Vivid shoots are beginning to emerge from the seeds planted when squash earned its long-cherished Olympic status.
Since the IOC's shock announcement in October 2023 that squash was to be added to the Olympic programme at LA28, the impact has been spectacular in, for instance, China.
Squash's march through the Olympic gates has prompted huge Chinese state funding for the development of its players, including the appointment of overseas coaches, a national tournament structure and the opening of an enormous 22-court national training centre in Chengdu.
In other territories, the impact has happened on a smaller scale, but has, in some cases, been profoundly personal . Take Austria, for example.
"It's changed my life, without a doubt," says seven-time Austrian national champion Jacqueline Peychar.
In Austria, squash's inclusion in the Olympics meant that the sport was added to the Austrian Armed Forces' elite sports promotion programme.
The programme supports 450 athletes competing at a national level in their sports with a regular salary, social security, health insurance, and access to physical training and rehab facilities at 11 Army Performance Sports Centres across the country.
Six months of military service is mandatory for every able-bodied Austrian male citizen. But for elite athletes accepted on to the sports promotion programme, the basic training last only five weeks, they are then released to train for the remaining five months, and their athletic careers are thereafter supported whilst on a contract.
The announcement of squash'a addition to the LA28 programme was in October 2023 — just six months later, Peychar was recruited on the military sports programme on a four-year contract. A momentous shift.
She says: "Everyone was really excited in the family when I got the notice because my brother Isagani was a national champion long jumper who was also in military service for six years. He was my idol.
"I was always really sad that there was never a spot for squash, so when it happened it was really big news."
In an Instagram post at the time, she said: "I still can't believe this once in a lifetime opportunity has opened up for me and I can barely put into words how grateful I am... I can fully focus on what I love doing the most and give it all that I've got."
The award of the military service contract came at a critical moment for Peychar.
She had just reached a career-high PSA world ranking of 86, but was combining training and competition with part-time work as a physiotherapist and was starting to feel "burnt out."
"I'm pretty sure if I wasn't in the military programme I would have stopped playing professionally," she admits.
"At that point [of joining the programme], I was going to give it one more season in the hope of going up the rankings, and if it didn't happen I probably would have stopped. The workload got too much and the level [on the PSA Tour] just kept increasing."
But the Olympic announcement, and subsequent acceptance on to the military sports programme, changed her course — and it was to prove absolutely vital once again in September last year.
Playing against Satomi Watanabe at the European Club Championships, Peychar was only three points away from a straight-games defeat when she fell, ruptured her ACL and tore both menisci.
A year later, the 30-year-old has still not played another competitive squash match and has only just returned to training. She is targeting a comeback to the PSA Tour in November.
Luckily, over the last dispiriting year, she has benefited from the safety net of her military salary and health insurance. "Yes, the army has changed everything... twice!" she says.
"Without the Army programme, there's no way I could have carried on. But because I stayed in the military, I could focus on rehab and had no financial worries. I was insured for all the surgery and health costs, it was all covered. There was no pressure to come back by any deadline. It's been amazing.
"It was a deal-breaker to be in the programme. I don't think I'd still be playing professional if it wasn't for that."
The same also applies to her Austrian team-mate Daniel Lutz, who is currently in the initial six-month period of his military service and hopes to earn a permanent contract in December.
The 20-year-old has suffered with shin splints throughout his fledgling career and tore his quad at the European Individual Championships in Budapest in August. He too has benefited from a full military salary, health insurance and rehab services and is set to return to the Tour imminently.
For Peychar, she can also look ahead to a return to the court and, who knows, fighting her way into contention for a place at LA28.
"It [the Olympics] swims around everything I do," she says. "My overall goal would be to play at a ranking level that could allow me to qualify.
"It's not unachievable. The motivation is still there and I'm not too old yet.
"The year off gave me a lot of perspective and the chance to work on things I wouldn't have time to work on before. I'll hopefully get back to a similar physical level which will point me in the right direction to achieve that goal."
