ONCE upon a time, squash clubs could often be found on street corners but nowadays few standalone clubs remain.<\/p>\n
Bendigo Squash Centre is unique in that it still resides in a 1960s era brick building on the corner of Barnard and Acacia streets.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also one of few Squash clubs to be run by a club committee alongside a co-op with a board of directors, which includes lifetime member Ian Kirkby.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I came here in 1990, five years later I was asked to come onto the board and I\u2019ve been here ever since,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The club currently has a core membership of up to 150 but has seen the popularity of the sport wane in recent years.<\/p>\n
\u201cUp until COVID the club wouldn\u2019t close until 12 o\u2019clock at night,\u201d Mr Kirby said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019d play and then we\u2019d come out and have refreshments and that social side of it was quite strong but now it\u2019s 10 o\u2019clock and we\u2019re shut.\u201d<\/p>\n
Centre manager Steve Roach is one of the newer arrivals to Bendigo Squash Centre and said leadership was hoping to reignite the social appeal of the club.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe often talk about it, if you go to a gym you feel like you\u2019re having a workout, whereas with squash you\u2019re probably having an even better workout but you\u2019re having the fun of a game,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
With two courts a night available for social games, ladies\u2019 nights, and the junior juggernauts program aimed at upper primary school age players, Mr Roach said the club is trying to appeal to a wider range of people.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe try to be an inclusive club and bring everybody in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The club\u2019s core membership generates enough revenue for them to run competitions but makes maintenance challenging.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we do get money it goes on the courts, so the courts are good but it\u2019s the sort of aesthetics of the place, it looks like it\u2019s 1980,\u201d Mr Roach said.<\/p>\n
The charm of the building is only part of the appeal for members, with Mr Kirkby and Mr Roach in agreeing it\u2019s also the social fun of the games that have kept them in the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe old-fashioned squash club that was on the corner is gone, but this is like that old fashioned squash club run by the squash club,\u201d Mr Roach said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou come down here and it\u2019s just very welcoming and everyone wants to see the numbers stay so that the club survives.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ONCE upon a time, squash clubs could often be found on street corners but nowadays few standalone clubs remain. Bendigo Squash Centre is unique in that it still resides in a 1960s era brick building on the corner of Barnard and Acacia streets. It\u2019s also one of few Squash clubs to be run by a […]<\/p>\n