EBBISHAM SQUASH CLUB HELPS TAKE
NATIONAL SCHEME TO 1000 CLUB LANDMARK

The achievement of a Squash Club in Epsom, Surrey has helped Sport England reach a national landmark.

Ebbisham Sports Club has been awarded Clubmark accreditation for being a well-run club and it has taken the total number of sports clubs to achieve the award through the 1000 mark.

The Squash club now has over 250 junior and senior members with 25 junior players involved in county squads, 3 of the junior squad being in the top 20 at national age group and 19 year old Jamie Mathews being England No. 1 in the England Deaf Squash team. The club also run a fantastic Graded Tournament, which has grown from a one-day, 50 player junior tournament into a three-day event with over 150 entrants. The clubs achievements have been helped by the guidance and focus which the Clubmark scheme provides coupled with the determination and hard work of Jo Robinson and her team of volunteers.

Ebbisham has been recognised as having reached high national standards of good management, coaching, equal opportunities and safety.

The Sport England Clubmark scheme has now achieved 1000 fully accredited clubs in 20 different sports. It means that the scheme is rapidly becoming the established quality standard for all sports clubs in the country.

Sport England's Chief Executive Roger Draper said: "Congratulations to Ebbisham on their Clubmark Award. It is not easy to reach the standards demanded by the scheme so Ebbisham should be very proud of all they have achieved.

"The Clubmark scheme is really gaining momentum. It is good that we have 1000 accredited clubs but perhaps even more encouraging is that over a thousand more clubs have applied to join."

Ebbisham received their award from Ian Robinson, England Squash Area Coach, at the Surrey Squash Rackets Association AGM, where they picked up a number of trophies marking their success. The Award was part of a series of events across the country to mark the 1000 club landmark.

Jo Robinson commented, "Since the initial encouragement and assistance we received from England Squash, Clubmark has helped to focus those involved within the club to help where it really makes a difference. This has not only helped the club grow but has created a real buzz around the place".

Peter Nicol, England's long time World Number 1, feels Clubmark is a great help for Squash. "We have always had a very good junior club system with ever increasing numbers taking part. Our challenge now is to raise standards even further and help ensure England stay at the top of the game on an International level. The Clubmark scheme undoubtedly helps us to achieve this."

For More Information please contact: Jo Robinson.