Year of Youth Squash Launched
Squash NZ launched the national campaign aimed at getting more kids playing squash, at the NZ Junior Open yesterday, by revealing the logo and announcing their ambassador programme.
A recent young person's survey showed that 9 out of 10 youngsters spend more than 3 hours a week taking part in sport and recreation. Yet only 1% of those surveyed played squash!
Squash NZ thinks that squash is a great sport for kids to play and that they are the lifeline of every squash club. That is why we are claiming 2013 as the Year of Youth Squash. We are coordinating a national campaign, similar to the Year of Women's Squash that ran last year, and are encouraging squash clubs and Districts to take part in this fantastic initiative.
We want to work with clubs and Districts to inspire New Zealand youth to choose squash. And we want to do this by supporting clubs to increase youth participation and engaging with school squash players. Some of the initiatives that Squash NZ will be doing include
- an ambassador programme
- case studies
- resources
- national youth council / forum
- development of a national schools programme
- secondary school partnerships
More information about all of these projects can be found on our website here
The Year of Youth Squash was officially launched at the NZ Junior Open prize-giving on Sunday, where the new logo was unveiled and ambassadors were named.
The ambassadors are
- Joelle King (Cambridge)
- Evan Williams (Thorndon)
- Becky Barnett (SquashGym Palmerston North)
- Jonny Barnett (Burnside)
- Ishaan Bhide (Harcourts Eden Epsom)
- Emily Flett (SquashCity)
- Scott Galloway (Mitchell Park)
- Abbie Palmer (North Shore)
- Kaitlyn Watts (SquashGym Palmerston North)
- Theo Zjibowski (Burnside)
We recognise that there are many existing junior squash players who could act as ambassadors for this campaign, who are friendly, accessible and would be great role models to other junior squash players. Unfortunately we are limited to a small number for operational reasons. We have included two of our Pro athletes to act as inspirational role models who could share their journeys with youth.
Squash NZ will be developing resources and case studies and providing more information on our ambassadors over the forthcoming weeks, so watch this space.
First up, we have an insight into one of our ambassadors - Abbie Palmer
In the meantime, if you have any questions or suggestions for the Year of Youth Squash, or would like to know more, please contact us.
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