Squash has spent decades trying to get into the Olympics. Now it must prove it deserves to stay there.
With 28 months until the sport’s debut at the LA28 Olympic Games, Rally28 has launched as an ambitious attempt to do something squash has historically struggled with: unite itself.
Led by the World Squash, the Professional Squash Association and the Squash United Foundation, Rally28 is not simply a campaign. It is a proposition.
The premise is deceptively simple: that the Olympic spotlight must be converted into something tangible — more players, more courts, more opportunity — particularly at grassroots level.
Because without that, Olympic inclusion risks becoming little more than a fleeting moment of visibility.
Rally28 aims to avoid that fate.
Through monthly “Rally28 Days” and coordinated global activity, the campaign will seek to mobilise federations, clubs, players and fans — not just to celebrate the sport, but to invest in it. Funds raised will be directed towards grassroots programmes, particularly in communities where access to squash remains limited.
In theory, it is exactly what the sport needs.
Squash is not short of elite excellence. It is not short of compelling athletes or high-quality competition. What it has often lacked is scale — the ability to translate its strengths at the top into participation at the base.
That is the gap Rally28 is trying to bridge.
“This is a chance to create a lasting legacy,” said World Squash President Zena Wooldridge. “By working together, we can expand opportunities for more young people to discover the sport.”
The emphasis here is important.
For all the focus on LA28, the real contest is not on the Olympic court, but off it — in schools, clubs and communities around the world. That is where sports grow. That is where futures are shaped.
Adriana Olaya, Head of the Squash United Foundation, was explicit in that aim.
“The funds raised will directly support grassroots projects… creating access to courts, coaching, equipment and safe spaces for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.”
It is a compelling vision.
But it is also a demanding one.
Because Rally28 asks something of the entire squash ecosystem. Not just governing bodies, but players. Not just federations, but clubs. Not just administrators, but individuals.
It asks the sport to act collectively.
And that, historically, has been squash’s greatest challenge.
The sport is fragmented by nature — geographically, structurally, culturally. Aligning those different parts behind a single movement is no small task.
But perhaps the timing has never been better.
The Olympics provides something squash has never truly had before: a shared moment, a fixed point on the horizon that everyone can see.
The question is whether that moment can become a movement.
PSA Chief Executive Alex Gough framed it in stark terms. “The true success of our Olympic inclusion will be measured by the impact we leave behind.”
That is the crux of it.
Not medals. Not broadcast numbers. Not even visibility.
Impact.
Rally28, at its core, is an attempt to turn a moment into a system — to ensure that the attention generated by LA28 is not wasted, but reinvested into the sport’s future.
For players, the logic is clear.
Every professional career is built on a pathway that begins somewhere: a local club, a school court, a coach who opens the door. Strengthening that foundation is not abstract. It is essential.
Which is why, in theory at least, Rally28 should be something every player in the sport can get behind.
The challenge lies in turning that shared interest into shared action.
Because ambition alone will not unite squash. Only participation will.
LA28 is the catalyst. Rally28 is the test.
