Adult squash participation in England has now returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to latest official figures.
Sport England's annual Active Lives survey, which covers the period from November 2023 to November 2024, shows that 287,000 adults (over-16s) played squash at least twice in the last 28 days at the time they were surveyed.
The figure, which could be classed as representing 'regular' players, is a rise of 37,000 on the previous year and a shade under the 294,000 recorded in 2018/19 — the last set of figures before Covid-19 impacted squash participation so disastrously worldwide.
In its annual Active Lives report, Sport England also records figures across all sports which show the number of people who participated once or more across the year; what could be classed as 'occasional' players. This index shows people who have at least tried squash and thus could potentially be converted into regular players.
Squash's latest figure in this index is 956,200 — not far off the last pre-pandemic figure of 1,056,300 and a big leap from the previous year's 895,700.
The Active Lives survey began in 2015/16, when squash's 'twice in 28 days' figure was 425,600, so English squash has still lost 138,600 regular players compared to nine years ago, despite the more recent recovery.
Speaking to Squash Player, England Squash CEO Mark Williams acknowledged the imperfections and limitations of the annual survey (e.g. it does not include junior participation and only measures two types of playing frequency), but welcomed news of the recent upward trend.
"Although we believe there are some issues with how the data is collected, it is consistent. As a longitudinal piece of work, it provides some really interesting and useful data.
"The main thing the data tells us is that figures are back up to pretty much the same level as pre-pandemic, which is fantastic. The pandemic was a period in which, as a close proximity indoor sport, squash did suffer.
"Whether the increased participants are largely the same people coming back, or a whole bunch of new people, we don't know.
"But given that squash is not the most visible sport, the fact we have so many people playing is testament to how strong the squash community still is."
The crucial question behind the Sport England figures is, what are the reasons behind squash's apparent participation recovery?
England Squash has seen 566 participants take the Level 1 coaching course since November 2022, with 149 completing Level 2 and 31 qualifying at Level 3. There are now over 1000 Coaches' Club members. These are all increases on previous numbers, which could explain the uptick in regular participation.
England Squash is understandably keen to emphasise the impact of its grassroots programmes, such as Squash from the Mosque, Mixed Ability Squash 57, Squash Stars and Ready, Set, Squash, but as the Active Lives survey does not record junior participation, the ripple effects of some of these initiatives may take a while to be reflect in the official figures.
An intriguing theory behind the participation rise — one to which Williams gives some credence — is a cross-court ripple effect from the two soaring arrivistes in the racket sport world, padel and pickleball.
"Although we obviously don't have concrete data, the impact of padel on squash is something I've heard anecdotally from clubs," said Williams. "There are more people coming through the doors and accessing facilities and it's highly probable that there is, or will be, a spillover.
"The idea that there are thousands of new people around the country picking up racket sports skills and enjoying the experience has to be a good thing. If you can hit a padel ball, you can hit a squash ball, but the sports offer slightly different benefits. Where squash really stands out is it gives you a better fitness kick. It gives us a massive opportunity to showcase our sport and hopefully introduce some new people to it.
"Lots of padel courts are outdoors which is lovely in summer but in the winter, clubs could offer incentives to try squash or Squash 57. In a couple of years' time we'll have better data to enable us to understand what's happening and be able to advise clubs on rackets membership options and offers. Being flexible and giving members the chance to try other activities will help keep them on-site throughout the whole year."
