From Beginner to Uni Captain – Inspiring Squash story
The familiar face for this story is one of our Reception team – Leah. Leah is currently attending the University of Bournemouth studying Psychology and Counselling but comes back to us during her holidays. She has just completed her first year but before she went away she approached our resident Squash Coach Ed wanting to learn how to play Squash!
All racquets members can receive a free Squash welcome as part of their membership and it was this welcome session that started Leah’s playing journey. A welcome gets you on court and introduces you to the game, teaching you a few basics. But after this first session, Leah was hooked and booked some more sessions with Ed and also some coaching sessions with Alexis. This gave her enough playing experience and confidence to find out more about the Squash scene at her University.
She began playing in the University team and after a short while was made Captain! Something we were thrilled to hear about and a fantastic achievement! The team play weekly in the BUCS league against Southern Universities. As well as the matches they train together two to three times a week, and when Leah is home from University she now plays in a league with us here at the Club.
Leah encourages anyone thinking of trying the sport to give it a go. She says: “The thing I love about Squash is the buzz and drive it gives you. It’s addictive! When you’re on court you’re not thinking about anything else and you just gain more and more motivation to beat the other player as the game goes on. It also gives me a break from Uni work which is good! I did feel slightly anxious to begin with as it can be seen as a male dominated sport but once we started playing, we were soon able to forget about that and it also motivates us to play better!”
Ed comments: “It makes me very happy to see Leah’s progression and her love for the sport. As she says, it’s a very addictive sport and I’m very glad she’s got the bug and is going from strength to strength. I too would encourage everyone to give it a go – it’s great exercise and escapism!”
If this inspires you to give Squash a try, we are running a free beginner Squash event for ladies during Women’s Squash Week on Thursday 21st September, 5 – 6pm. We are very lucky to have former World No 8, Jenny Denyer (nee Traynor) at the Club and she will be running the session which is open to all members. She’s also running a session for our more experienced female players directly afterwards which everyone is very welcome to watch. You can find out more about the event here and places can be booked at Reception.
If you can’t make the event but would like to find out more about playing Squash at the Club including the free welcomes that we offer then please email Ed on [email protected] or Steve, our Racquets Operations Manager, on [email protected].
