A squash programme is on the cards for the schools.
President of the Barbados Squash Association, Alison Smith-Padmore, said yesterday although plans were still on paper, the association was hoping to get it off the ground as soon as possible, because it was a great way to grow the sport.
“One of my initiatives is to reach out and start a programme for the schools. It will assist in building awareness, as well as promote the sport. So I expect to see a greater growth in the coming year as we seek to promote the sport in the schools,” she told MIDWEEK SPORT.
The president further explained that plans were not only being put in place for the involvement of secondary schools, but also primary schools as well since children were able to play the game from as early as six years old.
“Some of our council members have been approaching a number of schools they are connected to. One of our council members is close to the St Cyprian’s Boys’ School, so that is one we will be looking at reaching. We have a number of those students engaged in our Saturday programme, but we wanted to expand that with a schools programme implemented during the week days, increasing the number of sessions for the juniors,” said Smith Padmore.
“We have also identified some schools that would be in close proximity to the club that we would like to target, and we are establishing ages that we would have been looking to coach and so on.”
She added that they would first be looking at introducing students to the sport and getting them trained before implementing a Schools League which could be carried out in both the primary and secondary schools.
Smith-Padmore went on to mention that she was expecting current youth players to play a vital role in impacting those potential players.
“One of the things I want to see eventually is an Inter-School League happening in squash. We are looking at getting them to be ambassadors of the sport because they would be at a greater advantage of reaching those students,” she said.
“It was also said that there weren’t many girls playing squash and that was going to be one of the main areas of focus as they go forward with this programme.”
About 45 juniors are currently registered for the Barbados Squash Association’s Saturday programme. (RG)
