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Squamish Squash Club serves up its Women's Week once again

Free intro-sessions run from Sept. 20 to 26.
Squamish Squash week 2021
The Squamish Squash Club plays on courts at the Squamish Valley Golf Club.

The Squamish Squash Club is once again hosting its Women's Squash Week event. 

The annual event was cancelled last year, due to COVID-19. 

The club's Holly Ludlow and Dara Sklar are organizing the upcoming week, which offers an opportunity for women to try a free intro-to-squash session for those who may be new to the sport or who haven't played in years.

The Squamish event, on from Sept. 20 to 26th, is part of a Squash BC provincewide special event for girls and women to try the sport.

Each local session at the Squamish Valley Golf Club is one hour and features six women and two instructors, providing plenty of time for a rundown of the sport, a demo, and then some hands-on racquet-handling and ball-hitting.

Ludlow's introduction to squash came early when she was 11 years old. A woman came to her school and introduced the sport in the school's cafeteria. That was followed by a six-week intro course, which Ludlow took. 

"I did all of those and then there was a tournament, and I carried on from there," she said. 

At 18, Ludlow stepped away from the court and didn't pick it up again until she was living in Whistler in 2016. 

"What I really love about it now is it was a way for me to become part of the community down in Squamish and meet people," she said, adding she also loves that it is a way to stay fit that doesn't feel like exercise for the sake of it. 

Ludlow added that not everyone participates in the other Sea to Sky outdoor winter sports. 

The squash season runs from Oct. 1 to the end of April.

But you can still play in the summer. 

"[Squash] is a winter sport that you don't have to get dressed up for and you don't have to get wet from the rain," she said with a laugh. 

The barrier to entry for squash is low, too. You just need clean court shoes. For the free Squamish sessions, A racquet can be provided if you don't have one.  

"You don't even need a partner. If you just want to go hit a couple of balls yourself to get rid of the frustrations of the week or the day, it is a really great way to do that as well." 

B.C.'s vaccine passport is required. 

Several of the week's sessions have already filled up, but there are spaces available for Saturday, Sept. 25 and Sunday, Sept. 26. 

To register, go here. 

This summer, the women's week fellow organizer Sklar won a Squash BC Emerging Female Leaders award for her efforts in getting women and girls into squash. The award comes with a $500 grant to further promote the sport with programs in Squamish. 

For more on the local club, go to Squamish Squash Club on Facebook or at the Squamish Valley Golf Club website.

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