I am pleased to present my report for the year 2024/2025.

Introduction

As is now customary, I would encourage you to take a look at our website, sign up for our newsletter, and follow our social media presence to learn about upcoming events and on-court successes in Surrey and the South London Boroughs over the last year.

Highlights include a record-breaking haul at junior inter-county level, with no less than five national titles for the Surrey boys and girls, a reinvigorated participation in the London Youth Games, and outstanding individual performances from the youngest junior to the most experienced master in both squash and racketball.

We are, without any doubt in my mind the best county in the land!

In Memoriam

Michael Hennings

It is without hyperbole when I say that with Michael’s death, we lost a giant in our squash and racketball family and I would urge you to read [Click here] to learn a little about how much he gave to the sport over more than 30 years.

On a personal note, I was lucky to work with Michael for over a decade, and our conversations were enjoyable, sometimes challenging, but always absolutely focused on achieving the best for the game, with his broad smile never very far away.

It is important that we build on his legacy, and this year saw the introduction of The Michael Hennings Junior Graded Series, continuing his great work in his name.

Chairman’s Statement: Revolution or Evolution

Change can be both unsettling and exciting but ultimately inevitable. As I look back over the last five years or so, I don’t think anyone would be able to predict how much our sport would change, from the lows of Covid to the highs of squash becoming an Olympic sport.

Throughout this time, a primary focus has been to establish a sustainable operational model, previously predicated on attracting capable, proactive volunteers, to give up their time, without financial reward.

A shining example of such an individual is Rob Lelliott, a committee member for the last eight years. Rob has been the driving force behind the development of racketball in the county and it is no exaggeration to say that his enthusiasm and single-mindedness have grown racketball participation beyond recognition.

Having instigated and developed, county racketball leagues, the Surrey Racketball Closed and ultimately competitive inter-county teams at both senior and masters levels, Rob has decided the time is now right to step down from the committee and we wish him all the best for the future.

Funding/finance

Total funds on 30 April 2025: £186,964, of which cash £34,999

As highlighted at the previous AGM, we made a conscious decision to invest in a full-time employed County Co-ordinator, to help meet the operational requirements of the county, and to assist the team in formulating and delivering a new county membership scheme. As such the reduction in county reserves was anticipated, albeit that the lack of capital return from the investment portfolio was disappointing.

County membership fee: too much to ask?

In recent years the ability to attract proactive volunteers to perform key functions for the county has proven difficult and it has therefore been necessary to adopt a commercial model to try and sustain the county’s long-term future.

The decision of England Squash to generate greater revenues for itself by introducing individual membership fees has also meant that they are no longer willing or able to administer what was the County membership fee, previously set at £5 a year for adults and £2 per year for juniors. We do still receive a percentage rebate of England Squash membership and affiliation fees, although this is likely to reduce year on year and it may, therefore, be reasonable to conclude that this may stop completely in the medium term.

As we are to recover this source of vital income, we have been trying to contact all players, coaches, club representatives and any other interested parties to convince them that paying a county membership fee directly is both positive and necessary.

Over the past six months or so, Neil Frankland, Director of Squash and Luke Beedie, County Co-ordinator, have met with, or at least exchanged communications with, the vast majority of club and association representatives, to set out the terms of our new county membership scheme. I am pleased to confirm that the majority of clubs are supportive of what we are doing and understand the benefits the scheme offers. This is re-enforced by the fact that the decision to increase the annual membership fee to £10 per adult and £5 per junior was unanimously agreed at last year’s AGM.

Where payment was previously administered on our behalf by England Squash invoicing clubs, we must now use the tools available to us and rely on the goodwill of clubs granting us access to individual members. We have started the process by gathering contact details by Leaguemaster registration for those nominated to play in the various county competitions this winter.

However, we appreciate that this is likely just a small percentage of court users at most clubs and we really need to access internal league players, club nighters, and even casual players to generate sustainable revenues to continue to support and develop squash and racketball throughout Surrey and the South London boroughs.

How did we get here?

England Squash needs to demonstrate how many people play squash and racketball to generate sizeable funding, primarily from Sport England. A steady decline in numbers over the past several years has meant that England Squash has had to reduce operational costs and devolve greater responsibility to county associations, arguably without being able to offer visible support to England Squash members. It is also worth noting that Sport England funding for many sports has declined because of cutbacks in government spending and because of a change in emphasis from sports to movement, sport and physical activity in general.

Historically England Squash asked clubs to declare both their number of courts and number of members on an annual basis in order to calculate the membership and affiliation fees due from the club. Unfortunately, as clubs became dissatisfied with the perceived lack of value for money, the number of declared players reduced, saving clubs and players costs but ultimately undermining the validity of numbers declared by England Squash to secure funding.

Whether by-passing clubs with an individual membership fee proves successful, only time will tell, but it does mean that the county must also review its source of funding.

I am acutely aware that members will now have to contemplate paying two fees a year, £15 to England Squash for public liability and personal accident cover, along with their own discount offerings, and £10 to Surrey Squash but, is £25 a year too much?

We have worked hard to formulate a county membership scheme that delivers real benefit to both club and player alike, something Neil and Luke have been championing to club officials over the months and I would urge you all to join Surrey Squash membership when asked to help make squash and racketball in Surrey the best it can possibly be.

Conclusion

I remain excited for the future of squash and racketball in the county and believe that county membership will continue to provide meaningful benefits for clubs, leisure centres, players and coaches alike, long into the future.

Congratulations to everyone for your on-court achievements and thanks to everybody for their positive contributions to our great game, you know who you are.

Thank you.

John Hughes
Surrey Squash Chairman
October 2025