MAJOR SPONSORS

Squash New Zealand Annual Report 2010
2010 NEW ZEALAND MASTERS
CHAMPIONSHIPS WINNERS
Top L-R: M Waldin,T Colyer,
S Gardiner, R Purser, T Coulter
Middle L-R: O Bunn, M Millar,
F Walker, K Austin, L Scurr
Bottom L-R: L Cowlard, K Newman,
J Cooper, N Cull, G Craig
I wrote a report from a personal perspective to Andrew
Shelley, the CEO of the World Squash Federation, and this
has been well received, prompting some changes to policy,
and I include excerpts below: (A full exposure of the
ineptitude would require many pages).
“My email of 17 July to you included the clauses “abysmal
planning and insufficient time input by them” (when referring
to the seeding information provided) and “it is with some
trepidation that we travel to Cologne if this is the level of
organisation that we can expect”......
Well Andrew, my fears were realised in spades. What an
unmitigated disaster, beginning at the poorly planned opening
ceremony where an embarrassed sponsor was overheard
to comment to an organiser that ‘a 4th grade football team
could do better than this’, through to the last day of play when
some semblance of order was finally restored.
The closing ceremony included apologies and platitudes
and these served to defuse a volatile crowd situation a little,
however they cannot erase the tainted image the ‘CHAOTIC
COLOGNE COCK-UP’ will forever be associated with,
and the sour taste will remain with most of us forever,
including the local playing contingent who had the decency
to be totally embarrassed.
Thankfully many of the players who travelled thousands of
miles and spent thousands of dollars at least had further
destinations to enjoy, but my heart goes out to those who
came for the squash only because their disappointment and
disillusionment will always remain.
The one saving grace was the quality of the front line staff,
who were put under immense pressure because of the
inept pretournament planning by the hosts, but who managed
to weather the storm magnificently, although the many
offers of advice on how to rectify the situation for future
days were largely ignored until too late.
The principal problems were as a result of the draw not
being prepared for the week, or even the next day, meaning
players had to access the internet early in the morning,
some even texting New Zealand for the information.
Generally playing time blocks only were provided at the end
of the days play (eg. Men 45 9am-12am) however these
were also often altered overnight, creating many default
situations. Combine this with a ponderous and time
consuming inter-complex transpor t system and you
have carnage.
The melee around tournament control with 300plus players
trying to confirm their court and time, or that of someone
they wanted to watch, had to be seen to be believed, but
the German response to suggestions for improvement in
communication was “You must always ask”.
ALL OF THIS COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED WITH
COMMON SENSE AND ASTUTE PLANNING.
Finally nearing the end of the event apologies were put
on the internet, the Organiser was replaced, some lines
of communication were opened, advice was heeded,
information was made available in a coherent manner,
and players were given the chance to plan for a possible
once in a lifetime opportunity.
However the blame cannot rest only at the feet of Peter
Kock, it should have been recognised that all was not
right months ago during the auditing process, and the
responsibility for the organisation of the event should have
been shared among more personnel. Democracy works
better than a dictatorship!
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