SQUASH NEW ZEALAND Annual Report - Devoy Squash & Fitness ...

Squash New Zealand Annual Report 2011
2010 World Women’s Teams Squash
Championships Report
The 2010 World Women’s Teams Squash Championships were
hosted in Palmerston North from the 28th November until the
4th December. Organisation took over 2 years of planning with
monthly meetings through to weekly meetings closer to the
event. Staffing was primarily a volunteer workforce consisting
of a handpicked Organising Committee of 20 with a selected
skill base, a paid Championships director, a contracted media
manager and over 130 volunteers to run the championships. The
volunteers once again gave this New Zealand event an edge,
providing first class hospitality, facilities and service.
From the beginning the Organising Committee made every
effort to lift the bar in presenting a world class championships
including:
1. Team liaisons allocated to each nation
2. Dedicated media campaign including TV and web
streaming
3. An Opening Ceremony which showcased New
Zealand, the players and all 16 competing nations
4. A school Educational Resource was developed,
where schools were connected with each team
5. Full crowds watching a strong NZ team perform well.
6. A Kiwi style Closing Dinner.
Each nation from 1 to 16 left thinking New Zealand as a nation
and Kiwis were superb. The country (and region) had its best
week of weather all year with players, officials and supporters/
spectators walking in a pleasant balmy climate to venues with
ease.
Accolades about ‘best World’s ever’ were received from many
sources including current World Champion Nicol David, Dame
Susan Devoy and former World Champs Sarah Fitzgerald and
Michelle Martin. This was reward for all of the hard work put
into the Championships.
These Championships have left a legacy for squash. The sport
within New Zealand and the Palmerston North region has once
again shown its capability to run superb International events. It
showcased a world class facility in Palmerston North, produced
a small surplus that has been put back into the sport and created
a buzz throughout the sports media that has been missing from
Squash for some time.
OVERVIEW
Some interesting facts from the Championships including:
• 16 nations attended, including 100+ competitors
and coaches that were part of the 400+ national
and international guests that attended the week long
Championships.
• Semi’s and Finals were sell-out crowds of 600 each
with parochial, rugby type support, especially for the
home nation.
• Venues for the championships were the SquashGym
Palmerston North club and IPC College. The Opening,
Closing Medal Ceremonies, pool play thru to theQuarters,
Semis and Finals were held at the Japanese owned IPC
College’s International Rec Centre while early pool play
rounds were held at SquashGym. IPC was a natural
amphitheatre setting where the portable All-glass court
was set up surrounded by a 600 tiered seat grandstand
and corporate lounge.
• A highlight was the attendance of current World
champion and squash superstar Nicol David with the
Malaysian team, our own former World Champions
Dame Susan Devoy & Carol Owens, while other
former World Champions included Australia’s Sarah
Fitzgerald, Michelle Martin and Vanessa Atkinson from
the Netherlands.
• The Championships produced a small surplus and
SquashGym collected a small venue fee from an overall
event budget of $400,000. The Championships brought
an economic benefit to the country and region of over
$2 million.
• The Championships had a significant sponsorship
and funding component in the overall budget. Major
partnerships or sponsorships included; SPARC, Simplot
NZ & John West Salmon, Squash New Zealand, Inspire
Net, Hotel Coachman, IPC College, Asics & Wilson
and the Palmerston North City Council. Numerous
Community and Gaming Trusts also contributed including;
NZCT, Lion Foundation, Eastern & Central Community
Trust, Central Energy Trust, Infinity Foundation and
Endeavour Trust. Our grateful thanks to all.
• The official Championship website
(www.womensworldsquash2010.co.nz) generated over
1.5 million hits, featured regular updates, photo galleries
and web-streaming for the Quarters, Semis and Finals,
which over 7000 viewed a web streamed Semis and
Finals. This was our portal to the outside world.
• Team Liaison officers were appointed for each country,
2 for each nation to welcome and help teams settle in
and enjoy the Championships.
• The Championships were filmed for SkyTV and was aired
3 times in an hour long highlights package, snippets were
also aired on TVNZ, Maori and TV3 news. A popular
Championships DVD was produced and sold.
• Australia, led by Kasey Brown and with the return of
Sarah Fitzgerald, won the teams event from England, New
Zealand went very close losing a tight semi to England
and faded in the bronze medal match against Malaysia,
finishing a creditable 4th.
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