Squashsite and PSA must act together

Imagine cricket without Cricinfo, rugby without Scrum.com or a 1,001 football news websites failing to update the latest transfer speculation.

 
Squashed: Squashsite went offline for a week after PSA meeting scuppered

The Squash fraternity was hit with a similar outcome last week when Squashsite, the No 1 resource for tour news, went offline at the close of the World Open in Manchester.

Run by Framboise Gommendy and Steve Cubbins, the duo have, for the last five years: travelled the globe; covered the tournaments; bled players dry for quotes; uploaded the photos, and generally over-worked themselves from their love of the sport.

In that time, they managed to produce an annual income of £20,000 through sponsors and official tournament website fees. Overheads were producing the same amount and when you consider that the pair only paid themselves £3,000 each over five years, then something had to give. After all they had received no subsistence from the three main bodies: the World Squash Federation (WSF), the Professional Squash Association (PSA) and the Women's International Squash Players Association (WISP).

A meeting was set up in Manchester with the Cardiff-based PSA, the men's tour body, to discuss a potential partnership and the future was looking rosy for the site. However, a last-minute u-turn from the governing body left it with no alternative but to down keyboards.

Gommendy left the venue and took a train to London straight after hearing the news; Cubbins was left to reflect whether they could carry on in the same capacity. Both wrote personal reflections on their time at the helm believing the game was up. The Squashsite forum was overrun with disgust at the apparent lack of support from the governing bodies while the inevitable 'Save Squashsite' was set up on Facebook.

Step in, Mick Dodd, James Willstrop's manager, who gave the duo a lifeline by suggesting that they should carry on serving the squash community and leave the business side up to him. And although the WSF want nothing to do with the site, it now looks like the PSA and WISPA will play ball, albeit without financial backing for the time being.

Without Squashsite, there essentially would be no news, results and draws. The media would have to rely on press releases issued by the PSA and as for tour colour and atmosphere, that would have to be left to the imagination outside of the glass showcourts.

Such is the close relationship with the players, Squashsite received positive support last week during their week offline. Cubbins told this column: "So many of the players wrote in offering their support, and the general feeling was that they would all be willing to pay a subscription if that's what it took, but we'd like to try to make the site independently financially viable while remaining free.

"We've always had players willing to do reports for us, and to send us results from tournaments where it was otherwise difficult to get them, but we know we have a greater pool of helpers now.

"We'll be adding a few features to the site over the coming months, one major thing will be to add a membership facility - the site will still be free, but we'll be looking to build a members database to attract sponsors and to be able to offer members some extras and special offers."

October 2009 represents a pivotal moment for squash's bid for Olympic inclusion. By not having Squashsite on the web, it's unlikely to wield much damage in the IOC's eyes. But for sense's sake, the PSA - who have a viable product in their high-quality live feeds - have to recognise the importance of Squashsite by making both models work. It's hard to see why that's not possible.

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Which player does Peter Nicol often picture on court? Surely it's Ahmed Barada, who achieved a high of world No 2 in 1999 before a rapid decline, judging by a recent regional interview with Peter Nicol. “He was the David Beckham of Egypt,” the former world No 1 said. “He didn’t get on with a lot of the other players because of his attitude. They would ignore him because he wasn’t the best character on court. But he had always said I was one of the people who had given him time.

“I was playing him somewhere; I was losing and he was getting into his stride. So I looked at him, and waited, and looked at him, and saw his self-confidence disappear. I ended up winning the match. I made him question everything in that second just by looking at him.”

Barada, who was stabbed in Cairo in 2000 before becoming a professional singer, was Nicol’s opponent in the 1999 World Open final when he finally lifted the title after two previous defeats. He said: “It was wonderful. I went to Egypt, one of my favourite places, and played at the Pyramids against Barada, the local Egyptian hero.

“It was fairytale stuff. Once I’d won the 5,000 Egyptian spectators all left. My dad, my girlfriend, her mum and a couple of players were the only people left to clap me. It was literally deserted but it was wonderful."