By Alan Thatcher
Contributing Editor

A Cursory Warning from an International Rower
I wrote to a number of people last week for their views on squash's Olympic bid, including my friend Peter Bryttne, a Swedish rower who competed internationally and then fell in love with squash, becoming a more than half-decent professional based in Paris.

His views contain some cutting observations which might just make you review your thoughts about squash and the Olympics. Here's what he had to say:

"I was on my way to writing the thing on the Olympics when I started to read the articles and thoughts already in there. It appears that everyone is so much for it that I'm a bit hesitant about airing my slightly more negative thoughts on the subject.

"Not least, as a rower, I know how little the Olympics can do to make a sport popular. The same goes for almost a majority of the sports included in the Games. I guess the key issue really is - What is important for our sport? Is it to grow? Get better known by the public? Is Club or Professional play the most important issue? Etc.

"I think there are many things that are important but some priorities have to be laid out
and then I firmly think that one should never put all eggs in one basket. We must have room for both social and competitive squash and it is possibly so that one can support the other.

"Looking at tennis, it is quite a sad story here in Sweden with the number of players declining rapidly and the clubs becoming more and more vacant. In smaller cities hardly any club have receptions any more, it's all automatic. One reason being said to be the lack of top players the like of Borg, Edberg, Willander etc.

"On the other hand there are other sports that have exploded. One example being Innebandy (indoor bandy - you probably don't have a clue.....), it has grown from school playgrounds to become a very attractive sport with leagues and even now World Championships. No stars but a lot of fun.

"There is not one reason for a sport to head up or down the popularity ladder. In unfortunate cases several reasons support one another to cause an alarming drop.

"Anyway - to me the Olympics really is NOT that important. I doubt that our sport will be attractive to the greater number of viewers. This has to do with the fact that the sport is difficult to understand - especially rule 12 - and quite boring to watch if you don't understand how hard it is. Sure, squash players will watch it but that can hardly be the goal with attending the Games.

"In the worst case, it could even harm the sport - especially if we don't have excellent ways of showing the sport. We could easily end up with journalists writing negative articles like the ones about Softball. This could harm the search for sponsors for years to come.

"Please don't get me wrong. I love the sport and would love to see it there BUT we have to know what we get ourselves into. I would run "Focus" teams attending both live venues and watching televised games. These teams should be made up of people with different experiences of the sport - from very active to people who have never heard of the game. Discussions afterwards should be conducted to try to find out what attracts attention and the opposite. This was the way we worked with branding issues at Volvo, for instance."


WISPA Fly the Flag
WISPA, as always, are the most pro-active of the squash governing bodies, although I expect Richard Graham will soon be implementing some new measures at the PSA to make his members understand their responsibilities in and to the sport.

As I was writing this column, the latest WISPA Bulletin dropped into my email inbox and Chief Executive Andrew Shelley is clearly marshalling his female troops to promote the sport at every opportunity.

Here is a sampling of what he had to say to his members:

"BEIJING BEHIND US, THE FINAL PUSH AHEAD

When the Olympics began a few weeks ago all WISPA members were reminded that this was the time that they may be asked about why squash wasn’t included and whether we can get into them in the future. The notes are worth repeating now as the focus must remain strong as squash continues to press its claim for inclusion.

We missed out on selection for the 2012 Games in London, but next year (October 2009) at the next IOC meeting which will be held in Copenhagen there will be decisions made about the venue selected for 2016 and the sports played.

As a result of baseball & softball being voted out of London but not being replaced there are 26 sports to be played there, and thus places for two more in 2016 (the Olympic Charter stipulates a maximum of 28).

So, we are in a fight with baseball and softball who want to get back in, along with the other shortlisted sports of karate, golf, rugby sevens & roller sports.

Remember:
- We are a truly worldwide sport, and compete in every other Major Games, including the Commonwealth, Pan American, Asian and All African Games.
- Squash is different to all other sports in the Games, and rates as one of the most gruelling and skilled sports.
- Our top players are serious professionals
- All our players are serious sports people
- The Olympics would be our greatest event by far and the ultimate goal for our players would be to win a gold medal. (This is important to stress as this differentiates us from golf, tennis, soccer and some other sports where there are other great, highly coveted 'major’ championships such as Wimbledon, The Masters or the World Cup.)
- We have become a really good spectator and TV sport because of the all-glass court. The glass court can be erected in any spectacular location and does not require an expensive stadium to be built, cutting costs for the host city / nation.
- The top players in the world are a diverse group of people that come from many nations that are not the “super powers” in the Olympics - creating opportunities for different nations to have a lead on winning medals.

The Olympic bid is of paramount importance as we use the year in conjunction with WSF & PSA to promote ourselves in any way that we can. Creating a bigger profile and reaching out to key people and contacts is a main thrust of the strategy."

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