and European champions on a consistent basis.   

• Facilities– a capital investment programme underpins - and will significantly contribute to the achievement of - all these interventions.  We know from a number of highly successful schemes in the Community Capital Development Programme (CCDP) that our model works – and makes a real difference.