PSA Foundation: Review of 2022

During 2022, the PSA Foundation has made great strides in growing squash globally, leaving a lasting legacy across the globe and increasing the games accessibility.  

Let’s take a look at the year and the milestones they were able to achieve. 

A hugely successful activation event was staged at Birmingham New Street Station in the lead-up to the 2022 Commonwealth Games

Thousands of commuters and Birmingham residents discovered the exciting sport of squash and met some of the world’s best players, with a glass court erected inside of Birmingham New Street station’s state-of-the-art atrium – which sees an estimated 170k visitors a day.

An action-packed week of activity rallied the local community and saw thousands of school children having a hit on court as well as open play sessions for the public, a number of taster sessions, plus exhibition matches and an opportunity to meet professional players.

The PSA Foundation were were thrilled to be able to showcase squash in Birmingham and hoped to provide a lasting legacy for the game in the city as well as inspiring the next generation of squash players. The British Open will now take place in the city in 2023.

Increased mental health support has been offered to even more players through a valuable partnership with Sporting Chance and Wellness Ambassador programs

Mental health support for PSA players has been fundamental for the PSA Foundation, and this year they have continued to champion this aspect of their work and raise funds that support the mental health of players on tour. 

The J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions Luncheon, with funds from this event supporting the Women’s Leadership Program, raised an amazing $41,375, with all of the proceeds benefiting the mental health aspect of the program. 

The event, which included a reception, ceremony and the evening matches of the ToC, featured a number of guest speakers, including US No.1 Amanda Sobhy, who spoke about her own struggles with mental health and how she wanted to speak up and help create a health and wellness platform to remove the stigmas around mental health and foster a spirit of helping each other. 

At the PSA Foundation, we believe that there are no better people to help inform on the challenges of competing on Tour than the players themselves and the health and wellness programme is testament to that  

Back in 2021, the PSA Foundation launched a Health and Wellness programme led by the players themselves. These ambassadors have continued to be valuable representatives for players of all levels on the tour 

Professional sport presents unique pressures for athletes and the aim for this initiative is for the players to spearhead a tour-wide effort to share struggles, advice, experiences and support each other. 

Key interviews with Amanda Sobhy, who opened up about her battle with an eating disorder, and Mary Fung-A-Fat, who highlighted how the squash community saved her after the loss of her father, were particular highlights of the incredible strength and leadership from our ambassadors. 

The PSA Foundation looks forward to highlighting more stories and discussion points from our ambassadors in 2023. 

October 10th also marked World Mental Health Day, with the theme for this year, set by the World Federation for Mental Health, being ‘Make mental health and wellbeing for all a global priority‘. 

During their warmups for the matches on the day- which coincided with this year’s U.S. Open- players wore T-Shirts highlighting the key message that you can’t see everything on court. 

Celebrating women in squash and increasing their participation in the sport

A major aspect of what we do is empowering championing women within the game this year women and girls at all levels to participate in squash, with many key aspects of our work this year championing women within the game.   

As part of the #SayPeriod campaign, Professional Squash Players Mary Fung-A-Fat, Amanda Sobhy and Olivia Clyne discussed the challenges women’s players face on tour, the stigma attached to periods, and what can be done to support women athletes more effectively.   

Set up by BBC Sport, the #SayPeriod campaign wants to stop using euphemisms to describe periods, saying it can perpetuate stigmas and stop people discussing the issue. 

In September, we celebrated Women’s Squash Week. This week is an international campaign that aims to celebrate and raise the profile of female squash. 

We championed this key awareness week by showcasing and highlighting a number of organisations the PSA Foundation works with, as well as extraordinary stories of women and girls in squash. This included: 

–An interview with Teen Sensation Anahat Singh: at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the then 14-year-old won her first ever match at the games, impressing and inspiring viewers and players across the world.

–Nicol David Organisation: their Little Legends programme is continuing to grow and make a huge difference to children in Kuala Lumpur. 

–The rise of Georgina Kennedy: who in one year rose to the worlds top 10 and won a Commenwealth Games gold medal! 

Additionally, next year’s ToC will mark the launch of a leadership programme to encourage more women to participate in the game at a coaching and mentoring level – with the funds providing them with the opportunity to earn the key qualifications needed to give them this platform.  

This will be provided in partnership with US Squash – learn more here. 

The ‘We Are One Fund’ has been relaunched as a hardship fund to support players

The “We Are One” Fund that successfully supported professional squash players across the global COVID-19 pandemic has relaunched with a new focus. 

With the tour back in full swing, the fund will continue to support players in need but has refocused as an emergency hardship fund that will aid players facing severe financial pressures following career-ending injuries, family calamities and unforeseeable emergencies. 

This fund will play a pivotal role in ensuring players across the world at all levels can both engage and thrive within our sport. 

Government funding has been obtained to continue the Allam British Open legacy programme and pilot funding to stage activities with local schools at major PSA events in England

Over the last decade, the Allam British Open Squash Championships has brought the “Wimbledon of Squash” to excited crowds in Hull – raising the profile of squash in the area and bringing the sport to new audiences. 

Rackets Cubed, who are partnered with the PSA Foundation, run one of their many programmes in Hull and have been able to include British Open in their work. 

Founded in 2016, Rackets Cubed is a UK charity that delivers integrated sport, education and nutrition programmes to improve the lives of vulnerable and disadvantaged young children and raise their aspirations. 

Through the British Open, they have been able to inspire children they work with to pick up squash and see the best players in the world in action. 

Funding from the Allam British Open legacy programme has enabled to keep Rackets Cubed in operation in Hull for at least three years, ensuring their vital support remains in place. 

The PSA Foundation has set up a new committee to stimulate the development and build of outdoor squash courts across the globe

The PSA Foundation has continued to make several strides in growing outdoor squash. 

Outdoor squash is not a ‘one size fits all’ movement. Outdoor squash symbolises accessibility and the opportunity to enjoy squash at a grassroots level and have fun playing a fast-paced and social game. 

As the popularity of outdoor squash continues to increase, we’ve seen multiple instances of tournaments and organisations utilising this movement to grow the game: 

–The Squash Federation of Iran (SFI) has shown how outdoor courts can bring squash to a new generation – with this initiative further increasing Iran’s progress to being the capital of the outdoor game. 

–The Instel Steel Outdoor Squash Invitational Pro Tournament got underway for 2022 – highlighting the unique and engaging aspect of outdoor squash. The tournament was the coldest outdoor squash pro exhibition ever with temperatures of 35°F (Around 1°C)!   

2022 has seen the PSA Foundation expand the number of community programmes that it supports, including the Nicol David Organisation

The PSA Foundation has continued to support a range of squash organisations across the globe to grow the game and make the sport more accessible for all.

New and exciting partnerships were also started, expanding their community network: 

–Canadian Inclusivity Squash Program (CISP), which is an innovative squash program that teaches squash to people with disabilities (mental, emotional, or physical) in a fully inclusive and safe environment. 

– Nicol David Organisation, and its flagship programme- ‘Little Legends’. The non-profit was launched earlier this year in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, by Malaysia’s former World No.1 and eight-time World Champion Nicol David and Colombian former World No.81 Mariana De Reyes. 

With her strong desire to build on this legacy and give back to the community, Nicol decided to create the Little legends program.  

Under the ‘Little Legends’ initiative, a subsidised after-school programme, children aged 8 from low and middle income families will take part in a five-year programme comprising of twice-weekly squash training and English tutoring. 

Rebound hits a milestone amount of squash equipment/items donated

PSA Foundation’s Rebound programme recently highlighted that it has given 2,782 squash items to non-profit organisations across the world.  

Rebound is an initiative that collects usable squash gear to send as donations across the world.  

PSAF hand picks the programmes that receive Rebound donations so they know they are sending squash gear to underserved communities that work with children who otherwise would not be able to play squash   

Recycling old gear is an environmentally friendly way to get children into the sport.  

One of the many programmes that has benefitted from our Rebound initiative is Egolisquash. The South African programme aims to engage kids from previously disadvantaged communities in an intensive and long-term experience.  

They do this by incorporating squash, fitness, tutoring, community service and mentoring in order to change children’s lives for better.  

Sharon Sibanda, an Egolisquash Coordinator, spoke with the PSA Foundation about how Rebound has enabled them to have a greater impact in their community.  

“With Rebound’s donations, our organization has managed to provide kit and equipment to our inner city and Soweto youths,” says Sibanda.

“Access to proper kit and equipment is a huge challenge for our players who come from vulnerable communities and cannot afford the costs of sports equipment, apparel and footwear.

“We hope to expand delivering our programmes beyond South Africa and reach out to more youths who would not otherwise have opportunities to grow through sport due to their backgrounds.” 

The PSA Foundation would like to say thank you to all who have generously donated, be it time, equipment or money. They are grateful for all of your help in using squash to make the world a better place and wish all squash fans a Happy New Year.