Lagos State has staged two Professional Squash Association (PSA)-sanctioned tournaments this year under the auspices of the Lagos State Squash Association (LSSA) chaired by Tomi Falase. Organisation of these PSA tournaments have been lauded by squash buffs who believe the initiative would aid the growth of the sport, OLALEKAN OKUSAN writes.
Tomi Falase has endeared himself to the heart of squash players, officials and coaches as the IT expert has brought vibrancy to squash after staging two PSA-ranked tournaments – Lagos Classics and Prime Atlantic Open.
The Classics which made a return after being in comatose for over six years, was attended by top players from 14 countries including England, Egypt, France and Czech gracing the $18000 prize money championships.
Building up from the gains of the Classics, LSSA also got the nod of PSA to stage another ranking event which has local players competing for prize money and world ranking points.
But all these efforts are not without its challenges as explained by Falase: “Like every other thing in life, managing squash also has its own challenges. “As much as we would like to develop squash to the highest standard, funding in particular has been an issue. Inadequate facilities like squash courts are also a factor thereby limiting our reach to many local government areas of the state.
“The Rowe Park courts for instance need to be upgraded and refurbished so we can capture the youths around Yaba and environs.
“There are many squash courts in the state; however, they are privately- owned either by clubs or individuals so accessibility is restricted.
“The challenges are there but at the same time, a lot of progress is being made.”
He continued: “So far, we are being strategic in reaching out to our sponsors. Most of them are sports enthusiasts and in some cases, squash lovers. For some, it requires very little convincing to buy into our goals and objectives since they already know the importance of sports in any community. For others, it requires a bit more aggression and presentations to convince them. However, generally it has been very positive.
“The gains of hosting international tournaments are numerous from increased sales (hotels, restaurants etc.) during tournament periods, IGR through tourism, correcting the wrong impression of insecurity in Lagos State and so on.
“On insecurity, I recalled when we started planning the Classics with PSA (Professional Squash Association), they were very apprehensive because it involved players coming from all over the world. “They rejected our dates twice citing insecurity until we agreed that they should send their security expert for assessment. He came around for the duration of the tournament and no security incidents/lapses were recorded during the period. “Now, the same body is already asking what our plans are for next year; that’s one major gain,” Falase said.
For him, securing a PSA ranked event was not without its attendance hassles: “It wasn’t an easy battle to secure PSA sanctioned events for the players to shore up their ranking, I must say.
“We know that to help our players improve their rankings they needed more international exposure, and the Classics was one way of getting that done. “That was why we didn’t give up when PSA rejected our dates, we had to keep pushing. Now the players are known and our number one, Onaopemipo Adegoke recently won the Namibia Open tournament to the shock of many players around the world.
“I am very happy and impressed with the level of development. The players have huge potential, and the U-16 players are a delight to watch. Our player development is working very well, and I can boldly say we have world class players,” he added.
Under Falase, the LSSA has some lofty dreams to grow squash.
Falase further said: “Our dreams are quite a few as we want to have squash courts in all LGAs and communities to aid our on-going grassroots development.
“We dream that a Lagos State player will win a major international tournament. We also want to create a squash league amongst the LGAs and schools as well as have a squash foundation to support players in their future endeavours.
“We want to see Lagos squash on the global scene in preparation for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.”
To increase the popularity of squash, he said: “If you compare squash five to 10 years ago with what is happening today, you will see that the awareness has grown tremendously.
“The number of participants in tournaments keeps increasing and that can only imply that the popularity of the game is on the increase.
“It is work in progress and the outlook is very encouraging.”
Falase is particularly thrilled over the inclusion of squash in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
“The players are already excited about this, and they are all working towards representing the country in 2028.
“You can imagine the level of training and workouts that will go into this. It’s a positive development also in terms of more awareness for the game.
“I am also sure the states are also going to get more involved now and assist the NSF who has been doing a fantastic job in promoting the game.”
