WISPS have been doing excellent work for the past 3 years getting more women and girls playing squash across Scotland. We asked coach and founder Elaine Inglis to share with us some more details about their success and what we can look forward to in the future.

For those that don’t know, can you give a brief summary about what WISPS is?

WISPS (Women in Scotland Playing Squash) is a series of tournaments played at squash clubs all around Scotland. It provides a friendly environment for women and girls of all abilities, from beginner’s level to masters level, to compete socially in one-day competitions, while developing friendships and increasing the accessibility of squash for all age groups..

When did you start WISPS and what motivated you to start?

WISPS began in 2022 with a conversation between myself and co-founder Jen Saldhana, from Whitecraigs squash club in Glasgow, after a conversation we had at the Masters Home Internationals. We both felt there was something missing in women’s representation in Scottish squash, with such a consistently small number of women competing in generally throughout the country. Females represent just 23% of squash players in Scotland. We just wanted to see more women and girls playing the best sport there is, in tournaments designed specifically to meet their needs and wants.

For a lot of women and girls that have never played squash competitively before, WISPS is their introduction to squash tournaments. How do you ensure everyone feels welcome and comfortable?

WISPS is a family. We are friendly, supportive, like-minded women, of mixed abilities, who want to play squash. We come from all over Scotland – Oban, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bridge of Allan – from north to south. I  like to encourage our players to travel to WISPS together where possible so people can build friendships for the full day.

There was the Squashathon earlier this year that was a roaring success and generated funds for charity, can you tell me a bit more about that?

WISPS has a sponsor, Healthy Chat, which is owned by Jennifer Broadley – a psychotherapist, and keen squash player at both Montrose and Forthill. We both believe that doing sport, no matter what a person’s ability, is a huge contributor to living positively and building healthy communities and connection. Mental health challenges affects so many people in so many different ways, and some people are shy to talk about it, so if WISPS can help those people in any small way, it’s a step in the right direction. Because of this, we decided to hold an event to raise money for for SAMH (Scottish Action for Mental Health). The Squashathon was hosted at Watsonians Squash Club in Edinburgh, and was a 12-hour, non-stop squash match, held on a single court, with our WISPS ladies rotating onto the court, playing singles or doubles, every half hour, to keep the squash ball in play. On the other 3 courts we simultaneously ran our usual WISPS tournament with graded catagories. With the generosity of those who donated prizes, we smashed our expected target of £1000, and instead raised over £4500 in all. Our WISPS family were amazing that day!  

What are some other stand out events that you have it put on over the years? Is there anything you are particularly proud of?

I’m always working on new and exciting WISPS events, and currently I’m designing  our first WISPS coaching weekend. This is just in planning stages at the moment but already we’ve had lots of our women keen to take part. I’m always looking for new places to host our events too, so if your squash club is interested in hosting a WISPS tournament, please get in touch.

Ellie Jones