The country of Sierra Leone will be vying for the spotlight in the Squash competition at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Oddly enough, the country is not exactly new to Squash competition, they are just not well known on the international Squash circuit – such as the Professional Squash Association World tour.
Image credit: Concord Times
For the 2018 edition of the Commonwealth Games, the country will be entering the Squash competition with their top players – James Fayia, Ernest Jobla, and Usifi Kofi Mansaray; all of which will be looking to raise the flag of the West African country, with a competitive performance in the international multi-sport event.
Call for more Squash courts to tackle inclusion
In light of the reduction of Squash courts in the UK, Sierra Leone is now lobbying the government to develop more Squash courts for young people to increase participation and enable young people to take up the sport, with a view to taking part in national and international Squash tournaments.
There is no doubt, that the Sierra Leone Squash and Racket Association will be drawing up initiatives with local schools to deliver Squash coaching sessions to children, with a view to increasing participation at a grassroots level.
For added value, companies can get involved by sponsoring local competitions and even fund senior players to play in overseas tournaments.
Is this a good thing? Yes, especially as the country is one of those countries who are looking to make a statement in getting the sport into the Olympics – even better the Sierra Leona President is championing the cause too.
Time to deliver
In conclusion, when Sierra Leone took part in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, there were two players participating and did not reach the advanced stages of the Games.
One team member of Team Sierra Leone – James Fayia, who took part in the 2014 Commonwealth Games – will be looking to improve on his performance in the singles competition.
Overall, it would be great to see how well Sierra Leone gets, and even better it would interesting to see the outcome of their grassroots Squash program goes plus can it be as successful as the Guyanese junior Squash programme.
