IInnssttaanntt UUppddaattee ISSUE 40 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012 To: ALL WSF MEMBER NATIONAL FEDERATIONS cc: WSF Regional Vice-Presidents, WSF Committee Members, WSA, PSA, Accredited Companies FROM HEADQUARTERS If we all, from world body, to national, to It is not enough to produce a great state/county to centres, make a stronger effort to sell product, to actually sell it you also our product all of the sport will reap greater profits have to advertise and market it. definitely enough, success on a grander scale; end of People cannot buy something they sermon! haven’t heard about; hence the great importance of developing branding and promotion. Exactly these same basic business essentials apply to squash – which is definitely a [email protected] great product! ___________________________________________ But all too often it is assumed that people will simply OLYMPIC BID UPDATE come to squash rather than them being taken by the July saw us submit the 88 point questionnaire that hand and shown it. the International Olympic Committee (IOC) How many squash centres actually promote requested from WSF to give information on all facets themselves? Not enough. The same question goes of the sport. August was the month in which the for national federations – how many really push video featuring Nicol David and Ramy Ashour was media, PR and marketing? Not enough. Professional edited on its way to being ready for the first of two players who have commercial managers working to presentations we make to the IOC, in December. get them into the media and into advertising? Yes, September onwards sees more bid landmarks. not enough. We will be developing another video for the There are so many sports and pastimes out there presentations as well as planning the scripts. that those that are ‘fads’ in nature, those that don’t Preparing for the IOC Inspection Event, the Hong bind their players are the ones who have grasped the Kong Open is well under way with Hong Kong need to promote themselves. It speaks to the solid Squash and more besides. ‘for life’ nature of squash that we are not strong There is so much more going on too, of course. enough in this field as we don’t think we need to. We Networking is ongoing, press releases are reminders love squash, and assume that everybody else does of our activities, PSA/WSA events showcase the sport too. while national initiatives reach their media too. Where World Squash Day Fits….. Go to www.squash2020.com for information on how In its way, World Squash Day plays a role in you can be involved as we press the case for squash. addressing this. Hundreds of clubs around the world are already registered for this year’s World Squash Day Challenge on 20 October and by the time the day comes round hopefully it will be thousands. They will have a great time, they will be supporting the Olympic Bid, but will they all use the opportunity to promote squash at their club? There will be do-it- yourself downloadable press releases for local media, but will they all use them? Not enough. Will participating clubs send reports and photos to their local media? Not enough. And most importantly, will they all have schemes in place so that when people enquire about the possibility of trying squash they are set to encourage them? You know the answer. Social media is a great step forward but cannot completely replace old-fashioned main media publicity. 1 WORLD JUNIORS 2013 GO TO POLAND WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP REGULATIONS - AMENDMENT Please note that Regulation K6, which is part of the player eligibility section, has been amended by the addition of an additional final sentence, with immediate effect. The updated Regulation is here: K.6. In all cases where a player’s eligibility is in doubt, the responsible MNF must submit supporting evidence to the WSF Office at least 21 days before the submission deadline so that the player’s eligibility Pictured at the signing of the agreement are (L to R): Tomasz can be reviewed and a decision made by the WSF Banasiak, Michal Janicki, Andrew Shelley, Zenon Waniak, Marek Championships Committee. MNFs, Team Managers Wojnarski (Hasta La Vista manager) and Piotr Mazur (Wroclaw and individual entrants must be able to produce Director, Sports, Tourism and Recreation) proof of eligibility and/or age if requested by the CAP The 2013 WSF World Junior Squash Championships or WSF Championships Committee. have been awarded to the Polish city of Wroclaw. WSF, at its’ discretion, may require further The decision follows an inspection of the proposed information to be provided in respect of eligibility or venue and hotel options by WSF Chief Executive age by any available means before permitting Andrew Shelley, with the World Individual Under-19 inclusion of a player. titles for both men and women (16-21 July), followed ___________________________________________ by the Women's World Junior Team Championship (22-27 July) being contested. COMPLETE COURT ACCREDITATION (CCA) Welcoming the allocation of the event to his city, As announced last year, new st Deputy Mayor Michal Janicki commented: "We can courts built after 1 January 2013 truly say that you will have a great welcome in are required to register for CCA Wroclaw and we look forward to meeting the world for them to be eligible for use at of squash in our city next year. international events, such as PSA and WSA tournaments and WSF "Squash is becoming very popular and, as far as I World Championships. know, the biggest facilities in any sport being built in the city are for squash," he added. It is also intended that regional and national federations will also only play their events on new The event will be played at the Hasta La Vista Club, a courts that are CCA registered too, thus all new Wroclaw facility which has just been opened. competition on new courts will take place with a high Owner Zenon Waniak explained that it was his love standard of playing conditions assured. of squash that encouraged him to invest in the sport Companies that have all their major court by building the centre. "It was a huge fondness for components Accredited can become WSF Complete squash on one side and on the other side its very Court Accredited companies (CCA), and all new-build dynamic development in my country," said Waniak. courts built by any installer using only Accredited Shelley underlined the expansion of the sport as he components can be registered as CCA courts. told the Deputy Mayor: "Poland is a great success Courts will be registered too and be listed on the story and is poised to become a European market worldwide registered court directory. Look out for leader in the sport in the coming years. To have the them and the certificates that will be displayed at the opportunity to bring a WSF World Championship to locations. Wroclaw is only going to be the first of many, I am sure. ___________________________________________ The superlative facilities at Hasta La Vista, coupled STANDARD RACKETBALL RULES with the plans to showcase squash by holding the Proposed standardised rules for Racketball are on the finals on an all-glass show court in the city centre, agenda of the WSF AGM being held in Stockholm on make for something to really look forward to in a 30 September. If agreed they will be posted on the year's time." WSF website. While they will not be mandatory for The opportunity for Poland to host a world general recreational play, they will provide a set that championship also delighted Polish Squash new Racketball countries can use when introducing Federation President Tomasz Banasiak, who added: the game. "We were privileged to host the European Individual ___________________________________________ Championships in 2011, and we are excited to take WSF APPROVED BALLS the step up to a world title next year as part of our strategic plan to grow squash as a perfect sporting activity in our country." These championships follow on from the city hosting matches in the European Football Championships 2012 and an announcement that Wroclaw is the chosen host for the World Games 2017. 2 LEADING STARS BACK WORLD SQUASH DAY’S (although Ramy may disagree) it certainly helps to OLYMPIC CAMPAIGN inspire the team behind World Squash Day to support the bid as much as we can. I would like to publicly express my thanks to Vicky Clark for coming up with the idea for this year’s World Squash Day campaign, and to Steve Cubbins for building and formatting a phenomenal website www.worldsquashday.com that provides all the information and free downloads required for any club or association to stage a successful event to back the bid. World Squash Day: www.worldsquashday.com Back the Bid: www.squash2020.com ___________________________________________ Founder Alan Thatcher reports: THREE REFEREE SYSTEM World Squash Day has been an ideal barometer for testing the global squash community’s support for the WSF’s 2020 Olympic bid. At the time of writing, more than 12,000 players have signed up to play in the biggest squash match in history and thousands more are expected to join in the fun on Saturday 20 October. World Squash Day has a 2020 theme, with clubs invited to stage matches featuring two teams of any size, but how about 20-a-side, representing Team Squash and Team 2020. Every club score will count WSF Regions, National Federations, PSA, WSA, WSF towards one overall global result. Referees and Assessors have been reminded that The passion and enthusiasm of the game’s leading they need to arrange consoles or cards in good time players has been infectious, with world champions for referees at their events.