England Squash & Racketball have announced a £150,000 investment to empower County Associations and significantly improve the working relationship between ESR and the network of County Associations.
This investment into eight Regional Forums will enable County Associations to take ownership of how the sport is developed across their region. Each forum will meet three times a year in the following areas:
North West, North East, East Midlands, West Midlands, East, South West, South and London & South East.
By the middle of August the first round of Regional Forums will have taken place, with subsequent meetings planned for the autumn and spring. Each County Association within the region has selected one member to sit on the Forum to represent their views and vote on key decisions. The Forums will each elect their own Chair, who will be the main point of contact with ESR.
This represents a significant change in how ESR and County Associations work together for the good of the game. The Forums, which will be resourced and supported by ESR, will play three key roles:
• Junior Development
• The Player Pathway
• Wider participation in specific areas of local interest
ESR’s Talent Pathway Manager, Head of Coach Development and wider Performance and Participation Teams will continue to offer advice and support to the County and Regional programmes through the Regional Forums and look forward to implementing change to create a system that provides sustainable success at world level and increase the number of players playing the sport in England.
Mark Williams, the Director of Participation, stated: “The concept for Regional Forums came out of the South East Counties group, which had already started getting together on a regular basis and making significant improvements in their area.
“ESR wanted to take that model of best practice and replicate it around the country, the idea being that, by working together, County Associations will be able to have a more significant impact at a local level.
“With ongoing ESR support, Regional Forums will enable County Associations to become the driving force for squash development in their area and collectively make a significant contribution towards increasing participation across the country.”
If you have any issues or ideas that you would like to have discussed at the Regional Forum, please speak to your County Association: http://englandsquashandracketball.com/find/contacts