One Year On: squash legacy inspires thousands post-Games

12 months on from the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, the England Squash legacy programme continues to touch lives, benefitting thousands of people across the region.

Following funding from Sport England in the spring last year, Asma Ajaz-Ali was appointed by England Squash as Community Engagement Manager to drive the legacy project in Birmingham and the West Midlands, and boost awareness of squash to attract new and more diverse audiences.

Based on past research that found a strong affinity to squash amongst ethnically diverse communities, yet a low level of participation, the ambition was to engage more people from these communities.

Sport England research also highlights that 2 in 5 people from ethnically diverse communities feel they have fewer opportunities to participate in sport and physical activity than someone from a white background.

Asma has made a significant impact, inspiring more than 6,000 people to try squash with 300 new regular players participating in Birmingham.

84% of these regular players are from lower socio-economic groups who face the biggest inequalities when accessing sport, with 95% from non-white ethnicities.

“When you look at the demographics of where I'm working - high population of South Asian communities, Afro-Caribbean, ethnic minorities - it’s all people who would never have had the chance to play,” says Asma.

Key to successfully engaging these communities is to take a place-based approach believes Asma.

“We have taken squash to the community, rather than expecting the community to come to an existing facility. I'm out most weeks at events trying to grow the game and introduce squash to new communities.

"We’ve taken portable mini courts to school games events, community events and squash events such as the Commonwealth Games, the Big John’s Mela, Bring the Power and the British Open. The pop-up courts have been placed at youth clubs and community centres to drive awareness of squash.

“At one youth centre, we provided the rebound wall and 400 people from the Holiday and Activities Food programme tried squash. These young people have enjoyed it so much they want to keep playing, and have now marked out a court on their wall.”

Pivotal to increasing England Squash’s understanding of these communities has been to establish relationships with local community groups.

“We’ve built relationships with local groups who know their community better than anyone.

"We didn’t want to go in to deliver a ready-made programme, but bring the sport to them and work together to provide meaningful and relevant opportunities to take part.

“This approach has meant that the activity is developed by the community and has more chance of being sustainable long-term.”

Working alongside local leisure centres and clubs to deliver and embed regular, sustainable sessions has been instrumental in driving uptake.

“Players are taking part across venues across the city from facilities like Small Health Wellbeing Centre to high profile squash clubs such as Edgbaston Priory. Our goal is to see thriving diverse squash communities at every facility.

“It’s about connecting people to the facilities that suit their budget. Not everybody can afford to go to a squash club and pay a membership, or wants to do so right away.

Looking ahead, England Squash is eager to roll-out this approach on a larger scale.

“Whilst Birmingham is still very much a focus, we’re looking to expand this approach to other areas in the wider West Midlands and hopefully it will be so impactful that it is used across the country,” Asma said.

“There's a lot of work still to do, but also excitingly, there are lots of people to still engage.

“As part of this funded project, we're launching a squash campaign in the autumn, based on extensive insight conducted with ethnically diverse communities across the West Midlands. The hope is that many more people from these communities will get visibility of our great sport and be inspired to hit the court.”