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14/03/2008
WISPA NEWS
WISPA Launches Patrons Club
The Women's
International Squash Players' Association is launching the
WISPA Patrons Club - an exciting new initiative which will help to
strengthen links with the developmental end of squash and thus play a larger
part in supporting educational programmes.
WISPA Patrons will, through their support and enthusiasm to see girls' and
women’s squash grow, play a pivotal role in enabling the Association to achieve
its ambitions towards helping develop ‘green shoot’ support, as well as
marketing programmes and general promotional initiatives.
Furthermore, at the elite end of the game, Patrons will help WISPA develop a
promotional framework that will eventually enables more members to earn an
income that allows them the funds to focus on their development and be well
enough funded to do so on a full time basis.
The initiative is part of the new WISPA vision - i.e. more players, more
nations, more media coverage……more squash success!
WISPA President Natalie Grainger explained: "We are eager to supplement
the efforts of the WSF and member nations in encouraging girls and women to try
the sport - and then, if they have the potential, to try themselves out on the
international stage.
"Our main focus is our World Tour, but we want to be able to strengthen these
links and thus to play a larger part in supporting educational programmes using
our role model players," added the world No4 from the USA.
WISPA Chief Executive Andrew Shelley commented: "Developing squash is
essential to our future, not only supporting nurturing the grass roots, but by
actively taking members to new nations. In recent months, WISPA events in Iran,
Iceland, China, Pakistan and Portugal - in addition to Vietnam next week - show
the breadth of these efforts.
"We must also explore every means we can to raise the profile of women’s
international squash, develop interest in it, and thus grow the Tour. That, in
itself, will encourage participation and growth of the sport. It will also
assist us as we strive towards inclusion in the Olympics."
Membership of the WISPA Patrons Club will be open to anybody who wishes
to join in the WISPA effort to play a part in promoting girls' and women’s
squash. Details can be found on the WISPA website:
www.wispa.net
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