SquashZAG

October 1983 - England is not alone - the state of the game here, the issues it faces and the role of the governing body in influencing it are mirrored in other countries at a similarly 'mature' stage in the sports life cycle.

The similarities - an ageing population (Chris Gotla stated that he thought the average age of the English Squash player was 38, New Zealand's Nevan Barbour says the Kiwi average is 37) and declining membership - with the sport in New Zealand are striking. However, the reviews the two governing bodies have initiated are strikingly different.

In England the departure of Chris Gotla, the marketing expert brought in from outside to examine the state of the game, from the Chief Executive's post, led to the governing body launching a review and an adaptation of its functions.

In New Zealand the review coincided with the English one and ironically took an approach that some will see as paralleling Gotla's but eventually going much further in researching the problems and then in planning a course of action. It is an interesting case study that will have parallels in many 'mature' countries and could have a wide-ranging influence on governing bodies' approach to their market.

'NZ Squash saw that we had a declining membership and we realised that the only way to have an in-depth look at ourselves was to go to an outside source and conduct market research on the game of Squash,' says New Zealand's Nevan Barbour. 'The only way we could conduct that market research was to go and talk to the Squash players themselves.'

Barbour, twice New Zealand Champion and one of New Zealand's most experienced Squash players, was seconded onto the Review Committee. Having travelled the world regularly since 1971 he has seen the development of the game in New Zealand and overseas. Barbour had adapted a number of overseas ideas to his own commercial Squash court and gymnasium business and owned a couple of the largest Squash and fitness centres in the country for approximately 14 years. He is regarded as well versed in market trends and in understanding the needs of people in their leisure time.

The review committee, a sub committee of the New Zealand Squash Council (the executive) is chaired by Bill Murray, the executive officer of New Zealand Squash. Also on the committee is an average Squash enthusiast with a marketing background, someone who has never been in Squash administration before but who was prepared to help. Other outside marketing expertise was also sourced. The aim was to get people from outside the present structure to look at the sport. A new approach was needed and the committee decided to research their market.

Seven market research companies tendered for the research work and one was selected on merit. The research began in June and the report was tabled in September. Part of the cost of the research was born by New Zealand Squash and part by the Hillary Commission, the government body that finances sports administrations.

'Really they were asked to investigate all aspects of the game and its administration. The questions were targeted across the board to give us as broad a range of replies as possible,' says Barbour.

The research company sent out newsletters, used grading lists and personal contacts in an effort to cover the target market through clubs. They travelled the country. Their research fell into two areas - qualitative through group workshops and individual interviews and quantitative research to provide statistical analysis of the market.

The research companies report covered four areas - administration, facilities, programming and promotion. The research findings on the administration of the sport were fairly scathing about the impact of NZ Squash on average players.

In examining facilities, it also highlighted problems. Although New Zealand's amateur approach to sport may have been one of the best in the world, it is now a drag on modern commercial enterprise and a hindrance to the upgrading of facilities.

'We are in a commercial world now and people are used to user pays,' says Barbour. 'A lot of clubs in New Zealand have a balance sheet that is worked out to break even each year - nothing is put aside for improvement, maintenance or promotion and the facilities haven't kept up with the times. The young people in the 18 to 30 age group, who are the market with the disposable dollar, are looking for things that are measuring up, that are trendy, that are the right place to go and play and if you don't meet their criteria you don't see the dollar.'

'At the moment Squash is missing the bus.'

The third area that was researched was programming, that is how the people are introduced to the game, what market sector they are from, the role of the schools programme, of coaching and how and why people choose to learn Squash originally. The fourth area was the professional promotion of the game.

'Once we had the market research, then we had the basis on which to form a plan,' says Barbour of the marketing approach to the sport that focused on the players - that is, the customers - rather than on the game.

'To get that information the researchers have gone out and asked the Squash players, that is those who are the market.'

The research clarified a lot of unease and questions about the game and gave the review committee basic data.

Once the research report was available it was digested by a strategic market planner. The planner, an expert from the outside, was not involved in Squash at all but had experience in many forms of business as a strategic planning consultant. He was involved from the beginning of the review process and it was his suggestion that before the committee could formulate a strategic plan for Squash, basic research was needed.

Having looked at the game from a marketing point of view, he has come up with recommendations that the association could implement to restructure the game.

'He has criticised the emphasis on elite Squash and sees that the numbers of recreational players have declined a lot and that there should be an emphasis on selling fitness,' says Barbour.

'He says we must have a balance. By just concentrating on the elite players at the top, you cannot be sure that your business is going to move into the year 2000 in a profitable way, i.e. with numbers and money.

'The recommendations are that we start back at the base of the triangle and get our clubs functioning right, get our club numbers up, get our membership up, at the base - and find out why we have a huge drift of people joining clubs and leaving them. We are getting people joining clubs, but we are not holding on to them. Our retention rate is very small, so there must be something wrong.'

'The main focus and recommendation is that we must create a fun and fitness industry within our clubs to occupy people's leisure time and make the clubs the focal point of that leisure time. We must do whatever is needed to make that happen within the club - we can't just have Squash courts, or just a bar, or just aerobics. We have to have an organisation that makes people feel welcome where they want to go and participate in the activities of the club and to do that you have to really concentrate on the players.

'We have to use outside help. What this is really doing is trying to broaden the range of people who make a contribution to the club. If you look at the research you find that it is the same people who have been doing the same things for a long time. I think they have run out of ideas and their vision is not wide enough.'

'The whole focus of the development of the game has been through champion performance,' says the report. 'The problem is that you seem to have focused on the game, not the players. As a result you may have lost touch with your market.'

The key recommendations of the strategic plan are, one, to focus on 'fun and fitness,' and two, to turn the organisation structure upside down and make players the most important people in it.

It is a challenge, to say the least, but New Zealand has taken important first steps towards providing customer satisfaction. It is a process that will be watched with much interest by countries that have similar problems.

From World Squash / Squash Player