James Green sat down with David Cope of Merthyr Squash Club in Wales to talk about his success with fostering love for the sport of squash in all ages and abilities, including with Joel Makin.
David coached Joel Makin (HWR #4) when he was growing up. “What I believe I gave Joel and hopefully all of the kids who have played for me is the love for the sport, the enjoyment and that seed. Joel has worked so hard on himself and so many areas of his game, but when he was 13, 14, he was just an ordinary player. (...) And then something switched and he said, ‘I am going to be the best.’”
David explained how Joel would progress his game one point at a time, one step at a time, and he has now taken that into his professional career, moving up the rankings one at a time.
David also coached our Open Squash Coach Ciara Richards when she was just 4 years old, and he said they still have a program for 4-5 year olds at the club, and they use a ball on a string to get them started!
“We really simplify it so the kids can hit the ball. When you see that look on their face when they hit the sweet spot on the ball, you know they’re hooked. It’s a fantastic feeling for the coach and the kid.”
David started playing squash himself when he was 19 when he was an apprentice engineer and he got hooked on team squash and tournaments, and his love for coaching grew when his son wanted to learn. David still works as a manufacturing engineer, and has used his problem solving skills from his day job to transfer into coaching and growing Merthyr Squash Club.
They’ve also introduced Ladies Squash at the club, and have one of the only full ladies teams in South Wales. “We have done great things with ladies squash.” Says David. He wants to utilize his skills to grow the sport as much as possible.
His reason for having come to New York was actually to watch Joel in the Tournament of Champions (TOC,) which he unfortunately pulled out of due to injury. However, David still thoroughly enjoyed himself in New York. “Grand Central is a beautiful building.” He said on his time watching the TOC.
Looking forward to the future of squash, David thinks the sport has to tell a story in order to soar the popularity of the sport. Comparing it to the likes of darts events in the UK and the Super Bowl in the US, he says he sees the way forward as making events bigger and better!