Squash Yukon welcomes pro to help boost the sport

Squash Yukon has enlisted a ringer to revitalize the sport, from the grassroots level to the competitive.

Squash Yukon has enlisted a ringer to revitalize the sport, from the grassroots level to the competitive.

The association announced yesterday it has hired Eng Khoon Chua as the Yukon’s next squash professional to coach at the courts in the Better Bodies Crosstraining Centre. 

“We feel it’s paramount to have a coach/pro to make squash a viable activity here at Better Bodies,” Squash Yukon president Jim Gilpin said.

Khoon, who moved to British Columbia from Singapore in 2000, is a level two nationally certified coach, and will focus on working with the junior development squad, targeting the upcoming 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax, NS. He will also organize and run squash leagues, tournaments, rural development clinics, a comprehensive lesson program for youth and adults alike and promote the sport throughout the territory.

Promoting squash in the Yukon, a place he said he never imagined finding himself, comes with challenges.

But he’s up for it.

“My love for squash is there; and I happened to see the advertisement on the Squash BC website, and I was thinking, why not do something I like and, at the same time, help to promote squash, and probably bring more people out to play squash in the Yukon, and hopefully bring competitive squash to a high level here,” Khoon said.

Gilpin said his credentials are there too.

Khoon has been coaching in the Abbotsford/Fraser Valley area in B.C. since moving to Canada.

Beyond being an NCCP coach, some of his certifications and accomplishments include an International Certificate in Sports Management from the United States Sports Academy, ranking in the top 20 in Singapore and 16th in Squash B.C. in 2006-07 at 45-years old, placing third in the Singapore National Closed in 1993, coaching the Fraser Valley and B.C. 2008 Winter Games team and holding a Sports B.C. certificate for Respect in Sports.

That’s quite a resume.

“We have great hope and expectation that Khoon, being new here, will bring in fresh and new ideas,” Gilpin said.

“Also, I think he’s quite enthusiastic and I believe that if we, the Squash Yukon executive, can get out there and help him with our contacts, and the existing players, we’re really hoping that everybody jumps on the bandwagon, supports him fully, and that we bring squash up to a higher level.”

Although the sport may never grow to hockey proportions, Khoon noted that Canada is one of the top countries in squash.

Even still, a lot of Canadians don’t know the rules.

“Lots of people I’ve spoken to, they haven’t really tried squash, some of them don’t even know what squash is,” Khoon said.

“I think it’s a good time for people to start to know what it is and come to play. It’s a great sport, good for exercise, and a very interesting game.”

He agreed that, while squash is bigger in BC, the sport is generally under-covered by the media.

“Many people in B.C. and the Yukon are not fully aware of what squash is and how enjoyable it is,” he said. “If you know squash and can play you can bring out the beauty in the game.”

Khoon’s appointment comes on the heels of former coach Marie Desmarais’ retirement last winter.

Gilpin noted that Desmarais did a fantastic job raising interest in the sport over the past 20 years.

He added that there is always more to do to promote the sport.

“I think on a per capita basis it is pretty big, and certainly as far as a women and girls participation on a national level we are off the charts. Almost 50 per cent of our players are female, which is quite extraordinary, and again I attribute that to Marie’s efforts,” Gilpin said.

“But I think there’s certainly room for more participation. Squash, nationally, is always challenged with establishing itself at a higher profile; it doesn’t get the TV coverage that other sports might, it’s a struggle all the time. But we are very well endowed here; for a community this size, to have three fine squash courts is quite exceptional.”

Khoon’s assessment that there is potential in the Yukon to bring competitive squash to the next level is right on the money, Gilpin said.

“We’re fortunate, we’ve had a strong base over the years, but what does happen, not only here but across the country, is there’s a trend that squash players are getting older and we need to recruit young people, the 20-somethings, to come in and take over as the aged folks such as ourselves finally wear out.”