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Twenty-four hours is a long time to smack a little rubber ball around a squash court non-stop — but the Squash City junior players gave it their all at the weekend.
The group were fundraising for Hospice Southland, which they hoped to raise $25,000 for with their efforts.
It was the first of two events — the second will be a car trial held later in the year.
Squash City junior coach Kevin Muir said there were many families in Southland who had been touched by the team at Hospice Southland.
The charity was particularly near to his heart after three of his friends died from cancer last year.
"They did an awesome job of looking after them."
Twenty young players took advantage of the one-on-one coaching session the squash-a-thon had provided.
The event went off really well.
He was particularly proud of how the young people had supported it.
He also acknowledged the unyielding support from all the parents who stayed up throughout the night supervising young people while he was running the coaching sessions.
Losing some weight and doing a lot of walking had helped him to prepare for the all-nighter.
"I did so much better than last year. Last year I almost broke."
But while the younger set were still bouncing around the courts with seemingly endless energy, about 4am his more mature body started to protest with continuous cramps until the end of the fundraiser.
The fundraising team were thrilled to get a visit and encouragement from Hospice Southland chief executive Flora Gilkison and events co-ordinator Suzanne Prentice.
— Toni McDonald