Squash: Centre the new face of squash

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Squash New Zealand has launched a building programme that in 20 weeks will have the first stage of a new million-dollar National Squash Centre in Auckland ready for action.

The joint venture between SNZ, Squash Auckland and Unitec will give the sport its first stand-alone headquarters and ultimately a 10-court complex on the Unitec campus in Mt Albert.

Work started on site on Monday and the aim is to have the first stage completed by the end of July.

The building will have courts with moveable side walls that will allow the centre to be used for a variety of purposes.

"This technology enables the indoor space to be reconfigured for any leisure activity at the push of a button," said the chairman of the National Squash Centre Trust, Bruce Davidson.

"The investment therefore is not locked up in a single sport.

"Few organisations have sufficient resources to go it alone.

"It makes better sense to join forces and to share facilities."

With 25,000 registered members in 230 clubs, and a large number of casual participants, squash is ranked as the 10th largest organised sport in New Zealand.

Since the highs of the early 1980s, when New Zealand boasted Susan Devoy and Ross Norman as world champions, the sport has been in something of a steady decline with ageing, single-purpose facilities.

The new centre is seen as phase one of a fightback by Squash New Zealand, which sees the "pay for play" option for recreational players as a means of revitalising the sport.

By being part of the Unitec campus the association believes it will have a readymade junior market among the 9000 students.

It is also planning to use the facility as the base for a national academy programme for coaches and elite players.