US Squash was proud to be an official partner for this year’s RacquetX conference in Miami, FL, March 22 – 24. RacquetX is a gathering of the most influential racquet and padel businesses, from global brands to ambitious start-ups, which allows them to collaborate, network and showcase in this hugely exciting space.
At the conference, US Squash partnered with start-up court designer and manufacturer Access Courts to debut the prototype for a cost-effective modular squash court which proved a highlight of the squash presence at the conference. The court was placed at the center of the exhibition hall among pickleball and padel courts and table tennis tables. US Squash was joined by squash colleagues from a range of perspectives, including club owners, software providers, teaching pros and coaches and youth program entrepreneurs helping to generate significant buzz about the newly-minted Olympic sport. With near constant gameplay throughout the three days of the conference, hundreds of people were able to not only see the new court in person but also watch as top players competed in the upstart National Squash League on Saturday afternoon.
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Kevin Klipstein, President and CEO of US Squash, and Renato Paiva, Access Youth Academy’s Executive Direcetor, spoke on “The Next Gen: The Padel and Pickleball Race for Olympic Status, and How the US is Readying the Padellers and Picklers of the Future for Olympic Stardom” panel on Sunday, sharing more information about the squash experience making it to the Olympics.
“Cooperation, communication, collaboration has been our theme in the U.S. for the last twenty years among the entities, college squash, squash in education, the pro tour, you name it,” Klipstein said.
Watch the full panel here.
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Ganek Family US Squash Head National Coach Nick Taylor sat on the “Pathways to Play: Opening Doors for Young Athletes” panel and spoke about the importance and impact of passionate, dedicated coaches on player engagement and the newly announced player development pathway for squash players.
“It’s got to be driven by the player. There’s got to be a lot of fun in that, and that comes back down to coaches inspiring and putting the love of the game into those kids at a young age,” Taylor said.
“I think we’re very lucky in the U.S. that we have a great player pathway. I think our pathway to play and our player pathway is great,” said Taylor. “We have over three hundred tournaments in thirty states. Seventy-five college teams. It’s growing really, really well but I think the bottom line is we’ve got to get these younger players enjoying playing.”
Watch the full panel here.
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Continued engagement at events like RacquetX is critical for the sport’s growth for the ability to expose squash to the thousands of attendees, padel or pickleball players and commercial club owners in particular.
