In squash - The Podcast

Recently elected as Squash Canada's President, Steve Wren's appearance on this podcast highlights exactly why he's the right person for the job. As a player, parent, coach, business person, you name it, Steve has achieved great results. Exciting times are ahead for Squash Canada, and Steve lays out his vision following a fun look at his backstory on ep. 45.

Looking to hit the ground running after a very good 2017/2018, Hollie Naughton and I talked about her progress over the past few years, and what it will take for her to make deeper runs into the Super Series main draws now that she's successfully qualified for these events. We also talked Squash Canada a bit, specifically about the exciting additions of Martin Heath running the high performance program and Steve Wren as President.

2018 saw the unthinkable: husband (Ali) and wife (Nour) winning the US Open on the same day. Ali takes us inside the ropes on that special week and the years in the lead up. Interestingly, he almost decided to forego professional squash for a desk job with the hopes of developing Egypt's solar energy industry, but, thankfully for us, representing Egypt and making a living out of his true passion has taken precedence.

Newlywed Olivia Clyne (Blatchford) had a storied junior squash career and has recently made inroads into the top 15 in the world women's rankings. We had a great chat which covered several interesting parts of career, dating back to the days her father would drag her to the courts, dealing with lofty expectations, touring pros who just happen to be husband and wife, and a great little anecdote about receiving a police escort to a quarter final match in Colombia.

Tom Ford has taken time off from his PSA career in an attempt to overcome a battle with chronic fatique syndrome. In doing so he's attempting to find balance which has manifested itself in his great podcast Finding Balance. Tom talks about these recent struggles and the inroads he's made of late.

Janet Baker McLeod is all in when it comes to squash these days. Most recently, this includes head coach duties for the Canadian Women's Junior Team who just returned from the Junior Pan Am Games in Brazil, and representing Canada herself in the ladies over 55 at the World Masters Championship in Charlottesville, Virginia at the end of the month. Lots of good stuff here in terms of coaching, junior squash, and a bit of insight in terms of squash in Canada and Nova Scotia in particular. Enjoy.

Derek Ryan is an Irish squash legend with over 200 caps and several PSA titles to his name. He reached as high as world #7, and is now the PSA's lead physio and medical coordinator. Derek joins me to discuss his newly formed role with the PSA, and we also look back a bit at his illustrious career. I even take some time to pick his masters brain for training intel. Enjoy the podcast.

Former world number 1, world champion and current world 7, Laura Massaro made a huge impression on episode 38. Her run of consecutive super series titles came to an end this year, but nothing to be ashamed of; her career speaks for itself. After defeating Nicol David for the first time and in doing so winning her first major title in 2011, Laura really never looked back. We talk about staying fit and healthy as she approaches her mid-30s, playing in the shadow of Nicol David for so many years, and the dynamic relationship with her husband/coach Danny. Enjoy!!

Squash Stories has taken the squash community by storm. If you want to talk squash with players of all levels, all backgrounds, with a global perspective or a local perspective, whether it be technical, the pro game, your local club league issues, squash history, you name it; Squash Stories is the place to visit for your daily squash fix. The dude behind this is Jamie Maddox, and he joined me for a great conversation. Enjoy the podcast.

Very much like myself, Squash Player Magazine writer Mike Dale is still fired up after the Super Series Final in Dubai. Mike knows his stuff, and we had a great conversation about the event in Dubai. We also looked back at what we both agreed was an incredible 2017/18 campaign, and we looked ahead at the 2018/19 season with plenty of intrigue.