Some of the top female players in the world, who are in Brooklyn for this week’s Carol Weymuller Open, took time out to visit the first Public Squash court located in New York City.
Public Squash is a non-profit organisation that helps coordinate the installation of outdoor squash courts to improve access and visibility of the sport. In partnership with the NYC Parks, the first outdoor squash court opened on April 17th,2018 at Hamilton Fish Park, located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
The cost of the court is $250,000 and the goal by Public Squash is to have 20 courts by 2020. Public Squash will open two more courts in Chelsea in the coming months, as well as one in Brooklyn and one in Toronto in the near future.
The PSA players, including United States’ former World No.6 Amanda Sobhy, English duo Sarah-Jane Perry and Alison Waters and Wales’ World No.12 Tesni Evans, came to test it out and see how it feels to play on the court which has a custom-built outdoor floor containing a drainage system.
The court is made from higher performance safety glass, manufactured by ASB Squash Courts, who developed a new type of glass surface, especially for the public squash court. The outdoor court also features a new durable and sprung outdoor floor.This 100% outdoor proof flooring combines grip and elasticity with built in sub-floor drainage system.
All of the players were excited to see the urban setting of the court – which has revolutionised the game of squash in the city by allowing free access to everyone- and the possibilities to bring it back to their own countries.
You can find out more by visiting the Public Squash website here: https://www.publicsquash.org/
