Following on from last week’s launch of ‘Meet the State Graders’, we are delighted to introduce another two of the guys who are competing in the state’s highest level competition. This week we are featuring Remi Young from Mirrabooka Squash Club, and David Beattie from Belmont Saints Squash Club…
Remi was born in Haarlem in the Netherlands, and moved to Perth when he was two years old where his family settled. David was born much more locally in Sydney and grew up there before moving to Perth roughly 15 years ago.
We asked them how they first got into squash. Remi’s parents first took him down to The Squash Factory when he was a mere six years old. They were there to watch an exhibition match featuring none other than former world no. 1 David Palmer. Remi was in total awe of the speed and power of the game, and has been in love ever since! David was exposed to squash when he was roughly 12 years of age. His father had been playing or sometime, and David asked if they could play together. David’s father then continued to coach him for many years. This combined with playing at a very strong Club, helped David to improve quite quickly.
What does a typical week look like for Remi and David? Well Remi typically trains in some capacity everyday, “I play squash 5-6 days a week, go to the gym 4-5 days a week, as well as extra training such as running or ghosting 2-3 times.” David practices twice a week and plays competitively once. Running a business has meant less time for squash unfortunately!
We asked Remi and David what they love the most about squash. Remi shared, “I love the community around squash and how well everyone gets along. But within the game I love the variety of game styles you can come up against, and variations of shots you can play that can make every match, game and point unique!” David loves, “how fit it keeps you and the mate-ship that can develop in the right team.“
Finally, we asked what advice they would impart to a junior currently travelling along the development pathway. Remi encourages our up and coming juniors to, “be competitive but never forget to have fun. Win or lose you have to enjoy what your doing to get the most out of it.” David said to try and “play the old guys whenever you can – there is always something you can pick up about the game that is not necessarily ‘out of the book’. Some call it experience!!”
Great advice guys. Thank you so much for your time – and best luck for the season!