From Bottom Of The League To Squash Champs In Their First Season Back

After a short break, Clayton Green Sports Centre squash teams have gone from the bottom of the league to champions in their first season back!

The first team at Clayton Green Sports Centre, which is managed by Active Nation on behalf of Chorley Council, has won the North West Counties Division 5 title and promotion with two games remaining. But the brilliant news doesn’t stop there – the club entered a second team for the first time, who is expected to finish third narrowly missing out on promotion themselves.

Club captain Paul Lane said: “It’s been great seeing the enthusiasm for competitive squash at Clayton Green Sports Centre on a Thursday night against teams from all over the North West. To be champions in our first season back is simply brilliant and beyond all of our expectations.”

Back in 2010/11 the future of squash at the sports centre looked to be bleak as the team had finished bottom of the North West Counties League. Unfortunately, with the sport in decline, the team duly disbanded.

Since then Active Nation’s Gareth Austin has been on a mission promoting the sport and encouraging people to play squash. He said: “It’s been great fun promoting sport at the venue and especially watching squash go from strength to strength – with more than 60 players now regularly playing at the centre.”

All of this hard work has seen two qualified coaches join the team in partnership with England Squash. They offer sessions and coaching for youngsters wishing to start playing squash for the first time and also for adults who wish to improve their skills and fitness.

The venue has a steep history of producing promising squash players as Women’s World Champion 2014 Laura Massaro first started her squash journey here over 20 years ago. She and her brother Chris both attended coaching here as juniors.

Chris has gone on to become one of the country’s top squash coaches whilst working at the National Squash Centre for over five years as their head coach. He has since returned to Clayton Green Sports Centre as the junior squash coach.

This investment in the sport coincided with a band of volunteers – led by Paul – reforming the club as a member of Squash England. After joining forces with Active Nation and two local businesses the club re-joined at the bottom of the league and have gone from strength to strength.

Paul added: “After a long hard successful winter season, the club would like to thank Active Nation and Chorley Council, Morgan Bros from Chorley and Chris Fell Joinery for their support.”

For more information about squash at Clayton Green Sports Centre please email Gareth.Austin@activenation.org.uk. Alternatively, you can book a court at anytime during opening hours and hire equipment too. Call on 0300 0200 136 for bookings.

Posted on: Thursday, April 9th, 2015 by Bita Rezaei

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