Women’s Committee

MISSION

The mission of the US Squash Women’s Committee is to extend US Squash’s outreach with the purpose to grow, promote and increase women’s participation of the game of squash across the United States at every level, every age and from every background.

The Women’s Committee represents all adult women.  The Women’s Committee is composed of women representing a diversity in age, background, skill level, type of play (singles / doubles), and geography.  This diversity is core to the representation of the committee members and growing women’s squash in the United States. The Committee consists of:

1. Chair – Responsible for managing the Women’s Committee, liaising with US Squash, and working with the sub committee chairs to set and achieve goals.
2. Vice Chair – The Vice Chair is responsible for assisting the chair in managing the committee.
3. Secretary – The Secretary is responsible for taking notes, action items and follow ups at each of the Committee meetings.
4. Communications Committee – Responsible for managing the monthly Rally Roundup Newsletter and social media on Instagram.
5. College Transition Committee – Responsible for managing the College Transition program to connect just-graduated squash players into the cities where they are moving via our City Ambassadors.
6. Women’s Squash Journey Lines Committee – Responsible for helping US Squash identify the needs of women, with regards to squash, at each phase in her life.
7. Awards Committee – Responsible for managing the process for awarding the Achievement Bowl and the Feron’s Wedgwood Sportsmanship Trophy. The Achievement Bowl is awarded by the Women’s Committee to people who have made notable and profound contributions to the advancement of the women’s game. The Feron’s Wedgwood Sportsmanship Trophy is awarded by the Women’s Committee to players who have shown exemplary sportsmanship on and off the court.
8. Seedings and Rankings Committee – Responsible for input into the seedings for the National Women’s Tournaments.
9. Howe Cup Committee – Responsible for coordinating Howe Cup activities in association with US Squash.
10. Women’s National Championships Committee – Responsible for leading the committee to shape the newly established Women’s National Championships. Determine whether we should include additional amenities like child care, morning yoga practice, what the Saturday Night event will be, etc.
11. City Ambassadors – The city ambassadors are crucial to increasing the participation of women’s squash throughout the United States. The city ambassador is the conduit from the national association to the local community. A city should seek more than one city ambassador, but one woman will be considered the lead for her city. City ambassadors are responsible for:
    1. College transition program for players moving to their city
    2. Promotion and, if needed, coordination of Women’s Squash Week in their city.
    3. Promotion and participation in Howe Cup from their city.
    4. Promotion and participation in the US Women’s Nationals.
    5. Communicating what is happening at the national level to their local community / association and providing feedback from their community to the committee for what is working, what is not, and providing suggestions for improvement.
12. US Squash Women’s Liaison – The US Squash Women’s Liaison is a paid employee of US Squash who is ultimately responsible for the success of women’s squash in the US by growing the number of players and participation throughout the US.

Contact US Squash Women’s Committee

Goals for 2023 – 2024 Season

1. Set up a communication strategy that includes a mechanism to measure it’s effectiveness. ** We created the Rally Roundup, the monthly newsletter for women and girls and have ongoing instagram campaigns. We are working on measuring our engagement. **
2. Promote and encourage squash communities, clubs, and pros to hold Women’s Squash Week events. Our goal is to have 50 individual events throughout the week. **ACHIEVED **
3. Kick off the College to Adult Squash Transition program. The goal is to reach out to each college graduate, connect them with a city ambassador and get 50% of those graduates playing locally.  A stretch goal is to get 20% of the graduates playing in Howe Cup or the Women’s Nationals. **We got the program off the ground and connected 25% of college graduates with their new cities.**
4. Drive participation in Howe Cup. Our goal is to bring teams from 3 new cities and to have 53 teams participate.  That is 275 women. **EXCEEDED**
5. To support the development of the women’s journey line, the Women’s Committee will create 3 focus groups that will provide personal stories and input into where they are on their journey and how that involves squash.
6. Promote and encourage participation in the National Women’s Championships. Our goal is to have 80 women playing in the tournament.

If you are interested in getting involved, we would love to hear from you. Email Narelle Krizek or Karen Arango.