A new project introducing girls to the racquet sport squash has begun in Enfield, to improve young people’s wellbeing and mental health and increase participation in the sport.
The Girls Love Squash programme, officially launched at St Anne’s Catholic High School for Girls, will provide access to a sport that is not always commonly accessible to girls in primary and secondary schools.
The Enfield Council funded programme will run in eight Enfield schools over a two-year period.
The sessions will be delivered by squash coaches from Oakleigh Park Lawn Tennis & Squash Club, along with a sport psychologist and nutritionist with experience of wellbeing in young people.
Cllr Alev Cazimoglu, Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care at Enfield Council, said: “I was delighted to be invited to St Anne’s Catholic High School, to meet the pupils who will be participating in our Girls Love Squash programme.
“The programme is fantastic as it will provide girls who may not traditionally participate in sport or physical activity in a mixed environment, the chance to get active and it will help to improve their health and wellbeing.
“The camaraderie that forms while playing squash will help girls in our schools to thrive in a friendly environment with their peers.”
The four schools that have been participating in Girls Love Squash are: St Anne's Catholic High, Oasis Academy Enfield, Laurel Park, and Meridian Angel Primary. Four additional schools will join the programme later this year.
Squash will be introduced in PE lessons and at after school clubs in 90-minute sessions on a weekly basis, and some sessions will be hosted at Oakleigh Park Lawn Tennis & Squash Club (N20).
Squash is recognised as one of the healthiest sports, but national governing body England Squash has revealed only 13 per cent of weekly squash players are female.
Find out more about leisure and cultural activities on offer in Enfield here.