Squash & Racketball
Local contact
Mark Shipley
Regional Manager North East
England Squash & Racketball North East Area Office
Chapel Allerton Tennis & Squash Club
Wensley Avenue off Stainbeck Lane
Leeds
LS7 3QX
Tel: 07714 226 218
Email:
mark.shipley@englandsquashandracketball.com
Carol Cherry
Administrator
Tel: 0113 2666 077
Email: carol.cherry@englandsquashandracketball.com
National contact
Website: www.englandsquashandracketball.com
Find a club
To find a squash/racketball club near you, use the North East Club Finder
Find a course
To find squash/racketball courses in the region, please seach on North East Course Finder
Whole Sport Plan
Sport England funds national governing bodies to deliver their three outcomes - grow, sustain and excel and provides additional support to help them achieve this. Each sport has developed a Whole Sport Plan that explains how it plans to achieve these targets. This summary also helps partners identify possible opportunities to work together.
Click here to view the Squash & Racketball Whole Sport Plan
Sport factsheets
In June 2008, Sport England published sport factsheets which highlight detailed results from Active People Survey 4 for each of Sport England's NGB 09-13 funded sports and include demographic breakdowns, regional breakdowns and frequency of participation data, providing insight into the profile of sports participants.
Click here to see the Squash & Racketball Sport Factsheet 2009-2010
General information
If you are looking for a great way to get fit, meet new people, and have fun, squash and racketball could be the sports for you. To get started all you need is a ball, a racket, and a wall (preferably four of them though!).
Squash is played by more than 500,000 people in England, from the elite players like World No.5 Nick Matthew all the way down to the thousands who take part in local leagues and events. If you are looking to improve your fitness, squash provides an intense cardiovascular and muscular workout - perfect for burning calories.
With a match lasting around 40 minutes, there is plenty of time to take on your friends or colleagues during your lunch break and get back to work or University with bragging rights intact.
Racketball is very similar to squash, but is played with a slightly larger racket and a bigger, bouncier ball, making it easy to get a rally going. This ensures a good workout for both players, so if you have never picked up a racket before, or the old wooden racket is gathering dust, grab a friend and get on court.
Although both sports use different equipment, most clubs and centres have rackets and balls available to hire cheaply, so you just need to bring some sports clothes and trainers (do check with the club or centre about non-marking soles though).
The rules for both sports are almost identical, and to put them simply, you hit a ball against a wall! It's as easy as that.
So, we've covered why you should play, touched upon how you play and what kit you need, all you need now is somewhere to play.
There are 5,000 courts in England in clubs, leisure centres, universities and colleges so you will be able to find plenty of great facilities in your local area. Most leisure centres allow you to pay and play without signing up for a membership, and courts tend to cost around £5 per hour. Many regular players go on to join a club, which can provide access to competition, coaching, and a thriving social network. Find out more about types of club at the Where to Play page on the England Squash & Racketball website or use the County Durham Sport Club Finder to find your nearest club.