Squash squeezed out, again
Queenstown Squash Club's Dave Gardiner, left, and Hamish Foster are urging council to include squash courts in its new Events Centre stadium. PHOTO: PHILIP CHANDLER
Squash New Zealand and Squash Otago are backing Queenstown Squash Club's plea for council to incorporate courts in its $46million plans to up-size the Events Centre.
The club has two worn and ageing courts by the Recreation Ground — "two of the worst in New Zealand", stalwart member Dave Gardiner says — and inadequate changing rooms, and can't modernise them while the land's earmarked for stage two of the arterial bypass.
After council in April green-lit a concept design tender process for a new stadium, sport and rec manager Simon Battrick told Mountain Scene squash is "not in our core scope", though is a possible add-on.
In response, Squash Otago chair Benjamin Hutchison says the current facility's "no longer fit for purpose".
"It cannot grow, cannot host events, and cannot serve its membership properly.
"Without a new home, the sport's future in Queenstown is in jeopardy — and once lost, it will not come back.
"If Queenstown does not act now, it will simply be left behind [by Cromwell, Wanaka and Alexandra's expanding facilities].
"Integrating squash into the Events Centre offers a high return with a small footprint.
"There is a national case, too — Queenstown could be the next iconic host of the NZ Squash Open.
"Imagine a glass court under lights, the Remarkables as a backdrop, and Queenstown on screens around the world."
Reiterating Squash Otago, Squash NZ also references the sport's rapid growth worldwide — it debuts at the next Olympics — and highlights its health and mental wellbeing benefits for all, affordability and accessibility, and year-round opportunities, especially during Queenstown's winters.
Gardiner comments: "It just seems like successive councillors have had squash in the long-term plan, and then it seems to always get dropped."
He recalls when playing inter-club, "teams didn't even want to come here because the courts are just so cold and not up to scratch".
Hamish Foster, who, like Gardiner, is on the club subcommittee pushing for better courts, says "the visibility of squash in its current location is pretty small compared to if it was at the Events Centre, and it would be centre stage for other users [of the stadium]".
"You would grow the game massively by exposing it to so many people, including many who used to be squash players."
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