Monday 1 July 2013

Ladies team history: 1973 to present, all divisions

Continuing the series on Ladies team squash in East of Scotland...

 Currently 14 teams active. 23 teams(grey) have gone dormant/inactive. And 6 teams have had their courts demolished (black), so definitely never coming back. As usual, click on the pic to zoom in and read the labels.
     It looks like only the really organised clubs have retained ladies squash, some of the other strong clubs from the mens point of view have not put extra effort into ladies squash and the ladies game has withered there.
Ladies league timeline - Green is good, grey is bad, black is fatal!
    Colinton Castle can claim that C.L.A.S.S.8.8 are their team. Heriot Watt University should be able to raise a ladies team with the playing base they have on campus, you would think?
 Of the pro-Ladies clubs, Abercorn, ESC, Edinburgh University, Grange, Watsonians & Waverley have never missed a season of ladies team squash since they started!
    Quite a few clubs have disbanded their ladies teams, only to later re-form for a Take That comeback tour, but my graph is difficult to represent that so I've just filled in the blank years or in the case of current teams, given them a duplicate row. Dalgety Bay and David Lloyd are among those of the  current crop that have done this.
     West Lothian is, I believe, a club that used to play out of Bathgate. Anybody know where the Loch Centre team played, 1985-88? Answer: Here, and apparently the 2 courts are still open for play in Tranent.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Carlton club has been demolished (I think). Apologies if it's still there.
Richard

GrangeSquashClub said...

In-correct-amundu.
The Health Club at The Carlton Hotel Edinburgh combines the latest in gym ... Gym; Swimming pool; Sauna; Steam room; Spa Pool; Two squash courts ...
Mike Hall still does a bit of coaching there.
Apologies accepted.

GrangeSquashClub said...

The Loch Centre in Tranent still has 2 courts, but the glass back have been removed, mirrors & electrical sockets built in to make one into a dance studio and the other into a spinning gym

Anonymous said...

Apologies to everyone.

I always thought the Carlton Club played somewhere along London Road. I don't remember ever playing there, but I don't travel outside the EH10 and EH11 postcode areas very well.

Whereabout's is the Carton Cricket Club?

Richard

GrangeSquashClub said...

Carlton CC play in Grange Loan in the Grange area of Edinburgh ( next door to where The Grange Club played 175 years ago before it moved).
Lisa McKenna, Raymond Ross and Callum Lyle are the players I remember from Carlton Squash.

Anonymous said...

I'm just being awkward now, but what about the Edinburgh Uni courts at the Pleasance. There were eight courts until a couple of years ago but now there are only four.

Do the four missing courts count as demolished?

Richard

GrangeSquashClub said...

A valid point, which should be a footnote to the demolished sentence.
I guess the main point of the graph is to show the historical evolution of ladies teams, rather than courts. Bricks and mortar are necessary but not sufficient for a valid league. Players must be active in sufficient numbers for a valid league.
Grampian and Cork are examples of where they had critical mass of female players for good leagues and then lost it. Even though they have retained plenty of their courts.

Anonymous said...

If there are any ladies out there who fancy playing for a team in season 2013-14, Watsonians are looking for additional players.

Last season we had two teams, one in division one and one in division two. This season we'll have two teams in division two.

We're losing a couple of the girls who have played for many years and need additional players to continue to run two teams in the leagues.

As always, it's not necessary to play every match and the main thing is to have fun rather than be an amazingly good and fit squash player.

Details on how to join can be found on www.watsoniansquash.co.uk or contact Richard McIntosh. The website has a contact us section.

I'm sure there are other squash clubs available (and Grange is a very nice club so I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from playing at Grange), but I thought I'd add something to this discussion thread.

Thanks,
Richard

Anonymous said...

If there are any ladies out there who fancy playing for a team in season 2013-14, Watsonians are looking for additional players.

Last season we had two teams, one in division one and one in division two. This season we'll have two teams in division two.

We're losing a couple of the girls who have played for many years and need additional players to continue to run two teams in the leagues.

As always, it's not necessary to play every match and the main thing is to have fun rather than be an amazingly good and fit squash player.

Details on how to join can be found on www.watsoniansquash.co.uk or contact Richard McIntosh. The website has a contact us section.

I'm sure there are other squash clubs available (and Grange is a very nice club so I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from playing at Grange), but I thought I'd add something to this discussion thread.

Thanks,
Richard

GrangeSquashClub said...

No problem - Suzie Laughland is a Watsons woman who was originally a Grange Squash player, as was Christine Graham (is Christine packing in?)
When are you starting the Watsonians Open - the Grange Open has been the catalyst for the rejuvenation of woman's squash at Grange!

Anonymous said...

There was a meeting about the ladies' leagues a couple of nights ago.

I've not heard anything about it, or who was there.

Does anyone out there have any updates?

Richard

GrangeSquashClub said...

I believe 11 of the 13 teams represented, only Abercorn missing.

A number of ideas discussed, incl going to 4-player teams.
In the end, decided Div 1 will be 8 teams and div 2 will be 5 teams playing each other more often. I think there will be promo/releg at xmas and in Mar there will be a knockout cup for all teams, which will also resolve who won overall, between the winners in the first half and the second half.
Apols if I haven't got this exactly right, just what I remember from what Karen told me. Christine Graham was there so you can get chapter 'n verse from her.

Christy said...

CLASS88 has now dissolved. Unbelievable, Colinton Castle that used to host 3 ladies teams, now has none.