Co-founded in January this year by Netherlands women's national coach Chanel Erasmus and Dutch pro Megan van Drongelen, Era Squash organises fun, friendly, female-only clinics at squash clubs all over Holland which have proved to be an instant hit.
The gender split in squash participation has been heavily skewed towards men ever since the sport was first invented. Era Squash's aim is to "bring back the balance" by building a strong community of female players and removing all barriers to them engaging in the sport.
Era Squash's clinics, open to any age and playing standard, have so far taken place at eight different venues around the Netherlands and have engaged over 60 players, some of whom had never played squash before. There are over 100 women on the Era Squash WhatsApp group.
South-Africa born former pro Erasmus and 26-year-old van Drongelen, who has represented the Netherlands at four European Team Championships, recognise the importance of changing women's perception of squash. That's why they place a lot of emphasis on social media marketing.
"We're joining the movement to make sports seem more aesthetic and appealing to women and girls," said Erasmus. "Our sessions make them feel beautiful and empowered on court. Women really love that feeling."
Era Squash include small but significant tweaks to their sessions to tailor them to a female audience. One example is taking a group photo before the sessions begins, rather than afterwards, when there's the risk of the odd unsightly sweat patch and smeared make-up.
Eramus explains: "That is such a small detail but our women absolutely love it. They're like, 'Yes, of course!' It's something so small that makes them feel so much better about themselves.
"We need to present the sport aesthetically in this day of social media. Our message is simple, 'Grab your best friend and play squash because it's fun.'"
The co-founders are also trying to subvert the assumption that you need to be super-fit to play squash. "You can be 70 years old and try squash for the first time and it doesn't have to be hard on your body if you learn to move and hit correctly," explained Van Drongelen.
"That misconception doesn't help our sport's image at all. Let's change that narrative a bit. That changes women's mindsets and puts up barriers straight away."
Other small modifications to a typical mixed-gender squash programme that participants enjoy at Era Squash include:
- Diluting the competitive element
"At the start of each clinic, we do a group warm-up, throwing tennis balls or doing something silly to break the ice and have some fun," explains Erasmus.
"We play a drop shot game where if you hit above the line or in the tin you lose a racket and have to share each other's racket. It's not a competition against each other, it's working as a team. We find women thrive in that way, rather than being pitted against each other."
- Leave space for socialising
"Women like to talk!" says van Drongelen. "Our clinics aren't just about playing squash. We have goals about what we'd like to teach them, but we also give them room to socialise and get to know each other."
- Women love the technical detail
"Women love the technical elements," Erasmus says. "They want to know how to hold the racket and hit the ball properly, whereas men tend to just want to play matches! We always make sure that whatever theme we choose, we add a technical element, so we're on court a lot guiding them through that."
- Create a community
In creating Era Squash, Chanel and Megan identified key stages in women's lives in which they may be discouraged from taking part in sport, such as graduating from high school, starting work and after having children.
"During these periods in life, women need to find a 'club' or community where events are catered for them and they know something is in place when they show up," explained Megan.
"Men are much more likely to just walk through the door and have a hit, whereas women want a bit more of a structured system they can feel comfortable stepping into.
"Weekends also tend to be difficult for working women and mums, so our clinics are always on weekday evenings. Removing all kinds of barriers is really important."
Era Squash works with its host clubs to tap into their existing communities of female players, encouraging existing members to bring along their non-squash-playing friends. That can lead to a mix of abilities in any one session.
"Sometimes we split them into groups, but if not we are experienced enough as coaches to run group sessions with extreme level differences on the same court," says Megan. "We sometimes look at each other and think, "This is going to be chaos!' But we stay calm and if sh*t happens, it happens! We are very capable of adapting on the spot."
Outcomes
After only 10 months, Chanel and Megan are observing all sorts of positive outcomes that reassure them they are already making an impact.
Most gratifying is seeing women who discovered squash through their sessions who are now training and playing regularly, returning to Era Squash clinics multiple times (some even travelling to different cities) and even turning up to watch Megan play Eredivisie matches!
"What this shows us is that, although women don't mind playing with men, when they have the opportunity to join with women, they 100% prefer that and enjoy the social aspect," says Megan.
"Megan and I are very big dreamers," says Chanel. "One of our goals is to create a blueprint for clubs to create a more female-friendly environment by imitating what we're doing.
"Our big goal is to continue growing the sport, make squash more accessible for women, boost female health and enable them to find communities. We're starting in the Netherlands, but we want to spread it across Europe and the world."
ERA SQUASH
If you are interested in partnering with us for future events, would like to join one of our clinics, or would be interested in speaking more about how we can help female squash grow at your club please email us at chanel.erasmus@outlook.com
Let's grow this community together!
