LGBT+ Pride Month is dedicated to the celebration and commemoration of LGBT+ pride.
As part of this month, we are celebrating Pride In Squash and highlighting a variety of LGBT+ voices in our sport.
In this piece we speak to Leeds Racquets Club organisers Daniel Maher and Sam Hardy
They are a multi racket sport club that provides a non-competitive, inclusive space for LGBT+ people, with the club also welcomes to allies of the community.
“So we first formed in May 2019. It was only a very small group of us. we played, every single Wednesday, for a couple of years and unfortunately had to stop for Covid.”
“But then, with, some we, reestablished the club back in, December of 2022, and it’s been going strong ever since.”
“The club’s roots originate back to a group of friends who would meet to play squash every Wednesday night at Kirkstall Leisure Center, and it was a small group that more and more people were choosing to get involved with.”
“Fast forward five years with founding of Leeds Rackets Club, which sought to, I suppose, unify a variety of these small scale, just for fun sporting groups that were scattered across the city.”
“We find ourselves today maintaining that same friendly atmosphere that aims to champion inclusivity and togetherness and fun. with our Wednesday night squash sessions remaining our flagship, most popular event.
“I think it’s really important to have a space like this where people can feel comfortable. it’s a good place to make new friends and, it’s a great place, to be able to, socialize.”
“It’s a safe, space for anyone in the LGBT community to come in to keep fit and it’s really good exercise.”
“We understand the disproportionate disadvantage that many people who identify as or resonate with the LGBT lived experience have when it comes to feeling truly immersed in sport, and indeed, in society more broadly.”
“We founded Leeds Racquets Club to facilitate spaces, which enables our members to live happy, healthy lifestyles whilst also allowing them to celebrate their authentic selves.”
“Our spaces are positive spaces. They’re noncompetitive spaces, we feel grassroots organizations such as ours, fundamental in contributing to inclusion and the promotion of acceptance.”
“We do two 45-minute sessions back-to-back on a Wednesday evening. so it’s an hour and a half, where we get more people than there are courts. So there was always space to have a little bit of a natter in between. and in between games.
“We also do quite a lot of social events, things like karaoke and darts and, in the summer we like to play tennis, and do other sports as well.
“What we’d love to be able to do is really get the numbers up and get more people, as part of it. So at the moment I think we’ve got, nearly 200 members, on our Meet-Up and we’d love to be able to see a lot more of the people who’ve joined our club.”
