Squash centre takes aim at players numbers boost

FRESH from the appointment of its new manager Allison Gook, the Bendigo Squash Centre is knuckling down to the task of raising the sport’s and its own profile, as well as the centre’s membership base.

Gook, a proud former Bendigo Hopman Country Cup representative and a multiple club championship winner in her playing prime, has been handed the task of reinvigorating the centre, which has stood proudly on its Barnard Street site since 1960.

Her appointment came about a month before the successful launch of the summer pennant season on 1 December.

One of Bendigo’s best kept secrets, the centre is home to seven squash and racquetball courts and a great social club for everyone.

The club currently has a membership of 120 regular and casual players, down from the halcyon days of the 70s, 80s and 90s when Australia laid claim to multiple world champions.

Names like Geoff Hunt, Heather McKay, Vicki Cardwell, Rhonda Thorne, David Palmer, Michelle Martin and Sarah Fitz-Gerald.

While participation numbers across the country have declined considerably from those lofty days and the number of actual squash centres in operation has shrunk considerably, an optimistic Bendigo Squash Centre committee board leader Gary Murphy is hoping to unlock some untapped potential.

 

He sees the appointment of Gook, well known in the Bendigo community through her previous role as manager as the Bendigo Regional Tennis Centre and as a performing musician, as a key to realising the centre’s open and candid goals.

“More membership and some more sponsors and a few innovative ideas we can throw around,” he said.

“Nearly everyone on the board or committee, except for me, works full-time, so it takes a bit of coordinating.

“That’s why we need Allison, to bring it all together. She’s got some innovative ideas to run with.

“It’s going to be a hard road, clubs are struggling – every club. It doesn’t matter if it’s football or cricket.

“So we’ve just got to try and get some people interested and maybe offer a bit more coaching; anything to get people in here and having a go.

 

“The goal is to build the centre up to make it a bit more sustainable.”

Like many sporting clubs and organisations across the state, the Bendigo Squash Centre suffered a heavy blow due to the cancellation of the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

To be delivered across regional Victoria, Bendigo was to host 3×3 basketball, 3×3 wheelchair basketball, bowls, netball, squash, table tennis and track cycling.

For squash, that was meant to have entailed the creation of a pop-up venue in the city.

Murphy and Gook echoed each other’s sentiments in saying it was an opportunity missed for the sport.

“They were going to put a lot of money into courts – not here (at the centre), but somewhere else. It would have been wonderful,” Murphy said.

 

“It didn’t happen, so we have to lick our wounds now.”

 

Added Gook: “It was disappointing the Commonwealth Games didn’t end up happening.

“It would have been a real boost for the sport and potentially, or even likely, opened the sport up to a new audience in Bendigo.

“It would have been amazing.

“We’ll soldier on. We still have seven courts here, have our pennant competition and racquetball and are always looking for new players and new sponsors.

“We just need to get the word out that we are here.

 

“That’s where I come in and it’s what I’ll be working hard at doing.”

 

Murphy said the squash community could take some solace in the sport’s inclusion in the 2028 Olympic Games.

“That will be a great boost for our sport,” he said.

“Back in the 70s and 80s, the sport was just on fire. You couldn’t get a court.

“I originally come from Swan Hill and they had eight courts and, hell, you were lucky to get a spot.

“Over the years, they’ve turned a lot of the courts in the gym, and everyone went to the gym.

“But enjoying a game of squash is the best gym work you can do.

“We just need to educate people to think that way.”

The facts don’t lie. Squash is rated as one of the healthiest sports you can play with high-intensity (HIIT) rallies that require cardiovascular and muscular endurance.

Seasoned players can burn around 1000 calories per hour with extended rallies and constant running between the four corners of the court.

From its humble beginnings, the Bendigo centre has always found strength and inspiration in its people.

 

“It’s fairly unique, it (the centre) was actually built after some players donated some money to get it up and going,” Murphy said.

“I think the block of land was willed, so they borrowed money through a cooperative and they built it, and it’s been here ever since.

“They paid the money back and it is now owned by the members basically through a board of directors who run it.”

After hosting a successful City of Greater Bendigo International, a leg of the PSA Tour, earlier this month, preparations are underway for the centre’s next big tournaments, including the Bendigo Racquetball Championships and the Bendigo Masters.

Those will be followed by the return of the club championships, which were not held this year due to time constraints on organising the event.

“There was a bit going on with committee changes and in the lead-up to Allison coming on board, but it will be great to have them back in 2026,” Murphy said.

“We are rapt to have Allison on board; she comes from the tennis centre, where she implemented a lot of great things.

“She’s fired up and will no doubt implement some great things here and take the centre forward.”