We are in May, at the Palm Hills Worlds in Cairo… It’s Rob’s first ever time in Egypt, would you believe…
A first visit to Egypt: being ‘blown away’ by the place and its people
ROB OWEN: Egypt has been a great experience. I’d never been here before.
To be frank, some players have often been a little negative when talking about Egypt. You hear negative reports and it can put you off.
But I’ve been blown away by how good it is – by the people and by how nice everyone has been. Perhaps some know who I am, but everyone has been so welcoming.
The setup is amazing: the Palm Hills club, the courts and the facilities. It’s a special venue for a World Open; it does the event justice.
I’ve asked players how it compares with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Some prefer the Rep, but I almost think this is better. When the crowd is full, the atmosphere up there is unbelievable.
It’s a shame to see empty seats, especially when entry is free. I don’t understand why people aren’t coming in their thousands.
Fram: It can take them two hours to get here. And tournaments happen all the time; a World Open doesn’t feel as rare here as it would in England or Australia.
Rob: “I understand that, but it’s still the World Open, in this setup, for free. You’d think there would be at least a hundred people or more. In England or Australia, people travel for hours. Here, perhaps they think: ‘There’ll be another tournament next week.’
Fram: I’ve been here a long time, first event the Worlds 2006. The number of weekly tournaments, their intensity and the level of the juniors are surreal.
Rob: “That is a good thing, but I also see a lot of casualties. That system will produce players, but it will also leave people behind.
Fram: The intensity is part of the Egyptian temperament.
Rob: It wasn’t always like that. When I played, Egyptian players were more mild-mannered; there wasn’t the same aggression. The system produces excellent players, but it can also produce some of the behaviour we’ve been discussing.
Fram: Squash in Egypt can be pretty expensive, although it’s much more affordable than it used to be.
Rob: That is similar to America. Families spend fortunes on coaching and club access there, but America still doesn’t produce players the way Egypt does. Every US child seems to have a coach and they’re desperate to travel to find more coaching – I’ve had messages today from two American children who want to come and see me – yet they don’t produce the same champions.
So there must be something distinctive in Egypt.
Fram: Well, there are two things: the parents and the club structure.
Children spend the whole day at the club, watching the best players in the world train in front of them.
I have a photograph from 2006 of two Egyptian children watching James Willstrop stretch and copying the exact exercise. That’s what they do all day: watch, learn, copy and attack.
Rob: This is why the behaviour of champions matters. Children copy that as well.
Fram: Agreed.
Rebuilding club participation and the social side of squash
Fram: Your thoughts about squash future?
Rob: If we’re trying to improve the professional game, we also need more people playing squash. We need grassroots growth.
I’m sure Europe generally has the same issues as England: we’ve lost a lot of clubs. There are growth areas such as America, but America is a unique bubble. Schools and universities keep building courts, which is fantastic and does grow the game, but many of those children leave the sport after university. They don’t always continue playing because there isn’t the same club culture.
I want people to play squash for fun, in the same way they play padel or other social sports. ‘Let’s have a game of squash and a beer afterwards.’ We’ve lost some of that social aspect.
One of the great things about a good British club such as Pontefract is that it’s a social club. People go there, have a beer and spend time together.
Fram: It’s like Cheers: ‘everybody knows your name’
Rob: Exactly. Every Friday, the lads come down and have a couple of beers. I love the social side of sport, and I think we’ve moved away from it a little. I tell my players it’s good to be friendly with people.
You know, people who have been criticised for a long time sometimes withdraw and stop talking to anybody. They’re protecting themselves, but it can make them appear cold or isolated. The problem is that withdrawal becomes isolation.
Watching the tournament here (Palm Hills Worlds) has been interesting because there are little cliques. Some people don’t talk to anybody outside their group. In my day, players mixed more and the tour was more social.
The tour is a very lonely place. You’re away for a week on your own, and that is difficult. You need friends. If you become isolated, you can develop a siege mentality.
Social media is a killer. With Instagram, players feel a need to look like something they may not really be. They should be more themselves. People are afraid to say what they think, and there is an image they believe they have to live up to.
That is a nightmare for children, especially young men and women. They feel they have to look and behave in a certain way. They need to realise no one really cares.
Be yourself and stop worrying about everyone else and things you can’t control
The world has become very false at times now.
I encourage my players to have a personality and express themselves, within the boundaries of acceptable behaviour. Be yourself and have some fun. If you want a beer, have a beer. If you want a glass of wine, have one. That’s not a problem.
A player will perform better when they are more relaxed. Nele, for example, can be very intense sometimes. Because I’ve been here, I’ve made her laugh and encouraged her to attack the front of the court whenever she gets the chance.
I think players should talk to everyone, mix, have fun and laugh. Some live in a closed bubble, and I don’t think that’s healthy…
