VICKY: THE GIRL NEXT DOOR
WHO BECAME THE WORLD'S
MOST FAMOUS SQUASH PLAYER

By ALAN THATCHER

THE explosion of publicity that catapulted Vicky Botwright from girl next door to international media celebrity has left the Lancashire lass totally overwhelmed.

"I couldn't believe the response," said Vicky. "I never expected anything like that and had never been involved in such a circus before. It was quite overwhelming at times. I was getting phone calls at all times of the day and night from newspapers and TV stations from all over the world."

However, Vicky is smart enough to realise that the enormous exposure she received for posing for photographs in a thong during the British Open could have a dramatic impact on her career.

She is confident that her new celebrity status will enable her to make that vitally important step from a near-penniless emerging player to an international competitor with a solid commercial platform to provide her with income from sponsorship and endorsements.

She said: "I am really lucky to have some friends in squash who have experience in media and marketing and they have been helping me to set up some sponsorship deals. This is in addition to valuable Lottery funding, which has been really important to me as a member of the World Class Performance Plan squad."

It's all a far cry from Vicky's earlier career - in fact it's a far cry from her pre-British Open days - when she worked in a gym to supplement her meagre prize money,  relying on help from her parents to fund her development.

Vicky is a very family orientated person, and still lives at home at the age of 24 with her family. Younger sister Becky  is also a budding squash professional. Home is in Worsley, Manchester, and she thanks her parents, David and Sue, for providing her with so much help and support throughout her career.

"They both played at Swinton Squash Club in Manchester and, like so many kids, I spent so much time hanging around the club reception that I eventually started to play. Actually, I didn't really like squash when I first started playing but it was only when my friends started playing that I began to enjoy it."

Athletics was Vicky's first sporting love at that time and she adds: "I used to run 200m for Salford Mets when I was 11 or 12, and at school (Moorside High) I was quite good at cross-country. Like all girls I also played a bit of netball but wasn't that keen, but I really loved playing rounders.

"I gradually worked my way into the junior squad at Swinton and one day my Dad arranged a challenge match against a team from the Maple club. I lost badly and that was when Dad gave me an ultimatum: Play more or don't play at all!

"I remember all the boys taking the mick out of my big 'helicopter' swing, but I took Dad's advice and started playing more often.  I got more involved in the junior section and began paying regularly for the teams, and had coaching every Saturday morning with a guy called Steve Johnson.

"He started me off and then I went to Chris McManus at Rochdale for several
years, before eventually ending up with David Pearson."

Vicky looks back with fond memories on her time at Swinton, and says: "It was a lovely club, with four courts, a bar, a gym and a function room, and even though I was 17, I cried when it closed down. It was a genuine squash club, with a lovely atmosphere, and it was such a shame when it was closed.

"Dad always remembers me diving all over the court when I was a junior. It was so funny, because when we used to turn up at tournaments you would hear all the other parents saying 'Oh look, there's that girl who dives all over
the floor.'

"When Swinton closed we all moved across to the Village Club at Prestwich, which was a bit posher. They had a Super League team there, with players like Peter Marshall and Paul Gregory, so I became interested in top-class squash and decided that was what I wanted to do."

McManus tapped into that enthusiasm and Vicky thanks him for instilling some discipline and purpose into her play. "He taught me to hammer the ball up and down the wall," she says. "Chris said that if you get the ball back then you won't go wrong. We worked on fitness and keeping the ball deep, which is still pretty much how I play now.

"I came to the end of the road with Chris when I was about 18 or 19 and he began studying to be a physiotherapist and consequently had less time available for coaching.

"It was probably about the right time to move on and then in tactical terms I went from one extreme to the other when I began to go to Harrogate for coaching from David Pearson.

"As well as the abuse, which you get used to, David teaches the game very differently from Chris. He is one of the best drop-shot teachers in the game and says that if an opening is there then you should play it short, instead of just banging the ball back to your opponent.

"David showed me some valuable ghosting patterns, which were totally different from anything I had done before, and we talked about improving my movement and footwork instead of just running straight to the ball.

"My big swing had gone thanks to Chris and suddenly everything began to fall into place. When I've made mistakes David has given me a lot of abuse over the years and it's always louder if other people are around."

Vicky started entering tournaments at the age of 15 but admits that she suffered a traumatic entry to the competitive scene. "I was getting hammered to start with but gradually I broke through when I started playing more often.

"At the age of 18 I achieved my first national ranking, when I came in at number 20,  and I phoned round every one of my friends to tell them.  I decided that I wanted to play for England juniors and made my Dad take me to every tournament possible all over the country. We were driving all over the country and I almost lived in the car. I always had the duvet with me so that I could grab some sleep.

"Dad was great. He said 'I will do whatever you want me to do' and so I was entering tournament after tournament. I realise that Dad had to fork out loads of money for entry fees, as well as all the rackets, shoes and clothing. It certainly adds up and I am  grateful for their support. My first prize money was £60 for winning the Cheshire Junior Open, and it seemed like a fortune at the time."

International recognition duly followed. "I made my England debut in the Junior Home Internationals in Belfast at the age of 18 and I won all three of my matches. I was really nervous. Alex Cowie was the manager and the others in the squad were Janie Thacker, Tracy Shenton, Stephanie Brind, Tania Bailey and Helen Easton, who is also from Manchester and played at the Village Club in Hyde."

Vicky then represented England in the European Junior Team Championships before deciding to turn professional.  After leaving school with seven GCSEs ("That surprised everybody," she admitted) she did a two-year course in sports science at Wigan College, leaving with a qualification that enabled her to work as a gym instructor.

Her entry into the senior tournament world was just as painful as her introduction to the junior competitive ranks. "I failed to qualify for my first four WISPA tournaments, the Swiss Open, Toulouse, the YTL in Malaysia and something called the Interlink in London.

"I was still working in the gym and as a part-time receptionist at the squash club to make ends meet and Dad was paying for my flights. I got a bit upset when I kept failing to get through the qualifying, but I realise now
that I was so nervous that I was my own worst enemy. I just used to bottle it. It's funny, but when I started to get through qualifying, I was much more relaxed and able to enjoy my squash.

"I never used to stay around and watch the others players. I've never done that and can't see the point of it. I have always left straight after being knocked out of a tournament."

Vicky's immediate ambition is a place in the top 12. She is currently ranked 18 in the world but with Sabine Schoene and Sue Wright both retiring from the WISPA Tour, Vicky is now in a position to qualify for direct entry to all the major events. Hong Kong, Qatar and the World Open in Australia are looming before Christmas and Vicky says: "I just need to get one or two good results and my ranking will quickly improve, but I am aware that there are several brilliant juniors on the scene and there will be plenty of
competition."

So far Vicky has reached the semi-finals in the Toulouse, Singapore and the Milo Open in Kuala Lumpur, and is keen to notch up a first major title success.

She says "I have made  steady and gradual improvement over the years, but I don't think I will ever be a flair player like Natalie Grainger, who can just turn it on when she feels like it. I know I am more of a runner,  and I have a good reserve of fitness which is important.

"I had a bit of a setback last year when my form dipped, but I realised that I was simply going against my natural game and trying to go too short too early and finish rallies too soon. I was playing far too many boasts and generally getting chopped up at the front of the court, but I managed to get everything together and tighten up my game again."

She enjoys her sessions with the World Class Performance squad and says: "It's funny, but I know I perform better when I am being monitored and getting constant feedback. I know some players prefer to be left alone but I really respond to that kind of input from the coaches, the fitness people, and Kirsten Barnes, the sports psychologist.

"I have set myself achievable goals and I am looking forward to making a steady climb up the rankings."

As for the thong business, she says: "I think the publicity was good for squash and although I was nervous about doing it, I discussed it with my family and they were all very supportive. I wouldn't have done it otherwise.

In any case, I  wouldn't have regretted it even if it had been really bad. That's just who I am. I have never regretted anything I have done in my life so far. In squash terms, if ever I lose or make a mistake I try to learn from it to help me in the future."