SquashZAG

This blog by the highly regarded Seth Godin really struck a chord with me when I reflected on my struggles to grow SquashZAG membership and interaction:

"A good preacher ought to be able to get 70% of the people who showed up on Sunday to make a donation.

Here is an article from MSNBC discussing a range of benefits and efficiencies of interval training.  While squash isn't mentioned specifically, our sport seems to epitomize the ethic of "working very hard for a few minutes, with rest periods in between sets."

Imagine if squash patrons or associations raised sufficient resources to fund a reputable scientific study to quantify the physical benefits of squash relative to other fitness programs?  I am confident the study results could be a fantastic marketing tool for our sport if leverage effectively.

Analyses in various countries worldwide has shown there are four main categories of squash players: 
  Squash Fanatic - who loves the game more than anything. They make up a total of 3% of all players. 
  Squash Enthusiast - who play approximately three times per month. They love Squash but their major motivation is staying fit and feeling good. This group is approximately 17% of all squash players.
  Leisure Player - who play on an average of once or twice a month. This group is approximate 30% of all players.

Here are some very simple ideas to help teach and foster the fundamentals of good sportsmanship.  

Start marketing more and more to women, both young and old. It is a huge and rapidly growing segment of sports participants almost everywhere in the world. Here are some ideas to try out in your tennis [squash] programs:

Every time I read information covering any of the many unique benefits of squash I get excited. It seems logical that we need to keep sending more and more of these positive messages out to the general squash and non-squash playing public.

Here is a great blog from Idea Sandbox.  Reading it I thought of our sport and the many ideas and initiatives to grow and promote squash, but a seeming lack of leadership to assemble the cooks and ingredients to do the "how."  Here is the blog:

Susan Weanie, Tennis Development Manager at Strathgryffe Tennis and Squash Club talks to Tennis Scotland's Mike Cohen on how they recruit and retain their adult membership.

Published in Racquet Sports Industry Magazine
By Joe Dinoffer

When I managed pro shops during my career and players asked to recommend a racquet, I usually watched them over to the display area and asked them what color they liked. This overly simplistic advice underscores something far more important. People play tennis largely for fun and the satisfaction of improvement. Their racquet is as important to them as the clothes they wear, the car they drive, the cell phone they use, and the house they live in. They will select it largely because of an emotional reaction and, yes, color is important.

I. Safety first. Hold up on your shot rather than risk injury to your opponent.

II. Abide by the tournament and playing rules and those of squash etiquette.