Scottish Squash appoints Jennifer Barsby as new Head of Development

Scottish Squash is delighted to announce that Jennifer Barsby has been appointed as Head of Development and will commence her role later this month.

Jennifer brings with her over 18 years of experience in sport and disability inclusion, having played a leading role in shaping the landscape of Scottish Disability Sport over nearly two decades.

During her time at Scottish Disability Sport, Jennifer was instrumental in developing and maintaining the Minimum Operating Standards with member branches, ensuring strong governance and the creation of pathways that enable people with disabilities to participate in sport at all levels. As Performance Manager, she led the Scottish Boccia programme, overseeing its strategic growth and performance pathway while managing a team that included development officers, national coaches, and apprentices.

Jennifer’s leadership extended across equality and safeguarding, guiding SDS to achieve Advanced Level of the Equality Standard and 100% compliance in Welfare Standards. She also founded and led the SDS Young Persons Sport Panel, empowering young people with disabilities to have a voice in sport, and contributed to the organisation’s Strategic Plan 2021–2029.

Her impact reaches beyond SDS. As a Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS) Board Member, Jennifer has helped shape strategy, champion equality as CGS Equality Lead, and contributed to Scotland’s bid to host the 2026 Games. She also served as Accommodation Manager for Team Scotland at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, ensuring athletes and teams had the support they needed to perform at their best.

In this new role, Jennifer will lead and support the development team to further enhance our coaching and referee development, engagement with schools and the community, promote the growth in racketball and masters squash, and grow our service offer to clubs and our regional associations.

Speaking about her new role, Jennifer said: “I am really excited to start with Scottish Squash and can’t wait to meet and support the community to develop the sport. I hope to bring all of the knowledge, skills and experience from my roles in sport and continue to grow and help shape the future of Scottish Squash”

Scottish Squash CEO Paul Macari said “Jennifer’s experience and commitment to growing sport and inclusion will be an incredible asset to our team. Her track record in sports development, equality, and performance management speaks for itself, and we’re excited about the leadership and insight she brings.

“Scottish Squash has undergone a significant change in leadership over the past 12 months and the creation of this strategic role comes at an exciting and pivotal time for the growth of our sport in Scotland”