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WISPA Announces New
Board Members For Exciting New Era
WISPA is pleased to
announce the addition of three new Board members to its team as it moves
into an exciting new phase.
Familiar faces on squash’s
women’s professional tour, Ireland’s Aisling Blake, England’s Emma
Beddoes and Australia’s Melody Francis were all voted onto the Board by
the players at the WISPA AGM in Rotterdam.
Beddoes commented, “Having
already helped WISPA in a number of unofficial roles in the past, I feel
like I'd now like to use this experience in an official capacity on our
board. I understand how tough it can be to raise sponsorship for events
and to secure media coverage in a competitive market place but more than
that I'm incredibly passionate about growing our game and really want to
help make a difference in women's squash.”
Blake was equally enthusiastic about her
election, “For some time now I have thought about becoming part of the
WISPA Board, as I feel I could add value to the current Board as voice
acting on behalf of all players' best interests. WISPA is approaching an
exciting new era: a change to our name, a rebranding of our image, new
tournaments to add to the calendar and growing prize money. I feel very
proud of WISPA and our Tour and with that in mind I look forward to the
opportunity to add what I can to the WISPA Board.”
Francis added, “After some years’
experience with the WISPA Tour, I feel I am fully equipped with a
comprehensive understanding of the players' needs and desires and can
balance those with the demands placed on an international professional
tour. I also feel that a continued focus on the development of our
younger players and the expansion of the WISPA Tour is imperative. Since
Squash Australia's heightened commitment to the development of WISPA
tournaments in Australia, I believe it is important to have a board
member in Australia to ensure that WISPA's presence is heightened in the
region. The continued commitment and further expansion of the tour in
Australia and its surrounding area needs to be secured and being able to
personally interact with a board member would undoubtedly stabilise the
process.”
The three players will join current Board
members, Ingrid Lofdahl-Bentzer, Peter Goodman, Anthony Lee, new
President Jaclyn Hawkes and Jenny Denyer (Tranfield), who stays
co-opted. Hawkes took over as Acting President following Natalie
Grainger’s decision to step down earlier this year. Jaclyn was
unchallenged in her election as President and has already shown great
leadership qualities and insight.
Line Hansen decided to step down from the
Board after serving for two years, as did Suzie Pierrepont. However,
Suzie has been co-opted onto the Board because her position in the US is
vital to WISPA’s efforts to further enhance the Tour in North America.
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