Now that the State Grade Pennant competition is well underway, we thought you might like to get to know the players who are competing in the state’s highest level competition. Each week we will profile 1-2 different players, starting off with Aedan Martin from Cambridge Squash Club, and Craig Jones from Mirrabooka Squash Club!
Aedan is from Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe, whereas Craig was born in Perth then moved to Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory where he grew up.
We first asked them how they got into squash…
Craig shared, “I never saw a squash court until I was 12. I played socially as a junior with friends on Friday nights, and soon found myself playing A-Grade with the men. I played representative squash as a junior until I broke my ankle playing baseball at Uni in Victoria, which put an end to that for a little while.” When Craig moved back to Perth in 2015, he soon found himself back on the squash court.
Aedan shared, “I got into squash following in the footsteps of my dad. I played every Saturday with mates until it became a passion. I’ve been playing for 12 years now.”
What does a typical week look like for Aedan and Craig? Well due to heavy work and study commitments, they’re only able to play once or twice a week but exercise as much as possible outside of squash to keep themselves fit.
The thing Craig loves most about squash is that it’s a “social game with like-minded people. You can be intense for a period of time (physically and emotionally), and then relax a bit afterwards. It’s a fun, enjoyable game with a high level of skill required that keeps you fit and active.”
Aedan loves the fact that “win or lose it’s always a fiery game, played with extreme intensity – putting it all on the line. Also unlike tennis you can hit the ball as hard as you can as often as you want.”
Finally, we asked what advice they would impart to a junior currently travelling along the development pathway. Craig said, “Firstly, continue to enjoy the game and not burn yourself out. Secondly, you can take the game as far as you want; results will come with effort and hard work. I thoroughly enjoyed competing against older and experienced players and beating them when I was a junior coming through the ranks. Now that I’m on the other side of the fence, I try not to let that happen! Although secretly I do enjoy seeing that occur.”
Aedan simply shared, “just love the game!! When you love the game you’ll play it forever.”
Great advice guys. Thank you so much for your time – and best luck for the season!
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