#RallyTogether with WarwickSquash
This is an article written in aid of the England Squash #RallyTogether campaign. Click here to find out more about the campaign.
Introduction
As we enter the new decade the nature of the feminist narrative in sport continues to change. Undoubtedly the acknowledgement of female talent and capability was a critical step, but it was only the first in a series of essential mindset changes. The movement needs ongoing and continuous support and commitment from all parties; a determination to break the stereotype of our sport as a male dominated sport. We call increasingly on coaches, committee, society members and players to actively support women in squash, to put women forward for positions and create opportunities to raise the voice of women and girls in squash. This plea goes out to individuals of all gender identities, but undeniably in main to male individuals in high ranking positions within the sport who reap the benefits of our patriarchal society; we call on them to use their privilege to build their female counterparts and work together to foster a stronger and more inclusive environment that offers itself to all, regardless of gender.
Warwick Squash
I am fortunate to have become a part of the WarwickSquash community at a time when female representation is growing. This year our executive committee has achieved close to a fifty/fifty gender split. We have two thriving women’s teams comprising eleven players, and four England Squash qualified female student coaches. As women’s officer, my role is made up of two parts. The first is to act as a point of contact for all female identifying players, giving them the confidence to get involved by reassuring them that they will receive a warm welcome, sympathetic support and equal opportunities. My second priority is to represent the needs of our female players to the club and coaches. We run a weekly women’s only ‘rock up and play session’, open to all female-identifying members of the Warwick community free of cost or commitment and have a growing female community, regularly running women’s only socials as well as women’s grades in our internal and external competitions. This position has been reached through the actions of a number of driven and proactive committee and society members. Let’s look back at where we’ve come from and some of the individuals who have been instrumental in our movement.
Looking back
Gwendolyn Tan was President of Warwick Squash for the academic year 2019/20. I caught up with her recently and she explained that her vision in introducing the role of women’s officer was ‘to increase accessibility to the sport and to make the club more welcoming so no one ever had to feel uncomfortable or like the odd one out’. Acknowledging the stereotype of squash as a ‘white middle class male sport’, she expressed her desire to improve things for women in particular, to ‘increase diversity and appreciation for the sport’. Gwen’s motivation came from her own experience as the only woman at most club nights. She tells how she continues to follow the club’s progress and seeing the legacy she set in motion makes her extremely proud of how far the club has come. She went so far as to express surprise, saying that she ‘didn’t expect to see the tangible impact of the women’s officer so soon’. I think it goes to show that she identified a need at just the right time. She goes on to explain that while she introduced the role , the motion was passed by a club-wide vote, reflecting ‘a society wide desire to make a conscious change and formalise our commitment to diversity’.
From the coach
Warwick Squash’s longest standing female role model is Sarah-Jane Perry, ranked 5th globally in women’s singles. Speaking of Perry, Warwick Sport Head Squash Coach Steve Townsend says, ‘I believe having female role models is a very powerful tool. The number of women on our exec and the energy they bring massively increases the attractiveness of our beautiful sport to all, not just women. It’s fantastic to see the efforts of the whole club bearing fruit, attracting players into the game of all gender.’ Steve’s sentiment is echoed by our current president, Matthew Ball, who added, ‘Over the last 4 years our club has shown how a change in governance and commitment from the top down can feed into real changes in the day to day running of the club and the experiences of its members. Warwick Squash has been a huge part of my Uni life and it’s a privilege to be President in a year where these efforts of the exec of the past few years is really coming to fruition’.
Find out more
WarwickSquash is the student-run squash society at the University of Warwick. Find out more on our website, or visit our LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram pages.
By Arianwen Herbert, Women’s Officer at WarwickSquash.
