It is that squash time of year again, folks!
It is almost time to harvest that squash from the garden and try out squash at the club.
Women's Squash Week at the Squamish Squash Club is coming up Sept. 23 to 29.
What is women's squash week? We are so glad you asked.
It's a free nationwide event that includes free introductory sessions to encourage more people, specifically women, to try the game.
It sells out every year.
"Our braggable claim to fame is that our membership is nearly half female—where the national average is only 23%—much of which we attribute to our successful execution of Women's Squash Week each year," said the Squamish Squash Club's Dara Sklar in an email to The Squamish Chief.
For Sklar, an enthusiastic promoter of squash, one of the things she loves about the game is that it's a skill-based sport.
"Which means that you don't have to be the fastest or best athlete to be competitive or even a spring chicken in order to get good at it," she said.
In 2023, the club had 49 women brand new to squash attend intro sessions as part of Women's Squash Week. They ranged in age from 24 to 65, with the average age being 41, according to Sklar.
"Squamish can be a very intimidating environment because of how fit the population is," she added. "I love that I can run someone around the squash court, even if they'd beat me in a race up a mountain every day of the week."
She added that the club has players of all levels of fitness and shapes and sizes who love the sport because it allows participants to get exercise that's "so fun" that it doesn't feel like a workout.
"Plus, as you master hitting the squash ball in the sweet spot of the racquet, you can definitely take your frustrations of the day out on the court," she said.
For anyone who has negative flashbacks of getting hit with a dodgeball in elementary school and may be worried about the safety of playing a racquet and ball sport in an enclosed space, Sklar notes the instructors teach safety as part of the game, and players wear goggles.
"Dodgeball-like injuries are not part of the game," she said. "In fact, hitting the ball, and moving out of its way to make room for your opponent to come hit it ends up looking like a beautiful—sweaty—dance, once you get into the flow of it," she said.
Another fun thing about squash week is that new players meet and grow together.
"We bring in such a big cohort of beginners each fall [it] means you are meeting friendly folks who are on the same squash learning curve as you," she said. "So you progress together, and bond over the things you're achieving together, which makes it a great environment to foster new friendships."
While this one week of the year is gender-based, nearly all of the club's programming the rest of the year is not.
"You generally just play with other squash players at your level," she noted.
Local women interested in giving squash a try can sign up on the club's website for one of the six free women's introductory sessions during the week.
You can also find the event on Facebook.
The Squamish Squash Club is located within the Squamish Valley Golf Course, located at 2458 Mamquam Rd.
