Cleethorpes named May’s Club of the Month

Cleethorpes Squash Club in Lincolnshire has been named our Club of the Month in May following their efforts to engage new members through new initiatives such as Squash Girls Can and staging high profile events.

We caught up with Head Coach Steve Maloney to get an insight into the club’s success.

Boasting 200 members at their three-court facility, Cleethorpes Squash Club has played a key role in putting squash on the map in Lincolnshire.

The club’s ever-increasing membership Steve believes is largely down to the club’s friendly and welcoming environment coupled with great facilities.

“We welcome new players with open arms and pull out all the stops to make prospective members feel at ease,” explains Steve.

“By providing a friendly and welcoming environment we've seen our membership grow quickly. Our numbers are largely down to word of mouth and offering different types of membership such as family.

"We also have first-rate facilities including three very well-maintained courts with viewing areas, new changing rooms, and a large bar and function area.”

With up to 35 juniors in attendance at their weekly coaching session, several of whom play at county level, their junior section is thriving.

“Our junior sessions on a Saturday morning are three hours long and run by our experienced team of coaches,” says Steve.

“We provide lots of incentives like player of the day or most improved player and give out trophies at the end of the session which goes down a storm with the kids. We charge only £5 per player to make it accessible to everyone.

"A number of these juniors play to a very high standard and represent Lincolnshire county across all age groups.”

A major talking point for the club over the years has been their annual pro squash tournament which has attracted the likes of James Willstrop, Saurav Ghosal and Adrian Grant.

“This tournament has done wonders to raise the profile of the club with people travelling from across the county to witness this great spectacle.

"We’ve been running this event for the past 20 years and it's a fantastic experience for our juniors to watch and quiz the pros."

But it's not just their annual squash tournament which has helped put the club on the map.

“We also host the Grimsby and Cleethorpes Open which is a £5k world ranking event which has attracted a number of professionals including Emyr Evans and Jaymie Haycocks, and is always well attended. This event has significantly helped to create further exposure for the club.”

A priority for the club in the next 12 months is to engage more females though initiatives such as Squash Girls Can.

“We ran a Squash Girls Can event which saw 14 females attend, many of whom had never ventured onto a squash court before.

"We were overwhelmed by the turnout but we put up a lot of posters around the club and news quickly spread,” says Steve.

“It’s encouraging to see some of these players have been back to the club and have shown interest in joining. We also set up a WhatsApp group between the attendees so they can arrange games between themselves. We’re running another session this month and hope to emulate the success of the pilot.”

Steve's sessions have certainly struck a chord with some of the participants with one saying:

"It's fair to say I'm hooked. I can't wait for the next one!"

Join Steve at the second Squash Girls Can session this Sunday 19th May from 10am-12pm at Cleethorpes.

To find out more about Cleethorpes Squash Club, visit their website.