The game of Squash which was handed down to the Sri Lankan community by the British has a bit of a history and has been in existence in the country for more than half a decade.
The popularity of the game increased in time with more and more planters, civil servants and officers in forces taking up the game. With the inclusion of Squash courts in major clubs and hotels, playing a game of Squash in the evening after work became an activity of the so called ‘white-collared gentlemen. Thus the game was restricted to only the privileged as the facilities and equipment were not easily accessible to all.
But later on a great Squash enthusiast by the name of Noel Fernando with the help of his Squash pals went on to form The Sri Lanka Squash Federation in 1981 and the game was made an official sport in the country thereafter .The game of Squash has come a long way since the inauguration of the Squash Federation but it cannot be said that the game has improved into such great heights. Though we see a lot of talented junior players making their way to the top, most or all of them quit playing once they finish schooling. The main reasons for this being the high cost involved and the lack of support and facilities provided to continue the game. The lack of big sponsorships and players not continuing into a professional level is another draw-back.
As you find only a handful of squash courts in the island and only a fistful where any player has the accessibility, the game is being limited to only a small number of participants. As most of the students in Colombo Schools have access to their own Squash Complex or train in any other hired premises, the players tend to continue the game. But once they finish schooling they too find it really hard to find a court to play with their busy schedules and even find it harder to finance their expenses related to squash. Sadly we rarely find any sponsor or any official coming forward to help these players out and as a result they sacrifice their Squash career as the sacrifices they will have to make in order to do the country proud are way beyond expectations.
But nevertheless Sri Lanka can boast of some of top junior players who have made their country proud.
These emerging young stars need to be nurtured properly if Sri Lanka is to fulfill the dream of producing quality squash players who could dominate the international squash arena. In order to move forward with top rankings and medals under their belts these youngsters need international exposure and proper extensive training. This is very costly and most of the players are not in a position to afford these expenses either.
The main reason for the Sri Lankan junior players to have poor rankings is their inability to participate in all the major international ranking tournaments. Thus they are forced to meet top players in the preliminary rounds in whatever the few tournaments they compete in, depriving them from proceeding ahead in the main draw. As a result these young stars find it really hard to stay on top in the international circuit and the authorities too do not provide them with the necessary support as they think this sport does not have much of a scope due to the poor rankings and performance by majority of the Sri Lankan players which results from the above mentioned circumstances.
It should be noted that in order to develop the sport what is necessary is not to wait till the players start performing exceptionally well and then come up with sponsorships and help once the sport is established, but to come forward and assit these players so that they could overcome their problems and establish themselves as professional squash players and improve the standards of the game of squash in Sri Lanka
Authorities responsible for the upbringing of this game where so much of talent is on the loose, must come forward and act soon before it is too late. As there are about 10 to 12 Asian Ranking tournaments every year and the juniors are expected to participate in at least 4 to 6 tournaments in order to keep up their ranking and climb the ranking ladder. A proper training schedule too is needed for both the junior and senior players. The training has to be done with proper planning and with a longer term vision instead of training for one tournament for a few months and then forgetting everything once the tournament is over.
A huge weak point in Sri Lankan squash training programs is the inability of the authorities to have a long term plan and continue training with a proper achievable objective .The common procedure has been where the players are made to train intensively for a particular tournament and then stop training for some time and start training again when the next tournament starts. With a long rest the players will have to start things over again from the beginning and will come to the standard where they were the last tournament once they complete the next training program instead of improving their standards .Players will not benefit much in a training cycle like this and continuous training is critical if the standards of the game are to be improved.
Another hurdle the authorities will have to overcome is getting a Squash Complex done where National practices could be held on a daily basis without any interruption. As at now there is no such court available where National players could train free of charge and currently players have to spend a lot on obtaining memberships in various clubs and booking courts in order to practice and keep up the form whenever National practices are not held.
With all these hardships still a determined few take up the challenge to prove to the rest their mettle but if proper support and guidance is provided most of our up coming squash stars could be nurtured into real champions in the years to come.
ThePapare.com hopes the authorities will take note of this article and benefactors and authorities will work together for the good of the sport.
