46 Squash
Basingstoke Sports Centre, Basingstoke
Enjoyment - 95%
Success - 70%
Will try again - Yes
First timer’s recommendation – squash is one of the most straightforward sports to pick up – you can get a racket from Sports Direct for a few quid, and as long as you’ve got a sweatband you’ll fit right in.
The fifth and final racket sport of the year is probably my favourite of them as it plays to my strengths of running round chasing every shot and getting in to a pair of tight shorts and knee-high socks. I played every week a few years back with some lads from work and we got up to a decent standard – and in terms of sweating off a few calories in about half an hour, there aren’t many sports that can match that. The continued exclusion of the sport from the Olympic programme is a baffling one, when sports such as baseball, skateboarding, climbing, karate and surfing have been allowed in for 2020. I can only assume someone in the governing body as pissed off an IOC member because the argument that it isn’t a good spectator sport doesn’t wash in an age where drone cameras are flown about by teenagers.
There is a club in Basingstoke which is very welcoming to new members and they run open leagues and tournaments, and out of all the sports I have done this year, squash is one that I can see myself continuing with next year. Membership is cheap, they practice on weekday evenings, it wouldn’t matter if you miss a week or too, there’s relatively low risk of injury, and Kayleigh has said it’s OK, so 2017 might be the year I focus my mind on one (or two) of the best sports of the year.
