“Our favourite thing about running events like these is seeing how much enjoyment all the girls have when they come together and participate.”
Girls In Motion are a squash charity that provide inspirational squash sessions to girls aged 5-19 from across the UK; with the aim of engaging them with the sport and reducing barriers to participation for female players.
We spoke with Sally Archibald and Tom Eccles, Chair and Trustee of the charity, during their recent session at the National Squash Centre.
“We are a charity that promotes the participation of women and girls in squash. It came about because we’ve both got girls who play the sport, and they’re often siloed in clubs spread across the country.
We want to express there’s a bigger community out there that they can feel a part of and help them stay within squash. Too often, girls end up leaving the sport as they get a bit older.
We came together and realised there was an opportunity to create dedicated events for girls, in squash, to encourage participation.
Our four main pillars of what we do; our events, coaching and leadership, general participation work and female competitive squash.
Our favourite thing about running events like these is seeing how much enjoyment all the girls have when they come together and participate. They are exciting and bring a wide range of ages and abilities together, in a fun-filled day, allowing everyone to meet new people from new clubs and form friendships through playing squash.
They get to come to a place like the National Squash Centre, play on these glass courts, and get the opportunity to play with professional squash players as well.
t’s really important for young girls to be in and around a more comfortable environment, such as playing with and against girls their own age and being coached by female coaches. It’s crucial for them to feel like they belong in the environment and enjoy participating.”
At this session, former World Number 31, Julianne Courtice, made an appearance and helped coach the girls who were involved, as well as playing games on the glass courts with them.
“I was playing on the tour for many years, and I have been retired for a couple of years now.
I’m actually local to the National Squash Centre and I was given the opportunity to come down and play with all these wonderful girls that have travelled all over England and Wales to be here.”
It’s fantastic to give back to the sport. I think any pro would say that the sport has given them so much. To be able to impart any bit of knowledge or to be able to inspire any girls to play squash is just fantastic.”
Girls In Motion sessions aim to introduce and engage girls with the sport, as sometimes traditional squash environments aren’t as inclusive as they could be.
“A young girl coming into a squash club for the first time, it’s generally quite a male-dominated environment, maybe towards an older age too and the level of ability is very different between men and young girls.
It can be quite intimidating, so what we are doing with this event is creating a welcoming, friendly event that’s open to any ability and age.
For female coaches, or girls who are just starting out in their coaching journey, including those who may be thinking about doing qualifications, it provides them with the opportunity to be able to coach within a structured environment.
I just think it’s important to introduce more girls into the sport in general from a young age. It would have been huge to have this when I was growing up. There would have been so many more people that I could relate to that played with”
“So after coming to the Girls in Motion event, we really hope that the girls feel part of the community.
We’ve got lots of ideas in the pipeline for Girls in Motion and hopefully, we’ll get more girls involved who are located further away from where we are based.
We’d love to talk to other clubs about them hosting girl’s events in their region to open this out on a national basis.”
