About Lichfield Squash Club

Lichfield Squash Club was set up in 2012 when a small group of players decided to form a club to better promote the sport across the Lichfield area.

At the time, squash in Lichfield was centred around Friary Grange Leisure Centre, where there was a box league operated by the leisure centre staff. Friary Grange Leisure Centre used to have four traditional courts but had recently converted two courts to alternative uses, so the players decided that more needed to be done to promote squash and prevent further court closures.

There were also two glass back courts based in King Edward VI Sports Centre but no organised leagues or competitions took place there. Once the club was set up, players were encouraged to play at both venues and the first part of that was to set up an online box league based at both.

A website was set up and the club quickly established a digital presence that exposed it to a bigger audience across Lichfield and the wider squash community. The club welcomed lots of new players to add to those who had traditionally played squash and the club started to offer increased opportunities to play, including team squash and social events.

The club has since thrived and has responded to various challenges, including the transfer of King Edward VI Sports Centre to the ownership of the school back in 2017. This led to the club developing its own court bookings system, as the school was not set up to take day to day bookings.

The biggest challenge we have faced though has to be the Covid-19 pandemic, when squash was completely closed down, like most sports. We responded well to the initial partial resumption of squash, with associated restrictions, following all guidance provided by England Squash.

Since squash has resumed fully without restrictions, we have worked hard to promote the sport against the challenging backdrop of some players having given up the sport. Our membership levels have now recovered well and we have seen our club league expand.

We have also resumed team squash, entering a team into the Staffordshire League, where we have performed well, finishing third in the 2021/22 Winter League. We also now offering regular events such as Club Nights for various abilities.

We are facing the future with renewed confidence as we strive to encourage a wider range of people to take up squash, including more younger people, women and girls. With the help of Together Active, the sports development partnership for Staffordshire, we have just been awarded funding from the B2022 small grants fund, which is part of the Commonwealth Games legacy. This will allow us to build our coaching capacity and provide coaching programmes to a variety of groups and abilities.

Club Sponsor