Ten months after introducing a new category of Closed Satellite tournaments, the Professional Squash Association reports “overwhelming response” to the plan to help younger players earn ranking points on home soil.
The Closed Satellite tournaments give ranking points to a series of national events run by approved promoters. The idea is to give aspiring professionals the chance to earn a place in the PSA rankings without the huge financial and personal commitment to world travel.
“Eighteen nations have staged events, with the main take up being in Hungary (11), the Netherlands (10), Germany (8), New Zealand (7) and the UK (7),” said PSA Marketing Consultant Ted Wallbutton. “115 players have earned ranking points and the number of PSA members has risen by 25 percent in six months.”
A PSA survey of National Federations and other promoters shows that the events have given a unique new opportunity to acquire sponsorship and showcase up-and-coming national talent. The Netherlands Squash Bond has joined forces with Belgium and Luxembourg to create 16 events in the 2007/2008 season, under the Saxon and Dunlop banners, while the British Squash Professionals Association has run all its HEAD Grand Prix events as Closed Satellites. Similar initiatives have been mounted in India, New Zealand and other countries whose players usually have to undertake exhaustive and expensive travel to gain a foothold in the rankings.
PSA Chief Executive Gawain Briars commented: “Although our main focus has always been the top end of the professional game, we also have a responsibility to encourage new players to make squash their career. This new program has achieved everything we hoped for and the feedback from our promoter partners has been almost universally positive.”
