County Squash and Racketball Associations Network (CAN)
www.countysquashassociations.co.uk
HITTING THE NICK STRIKES A CHORD !
Responses to date to the document ‘Hitting the Nick’ from County Associations show
overwhelming agreement for its summary of the current situation of England Squash
and the document’s proposal for the way forward. 33 people from 26 of the 38
County Associations indicated their support for the document, and a further person
was undecided. There have been no expressions of disagreement with the
document, although 11 County Associations have yet to express their views
The document is also supported by the England Squash Masters Committee, the
Veterans Squash Club of Great Britain, and the Referees Advisory Group
Comments accompanying the indications of support for the document all have the
same broad theme – that England Squash is an increasingly weak and ineffective
body continuing to plough its own furrow while paying lip service to the concept of
working in partnership with the grass roots of the game
Areas of concern include the following –
1. ES failure to explain the reasons for its communication problems – responding
to messages, giving feedback or even answering the phone. For instance, in
mid March, I was asked by Keir Worth to consult the County Associations for
their views on the Squash Player magazine, and that he would like the
feedback within two or three weeks. Following a delay while the designated
member of staff gave me his comments on the questions to be asked, I
circulated the County Associations Network (CAN) on 24 March, followed up
with a reminder, collated the results and sent them to Keir and his member of
staff on 3 April. To date, I have not had an acknowledgement. The point being
that surely there should be a statement on the home page of the ES web site
and in newsletters with an update on ES current situation in terms of funding
and staffing cuts and the impact on the level of service, rather than trying to
give the impression that it is business as usual
2. At the last Council meeting on 30 November 2016, it was agreed that minutes
of Board meetings would be made available to Council members. Apparently
there has only been one meeting of the Board since then, on 10 February
2017. The Minutes have now appeared on the ES website, but without our
attention being drawn to them. To access them, one is required to go to About
Us – Governance – Policies and Reports – Board Meeting Minutes. We have
had no information on the Board’s response to Sport England’s request,
coupled with its interim funding allocation, for ES to develop a core market
and high performance submission for 2017-21
3. ES lack of expertise in key areas of its operation, for example in the planning
of consultation events, including Council meetings, and in IT. Consultation has
been flawed by the use of external consultants with no knowledge of the
squash world, a ‘scatter gun’ approach to consultation rather than seeking
and prioritising the responses of those most relevant to the topic, and poor
planning and organisation of consultation events. An example of the failure to
County Squash and Racketball Associations Network (CAN)
www.countysquashassociations.co.uk
understand IT is in the decision to remove ranking points for junior events
rather than setting up an online system for feeding in results, coupled with the
lack of consultation about systems (League Master, Club Locker etc.) which
enable results from all forms of competition to automatically inform and
update ranking lists, which themselves need to be assessed and selected as
being the most appropriate. The point being that the expertise in these and
other areas exists within the squash world (and is often free !) but is not being
called upon by ES, despite a commitment to do so at the joint ES/CAN
meeting held on 31 March 2017
4. The apparent emphasis on cost cutting rather than seeking other ways of
retaining levels of activity, for instance the proposed reduction in the use of
Referees rather than discussing the problem with representatives of the
Referees themselves, with the aim of looking at alternative strategies. The
point being that we are in the business of promoting squash, and good
refereeing and understanding how the rules of the game are implemented, is
a fundamental part of the playing of the game. The further point being that we
need to focus on how we can continue to promote the game in the context of
reduced government funding for our National Governing Body rather than
simply cut back on levels of activity
5. An effective Affiliation and Membership system is crucial in terms of funding
not only for ES but also for the CAs, and in terms of showing support for both
from the clubs and players. It has been a high priority for years, but we still
await the promised consultation with the County Associations about a system
which we can all commit to marketing
6. Organisation and future planning of the Inter-County Championships. It was
unfortunate that an experimental change in the structure of the ICC coincided
with staff redundancies, but time is getting short in terms of plans for next
season, and the CAs have yet to be consulted
7. Ordering of kit for This Girl Can participants from one supplier while failing to
give other suppliers the opportunity to bid for the contract, including one who
would have offered a much better deal, including general support for the
campaign. The point being that there are commercial suppliers who also have
a commitment to support the game of squash, and therefore offer added value
8. We have yet to see any statistical evidence of the impact of the Participation
strategy pursued by ES, including figures for the take up and retention rates of
programmes such as Squash 101
9. There has been no response from the Chair or the CEO to ‘Hitting the Nick’
and how it is to be considered, including any comeback to my offer to attend
the next Board meeting to speak to it. In addition, a request from a
representative of the England Squash Masters Committee for a joint meeting
with the CEO to include discussion on ‘Hitting the Nick’ and involving
representatives of CAN, has had the response that such a meeting would not
be possible until after the next Board and Council meetings, despite the point
being made that such a meeting would usefully inform both those meetings
10. In general, England Squash continues to operate rather like an Island
principality, divorced from the mainland of squash activity. There is little
confidence in the ability of the current CEO to turn the organisation round in
County Squash and Racketball Associations Network (CAN)
www.countysquashassociations.co.uk
any meaningful way to become the ‘enabling’ organisation proposed in his
strategy paper, but which is essential if the game is to survive and thrive
The Way Forward
In essence, the initiative needs to shift to the volunteers involved with the
County Associations and England Squash Masters, who are also the ones in
touch with the venues with courts, players, parents and coaches, to draw on
their expertise, experience and commitment. The topics needing to be
addressed are those listed in ‘Hitting the Nick’, including some of those above.
The County Support Contacts, augmented by others, should become the
contact point for each topic, and lead discussions on the way forward for
each one, maybe as a prelude to a major conference with workshops to
agree the way forward and submit it to Council. At the same time, the
County Associations need to agree a common baseline of promotional and
competitive activities within each county, with the Regional Forums seeking
to assist those CAs who do not currently reach that baseline. This could be
done by the National Forum, and I would be happy to service that activity.
Meanwhile ES should defer any further changes or proposals which
may not be in accord with this change in direction, and concentrate on doing
what it does now as effectively as possible. It may also be appropriate to seek
a joint meeting with representatives of Sport England to keep them updated
and seek their support for this course of action
.
I appreciate that the above is written before we receive the final agenda or
papers for the Council meeting, and needs to be read in that context
Mike Clemson
17 May 2017
Quotes from one of the volunteers who, in addition to putting time in to
promoting squash at a local or county level, has supported me in my efforts to
bring about change –
“If I multiply the hours I spend on this by the hourly rate I receive for my day
job, I just laugh – and my wife cries!”
“Volunteers are the bedrock of squash, but we need to improve the ratio of
contributor to consumer”
County Squash and Racketball Associations Network (CAN)
www.countysquashassociations.co.uk
APPENDIX
THIS DOCUMENT WAS PRODUCED BY ALAN BATCHELOR (CHESHIRE SRA) IN
RESPONSE TO A REQUEST FOR LOCAL CONCERNS FROM THE ES
DIRECTOR OF PARTICIPATION
The preface to these comments refers to two documents:
1. Sport England: Towards an active nation. Strategy 2016 – 2021
2. A Code for Sports Governance
Key elements are:
 Tackling inactivity
 Investing more in children and young people from the age of five
 encouraging stronger local collaboration to deliver a more joined-up
experience of sport and activity for customers
 ensure that those who have a strong affinity for sport – including the highly
valuable but small-scale talent pool – are treated as valued customers by the
sport system.
 organisations must have a strategy for engaging with their stakeholders.
 Organisations shall be transparent and accountable, engaging effectively with
stakeholders and nurturing internal democracy.
 it is incumbent on each organisation to consider properly who its stakeholders
are, and how it should best engage with them.
 Accessibility and effective communication are important in order to give
stakeholders timely and accurate information
 The Board and its committees shall meet sufficiently regularly to discharge
their duties effectively; and
 maintain a proper record of their meetings and decisions.
With the above in mind I am recording here some concerns from Cheshire SRA

Lack of information from Board meetings. It is only two days ago that by
chance I discovered that minutes of a Board meeting, held in February, are on
the website Have they met only once? And why have they not reported to
County Associations?

Top down decisions from England Squash, with no County Association
involvement.
e.g. ranking points for juniors. ES approach undermines the value of county
and regional competitions. I have reported my concerns, but have been told
that the decision to change will go ahead


refereeing changes with apparent disregard of the Referees Advisory Group. I
was astonished to hear of the latest decision from ES. I have had no
information on the proposed Online course for juniors, nor can I find it on the
website
County Squash and Racketball Associations Network (CAN)
www.countysquashassociations.co.uk

Lack of clarity over the ICC. Following my feedback from Cheshire earlier I
was told that there would be an end of season review. Has this taken place? I
have had no further information.

Lack of funding for grass roots. Since our first tranche of funding from the
regional forum in its first year (15/16), the county has received nothing further
towards its development programme. This, despite putting in a joint plan with
Merseyside, Lancashire and Cumbria. From a county point of view the
Regional Forum has just created more work and is unsustainable if there are
no funds via that channel. The National Forum seems to be a waste of time if,
as rumour has it, it is discussing how to spend £30,000 on an interactive
squash wall.

I understand that from a meeting with Keir Worth, Jim Foggitt and Roger
Kenyon were told that each of the four counties in the NW was to receive
£3000. This now is apparently not the case and we would like to know why.

Lack of funding for county activities. Inter county activity is more expensive
and we, in Cheshire have been asked to host, not including juniors, on no
fewer than 8 occasions. This is financially unsustainable and I have already
made this point to England squash
England Squash is aware that the current rebate system supplies the
governing body with a lot of money from our county clubs, but we get very
little in return. Clubs are legitimately asking the question why they are
subsidizing the governing body. I don’t have an answer.


Membership: There were consultations led by Darren Bernstein, but we have
heard nothing of what has been proposed.
Alan Batchelor
Cheshire SRA
16 May 2017