NIAMH FITZPATRICK WEBINAR – EVENT POSTPONED
Due to unforeseen circumstances the Niamh Fitzpatrick webinar due to air on July 22nd, is postponed. It will be rescheduled soon – date to be confirmed. Apologies for the change.
POSTPONED
Squash Webinar Series 2 – Exclusive Coaching and Conversations
A four-event series of High-Performance presentations delivered by world renowned coaches and exclusive conversations with the world’s leading players.
22nd July – ‘Impact of loss of competition and how best to prepare for return to squash’ – Niamh Fitzpatrick, Sports Psychologist
Irish Squash in association with Squash Fitness presents:
Squash Webinar Series 2 – Exclusive Coaching and Conversations
A four-event series of High-Performance presentations delivered by world renowned coaches and exclusive conversations with the world’s leading players.
19th July – Training Smarter – Derek Ryan Lead PSA Physiotherapist and Strength & Conditioning consultant
22nd July – ‘Impact of loss of competition and how best to prepare for return to squash’ – Niamh Fitzpatrick, Sports Psychologist
Irish Squash are aware that there seems to be confusion about applying Government public health guidelines in squash these days. We would like to remind the squash community that we are bound by the restrictions that Sport Ireland provide to indoor sports.
June 7th announcement from Sport Ireland:
Indoor Individual Training Capacities:
Indoor training activity (no indoor Games, matches or competitions) is currently permitted.
We realise that people are frustrated about the continued lack of ‘normal’ squash – Irish Squash have repeatedly asked Sport Ireland for a ‘vaccine pass’ for those who are fully vaccinated. Similar to the indoor hospitality sector, the answer has been no (so far). We are watching that space carefully and as soon as there is any change permitted, we will update our guidance.
For now, please continue to take personal responsibility in observing the guidelines.
Rosie Barry
President Irish Squash
WEBINAR SERIES 2: EXCLUSIVE COACHING AND CONVERSATIONS
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Ramy Ashour webinar due to air on Monday 12th July has been changed to Tuesday July 13th @ 7.15pm. Register on [email protected]
Irish Squash in association with Squash Fitness presents:
Squash Webinar Series 2 – Exclusive Coaching and Conversations
A four-event series of High-Performance presentations delivered by world renowned coaches and exclusive conversations with the world’s leading players.
13th July – A conversation with former World No.1 Ramy Ashour
19th July – Training smarter – Derek Ryan Lead PSA Physiotherapist and Strength & Conditioning consultant
22nd July – ‘Impact of loss of competition and how best to prepare for return to squash’ – Niamh Fitzpatrick, Sports Psychologist
COVID-19 update July 6th 2021
The planned easing of government restrictions on indoor activities from July 5th is postponed, as you are all aware.
Therefore there is no change to the current restrictions for squash: solo play only is permitted – (
See Previous Update)
A meeting with Minister for Sport, Jack Chambers, is planned for later this week and further updates will be provided thereafter.
Please continue to observe all COVID restrictions both on and off court.
Rosie Barry
President Irish Squash
WEBINAR SERIES 2: EXCLUSIVE COACHING AND CONVERSATIONS
Irish Squash in association with Squash Fitness presents:
Squash Webinar Series 2 – Exclusive Coaching and Conversations
A four-event series of High-Performance presentations delivered by world renowned coaches and exclusive conversations with the world’s leading players.
5th July – A conversation with former World No.1 Laura Massaro
12th July – A conversation with former World No.1 Ramy Ashour
19th July – Training smarter – Derek Ryan Lead PSA Physiotherapist and Strength & Conditioning consultant
22nd July – ‘Impact of loss of competition and how best to prepare for return to squash’ – Niamh Fitzpatrick, Sports Psychologist
Irish Squash is working withe the WSF & PSA in utilising the WSO platform to improve the standard of refereeing. There is a questions and answers section on the WSO, with our refereeing secretary Lee Healy. See below.
The World Squash Federation (WSF) and Professional Squash Association (PSA) last month jointly launched World Squash Officiating (WSO), an online education and appraisal portal designed to standardise officiating qualifications worldwide.
WSO has been launched with the aim of creating a worldwide standard in refereeing and a clear referee pathway.
WSO contains a host of resources such as in-depth articles and presentations on rules as well as a comprehensive video library from the SQUASHTV archives which explains previous decisions made by referees on the PSA World Tour.
Irish Squash are already feeling the benefits of the platform and we caught up with their Refereeing Secretary, Lee Healy, to learn more about how they are using WSO.
Q: Lee, could you please give a brief description of how Irish Squash have been using WSO and future plans for the platform?
LH: We have decided that the programme will become the basis for our referee qualification system into the future. To encourage players to avail of the WSO on-line platform we have agreed to cover the fees for the Level 1 qualification. Once players and then referees experience the benefits of the Level 0 and Level 1 we are hopeful that many will continue their journey to higher levels to the benefit of all.
Q: Why have you signed up your referees to the platform?
LH: The online nature of the course allows interested players to avail of training in the comfort of their own home at at their own time so that uptake should be higher than traditionally was the case. In addition, the availability of graded videos and the ease of repeating the assessments will help candidates to succeed.
Q: What did you do to improve the standard of refereeing before WSO?
LH: Irish Squash has qualified over 40 referees in the last two seasons with person to person Club Grade Courses (the equivalent of WSO Level1) but see limitations on that model as a means of progressing.
Q: What have been the most useful aspects of WSO do you think?
LH: A single platform where resources are available is a big advance. The on-ine nature of the whole experience should add to accessibility for players and probably also reflects the expectations of the modern player.
Q: What impact do you think WSO will have on the standard of refereeing in Ireland?
LH: By increasing the number of qualified referees, especially at WSO Level 2 standards will improve as more players become exposed to the experience. Greater standardisation in decision making should also ensue.
Q: What is the standard of refereeing in Ireland like at the moment?
LH: As is the case in many countries, the enthusiasm of the players doesn’t always channel into officiating and our short term aim is to double the number of Level 1 referees and to get a more modest level of Level 2s.
Q: As a National Federation, is it encouraging to see the PSA & WSF work together on a project such as this?
LH: As squash is such a relatively small community any cooperation between organisations within the sport is to be encouraged. This is an example of perfect partnership in that it’s win-win.
Learn more about WSO by visiting the platform’s website.
Irish Squash Utilising WSO Platform to Increase Standard of Refereeing
On court squash activity permissible from June 7th:
- Solo Training
- 2 Household members may train together on court
Coaching by Irish Squash approved coaches only:
Coach to wear mask & maintain social distancing at all times, within club premises
All players:
One to one coaching allowed
Juniors (Under 18):
2 players allowed per court for coaching, no mixing with juniors on another court during the same coaching session
- Courts should remain vacant for 15 minutes inbetween bookings
- Keep windows & doors open where possible to promote good ventilation
- Players & coach should arrive in squash gear ready to go on court as changing rooms & showers will remain closed
- Observe standard precautions for reducing COVID risk at all times (hand hygiene, social distancing, no sharing of equipment, clean down court touch points when finished training, vacate club after training in order to avoid congregating in the indoor setting)
Each individual should take responsibility for their own health & safety in observing the COVID guidelines.
Address any queries or concerns to your club’s COVID officer.
Enjoy your return to court action!
Rosie Barry
President Irish Squash
With solo squash back from June 7th Derek Ryan is going to do Online Masters Solo Squash &
Movement classes on the following dates.
Thursday 10th June @ 7pm
Thursday 17th June @ 7pm
These sessions ideally will be done by Derek & the players on the squash court , they will focus on utilising players time by giving them a structure of solo practice routines & ghosting drills & injury prevention strategies.
There will be an opportunity for a Q&A during and at the end of the session.
Register NOW by sending an e mail to [email protected]
This is a reminder to please encourage all our athletes, athlete support staff and all other interested squash personnel to sign up for the very important Anti-Doping Educational Webinars run by ITA; the first is on Wednesday
26th May, so please register on this link.
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0DNnufKqRq2DB1ADGn9l7g
This forms a very important part of the WSF Anti-Doping Education Plan and we can’t stress the importance of making sure all members of our squash community are aware of Anti-Doping processes and procedures.
- ITA are pleased to offer program completion certificates to all athletes and athlete support personnel who attend all five webinars (the further two to be advised later). Attendance will be tracked – we encourage you to remind everyone to use the same email address each time they register for a webinar.
- ITA will be surveying webinar participants in accordance with the International Standard for Education. More specifically, they will be monitoring (ISE: Collecting data regularly and over time to see progress towards our program objectives) and evaluating learning (ISE: Determining whether our participants have learned something as well as gathering feedback to determine the quality of the learning experience or interaction).
- At the end of the webinar series, WSF will receive registration and attendance figures, as well as a report of the survey results. This data will feed into our Education Plan.
The details of these webinars to circulate are below.
Important Information:
- All webinars will take place from 14h to 15h CET.
- All webinars are stand alone and each has to be registered for individually. Please use the same email address to register for each to ensure attendance is tracked correctly.
