Nearly two years ago, we noticed the emergence of the Jamaican Squash team, recent success has led to the growth of squash participation in Jamaica, because of their senior players rising up the professional rankings in the world of Squash.
On the contrary, the game of Squash has come a long way in Jamaica. It has gone from being a recreational sport played at a local sports and leisure club to national championships, which has led players going on to participate in world tournaments.
The profile of the senior Squash players has grown as a result of extensive media coverage in Jamaican news publications and television, thus the Jamaican flag has been raised a lot throughout 2016 at squash tournaments.
From Marlene West, Karen Anderson to new sporting talents
The first Squash players from Jamaica were Marlene West and Karen Anderson. Both Marlene and Karen both broke into the Top 100 female professional squash rankings.
Marlene achieved a world squash ranking of No.71 in 2010, with Karen reaching No. 94 in December 2005 shortly after joining the Women’s International Squash Players Association in the same year.
Marlene West – Photo credit: SquashPics.com
Karen still plays in local squash tournaments, winner of numerous Caribbean Squash titles, and is on the board of the Jamaican Squash Association. Whereas Marlene continues to play in senior tournaments representing the Cayman Islands and even went on to play in the Commonwealth Games.
Karen Anderson – squash trailblazer
Over the years, there has been a lot of sporting talent to come out of Jamaica, that has gone to become international stars and role models for young people of nations.
For instance in cricket, there has been Michael Holding, Chris Gayle, and Courtney Walsh all of whom dominated the sport across the cricketing countries and now there are Olympic athletes – notably Merlene Otty, Yohan Blake, and the fastest man on the planet Usain Bolt – all of which who have gone to become household names in the Jamaican communities around the UK – now there are new sporting talents on the rise in Squash.
Both Marlene and Karen’s trailblazing squash legacies have cascaded with the emergence of a new generation of Squash players from Jamaica, making headlines with their performances at national tournaments and on the international Squash circuit.
Gill Binnie, Douglas Beckford, Marlene West, Bruce Bicknell, and Karen Anderson – Photo credit: Jamaican Observer
The current male no.1 player Chris Binnie, who rose up the PSA rankings to 72nd position, and his teammate Lewis Walters, who entered the top 100 rankings, as a result, they showed the Squash world that Jamaica has come to play.
Chris Binnie
Towards the end of 2016, both Binnie and Walter took on two of the US finest Squash players in the KPMG International Squash Series match dubbed the ‘Yardies v Yankees Tournament’ at the Liguanea Club in New Kingston.
(L-R) Chris Binnie, Lewis Walters, Chris Hind (CEO of JN Group), Chris Gordon, and Chris Hanson
Future of Squash participation in Jamaica
Local Squash tournaments organised by the Caribbean Area Squash Association (CASA) and the exhibition match between the US and the Jamaican players, will serve as a catalyst for young people in Jamaica to take up Squash.
However, UK-born Lewis Walters, who has a strong profile in Jamaica, his status could encourage young black boys and girls of Jamaican heritage from the UK to play Squash.
Jamaican Junior Squash Team (Photo Credit: Jamaican Star)
To sum up, it would be great to Jamaica host a PSA Squash Open tournament with the help of blue chip Jamaican companies serving as sponsors, allowing them to raise brand awareness in Jamaica aligned with television coverage – just like the ICC Cricket World Cup of 2007.
