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Squash Section Report to the Executive Committee
3rd January 2002
England Squash Charter Bronze Accreditation
We have been advised that the Club has been awarded England Squash Bronze Club Accreditation. This recognises that we meet nationwide standards of excellence in organisation and management. In their letter to us, England Squash thanked us for our efforts to promote and develop the game in Evesham, and I would add my personal thanks to Errol Ferris for his contribution to the improvement of playing standards, both in the Ladies Team Squad, and in the newly formed Junior Group. There will be a formal presentation of a plaque in due course, meanwhile we shall be working towards upgrading to Silver status.
Squash Courts
We are still awaiting receipt of Junckers' Report on the condition of the floors. Errol has been advised that this has now been completed by their technical department, and that there may be differences of emphasis which would need to be clarified at the site meeting with Junckers technical staff and Watson Brook, who installed it. It is still possible that we may have to involve the England Squash technical department for support and advice, depending on the contents and tone of the Report.
The courts appear to have stopped expanding, but cracks in Court 3, noted by Junckers are getting bigger, and could start to cause a problem. We do not know whether these have been caused by faulty construction, or temperature/humidity problems. This court is always very cold, due to the lack of any heating. We would hope to rectify this at some stage.
Court Usage and Membership
There appears to have been a significant 18% drop in light meter receipts in the period up to mid December, down from £665 to £545. I am very surprised at this situation, as the courts have generally been fully utilised at peak times, and I am wondering how accurate or consistent the figures may be. We are aware of 6 members leaving or retiring, but this number has easily been exceeded by new members joining during the year. However, the December membership list shows that some 18 squash playing members had not yet renewed, and it is likely that several of these will also have left.
We have been concerned for some time at the aging profile of the Section, and if membership and court usage is in fact declining, it is essential that we continue to develop the Junior Group, and actively seek to attract new members. This is not made any easier by the deteriorating condition of the car park and club house, and the poor changing conditions and toilets, notwithstanding recent outstanding efforts to improve them.
Brian Ireland
Squash Captain
3 January 2002