The eighth annual Women’s Squash Week engaged more than 1,000 players worldwide and celebrated values central to the sport, September 23-29.

This year’s event focused on five themes that embody Women’s Squash Week and why women enjoy playing squash: empowering, sociable, fun, inclusive and lifelong. These themes reflect the squash community at all levels and can inspire more women and girls to start their squash journey or take their squash to another level.

In the United States, more than thirty events took place in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington and Washington, DC.

The event continued its international expansion with more than seventy-five events held outside of the U.S. in a dozen countries and five continents including Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, England, France, India, Jamaica, Poland, Scotland, Spain and Zambia.

Many events included both social off-court events alongside open on-court play in hopes of attracting new players to the game and fostering local communities. Some involved a wide range of players including professional singles or doubles exhibitions alongside beginner round robins.

The St. James in Washington, DC won the second annual creative photo competition with the image below, earning an exhibition featuring a US Squash Elite Athlete Program (EAP) professional at their club. View images from more events in the U.S. here.

Women’s Squash Week 2019 follows the success of the inaugural Women’s Squash Week Pop-Up edition that took place this spring. The event is traditionally held in September near the beginning of the traditional squash season to get players back on court after the summer.

In 2008, New York’s Jessica Green and Emily Stieff started “Women’s Squash Night” as a way for New York Squash to build growth in women’s squash. In 2011, after four successful events in New York, AJ Copeland reached out to Stieff to put a similar event together in Washington, DC. In the fall of 2012, the night turned into a nation-wide, and later world-wide celebration—Women’s Squash Week.

Read more stories on social media by searching the hashtags #WomensSquashWeek #SqaushTheGap #SquashisFriendship #WomensSquash and in the US Squash Women’s Squash Facebook group.

The creative photo competition winning image from the St. James in Washington, DC.