Aynsley Munro (Squash Otago executive officer), Tony
Johnston (Squash New Zealand board member) and Jim O'Grady
(Squash NZ chief executive) at the Logan Park courts in
Dunedin yesterday. Photo by Peter McIntosh.
New Zealand squash officials are trying to lift the
sport's profile back to where it was when Susan Devoy was world
champion from 1985 to 1992.
During that period, there were 50,000 squash players
registered in New Zealand. The number has dropped to just
23,000.
Squash New Zealand recognised the problem and two years ago
initiated the Toward 2020 strategic plan to increase numbers
and put squash back into the national spotlight.
Squash NZ chief executive Jim O'Grady was in Dunedin
yesterday to talk to key squash people and outline the
importance of the plan.
When he spoke to the Otago Daily Times, O'Grady
highlighted an information technology programme as a key
element of the strategic plan.
"It will make life easier for clubs, districts and the
national organisation, and enable internal communication to
become more efficient," he said.
"It is an innovative use of technology as a sport development
tool to help the sport at club, district and national level
to operate more efficiently.
"The IT platform will have massive benefits for users and
will give clubs a range of tools that will improve
efficiency. It will not just be an access system but will
also incorporate event and club management tools."
Every registered squash player will be on a national database
that will feed into other projects.
All results from around the country will be online and will
feed into the national grading list, which will be quickly
updated.
"It is a live system that will make it easy for clubs to
manage court usage," O'Grady said.
The IT programme is a key element of Sparc's plan to make all
sports more efficient and help them make better use of their
facilities.
But it is not the only element of Squash NZ's vision for the
future of the sport.
It also wants to establish a national coaching plan and to
help clubs develop their plans within this framework.
"A high-performance programme already exists and is run
efficiently," O'Grady said.
"We must have a structure that delivers quality to the
sport."
O'Grady was formerly the chairman of Squash NZ. That role is
now held by Neil McAra.
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