Saturday 22 July 2023 was our first ever squash tournament and what a fun afternoon it was!
10 years ago, during training, a young man named Harry, collapsed, and tragically never recovered on the squash courts at Nuffield Gym, St Albans. His death was sudden and shocking and at the time, no one could understand why or how such a fit and healthy young man could have a sudden heart attack. The memory of this tragedy still lingers at the club, and many were keen to raise awareness and support for myocarditis and the importance of heart health in young athletes.
Together with Rui Soares, a World ranked 53 (at the time) Professional Squash player and Gary Nisbet from Nuffield Gym, St Albans we hosted our first ever Play a Pro squash tournament. Many players rushed to buy tickets to attend this small but exclusive event for the chance of pitting their squash skills against Rui, Gary, Pedro Pinto and Gina Kennedy who was the star of the event. Gina, the first British Woman to win a Commonwealth Gold Medal for Squash, attended the event and really put her opponents through their paces.
After the event had taken place, spectators and players alike were treated to a quick exhibition match between Gina and Rui before it was time to hand out prizes to winners and to all those who were lucky in the raffle.
We would like to thank HEAD for sponsoring a number of prizes for this event as well as to Gina Kennedy and Just Rackets who also sponsored prizes for this event. To all those who attended this event first of ours, thank you for making it so successful!
