Squash & Beyond World - 2010 Germany Tour

Professional Experience-Coaching

1994 (Jan-Jun): Squash Im OKC, Oldenburg, Germany
-This was my first step into the coaching environment as a Club Trainer in the North of Germany. Now I can view the period as not only being a wonderful experience , but also as a stepping stone towards the jobs that would follow in Switzerland in the years to come.

1997-99 (2 Seasons): Squash Club Van Der Merwe, Basel Switzerland
Duties Included:
-Training of 2 Club Teams, 4 junior teams as well as player/trainer of the National Swiss-A League team. Management of training programs for A-players.
- Management of ‘in-house’ League competitions in round-robin style groups, where approx. 30 players were ranked & grouped according to their level.

Achievements- Season 1998/99: Runners-up in National Swiss A-League

1999-2002 (3 Seasons): Squash Club Schaffhausen, Schaffhausen, Switzerland
Duties Included:
-Club team training, junior training. During this phase of my career my coaching duties were reduced due to my increased playing commitments on the PSA Tour. The last 2 years in my time here I trained German player– Andre Haschker (then aged 17-19). He is now ranked 141 in the World & No.3 in Germany (01/01/07).

Achievements- Season 2001/2002: 3rd in National Swiss A-League

2000-2002: Squash Club Pilatus, Luzern, Switzerland
Duties: 1 day per week- training of approx. 20 junior players at this club, all aged between 10-18 years old. Of these players that I worked with Benjamin Fischer (Swiss No.7) & Reiko Peter (Swiss No.4) are now members of the Swiss Men’s Team.

2002-2006 (4 Seasons): Squash Rackets Club Vaduz, Liechtenstein
Duties Included:
-National Trainer Liechtenstein, Men & Women
-Club Trainer SRC Vaduz, 4 Men’s & 2 Ladies Teams, Junior training
-No.1 Player National A-League team
-Board Member for Squash Club Vaduz 2002-2005
-PSA Chief Tournament Organiser- $15,000USD Liechtenstein Open April 2004 (a fantastic experience venturing into my first PSA Tournament as organiser instead of as a player, a challenge which I thoroughly enjoyed and thrived upon)
-Club liaison for weekly newspaper articles in both National papers of Liechtenstein (Vaterland & Volksblatt), regarding the A-league team match previews & reports during the Season (September-April).
-Coach/Manager of Liechtenstein Team for European Small Nations event each year 2002-2004

Achievements: Liechtenstein National Team
-Small Nations Olympic Games of Europe, Malta June 2003:
Men’s Team– Gold
Women’s Team- Bronze
Men’s team overcame highly fancied hosts—Malta & top seeded Cyprus, to win what was only one of three Gold Medals for the entire Liechtenstein team.
-Small Nations Squash Tournament of Europe:
Men- Finalists in 2002 & 2004
Women– Top 4 in 2002 & Finalists in 2004

SRC Vaduz National A-League Team:
-Swiss National A-League Top 3 Finish from 2002-2006 including:
-Season 2003/2004 Swiss National A-League – Champions
This victory in the 03/04 season, broke the long standing dominance of the 2 Squash Clubs –Grasshoppers & Royal Cham –who’d won every title since 1978. It gave the SRC Vaduz front-page headlines in both National newspapers. The team was officially received by the Town Mayor on 11.03.2004.

2006 -2009: Squash Club Vitis, Zurich
Duties Include:
- Player/Trainer National A-League Team
- Club Training of 3 teams
- Junior Club Training (approx.25 Juniors at present)
- Events Organiser (I have organised 4 major Exhibition events over the past 2 years with players such as Jonathon Power, Greg Gaultier, Ramy Ashour & Nicol David. I organised a $10,000USD PSA Event from May 19-24, 2009 – the ‘Seegarten VITIS Open’, which was won by World No.32 Tom Richards

Achievements:
National A-League SC Vitis: Swiss Team Champion 2007
3rd place 2008
Runners-up 2009

Junior Training: I am currently training the following players as a part of their ‘Sport-School’ Program in Zurich;
Jasmin Ballmann – Swiss No.3 (Ladies)
Manuel Wanner – Swiss No.2 (U/15 Boys)
Silvio Soom – Swiss No.4 (U/15 Boys)

2002 - 2005: National Coach Switzerland - Women’s Team
2005 - 2009: National Coach Switzerland - Men’s Team
Duties Include:
-Monthly trainings with players from National Squad at designated centre
-Weekend Training Camps with National Team in preparation for major events (European Team Championship/World Team Championship)
-Bi-Monthly training programs for players individually
-Coach at European Team Championship & Selector for both National Teams
Management/Organisation for Swiss Team Entry/Reservations for the ETC
-Manager of PSA ‘Challenger’ events in Switzerland, approx. 4-5 events annually

Achievements: ETC (Euro Team Championship)
  Women: Top 10 Finish each year from 2002-2005
                World Women’s Team Championship Amsterdam, 2004 – 15th
Men: ETC Vienna, Austria 2006 – 11th
           ETC Rimini, Italy 2007 – 10th (played as No.3 in Team)
           ETC Amsterdam 2008 – 6th (played as No.2 in Team)
           ETC Mälmo, Sweden – 12th (played as No.2 in Team)

The past 6 months I have also been working privately with Swiss No.2–Nicholas Mueller- (ranked no.2-U/19 Europe/no.197 PSA). He is considered one of the favourites for the World Junior Titles to be played in Switzerland in 2008.

Professional Career– Player

PSA Tournament Summary (1991-2004):

Seven PSA Tour Victories:
Winner: Grasshopper Cup, Zurich Oct.2000 $11,000USD
Winner: MAAA Invitational, Montreal Dec.1997 $10,000USD
Winner: Boz Aramis Open, Germany Nov.1997 $4,000USD
Winner: Isostar Open, Netherlands Oct.1997 $5,000USD
Winner: Manta Magic Int., Perth AUS May 1997 $5,000USD
Winner: Ciutat Open, Barcelona, May 1994 $6,000USD
Winner: Danish Open, Odense, Apr.1994 $8,000USD

Major PSA Results (other):
Finalist: Colombian Open, Aug.2002 $20,000USD
Semi-Finalist: Swedish Open, Jan.2002 $30,000USD
Finalist: Windy City Open, Chicago, Mar.2001 $20,000USD
Qtr.Finalist: Esso Flanders Open, Belgium, Feb.2001 $70,000USD
Qtr.Finalist: Apawamis Open, Rye NY, Jan.2001 25,000USD
Finalist: Finnish Open, Helsinki, Dec.2000 $15,000USD
Finalist: Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur, Dec.2000 $20,000USD
Qtr.Finalist: Motor City Open, Detroit, Oct.2000 $25,000USD
Qtr.Finalist: Pakistan Open, Karachi, Nov.1999 $50,000USD
Semi-Finalist: Greenwich Open, CT, Jan.1999 $25,000USD
Qtr. Finalist: Singapore Open, Aug.1998 $45,000USD
Finalist: YTL Open, Malaysia, Apr.1998 $12,000USD

Winner: World Men’s Team Championship, Melbourne October 2001– This achievement definitely the highlight of my squash career. It gave me a complete sense of fulfilment after 15 years of hard work and dedication to become a World Champion.

Personal Statement

I consider myself to be an open-minded and well organized person who thrives on challenges. Whether the challenge is that of improving the level of a club squash player or the diversity involved in planning and running a large scale event, my own work ethic never allows for anything less than maximum commitment to the task at hand. My professional playing history in squash has no doubt characterized many of the traits which have enabled me to naturally progress into the role of coach. I firmly believe that a good coach must be a good analyst, planner and natural motivator as well as having an innate passion for their sport of choice. I would consider myself to be a squash ’purist’ in this sense, extremely passionate about the game which has delivered me so much firstly as a player and now as a coach and organizer.
My life as a coach and player throughout Europe has taught me with invaluable lessons in areas such as people-management, team leadership and being a role model. As a National Coach I have discovered another side to being a role model. As well as being responsible for the further development of elite players I have also learned to appreciate the vital importance of developing squash at the grass roots level. The team aspect of coaching is also an area that I thoroughly enjoy. Actually, the challenges of guiding varying talents and personalities towards one common goal have often been the most rewarding experiences of my squash career.
My own life lessons have also shown me that happiness and quality of life are closely related to hard work and success. Over the years I feel that I have always been modifying my approach with patience, while adapting to my environment and remaining flexible. Through this method, I always felt that I could best connect with my students and help them to maximize their potentials and realize their goal

Skills

-I speak completely fluent German after living 12 years in Switzerland
-My 2 years working for the company ’Data-Sell’ in Melbourne, gave me an insight into working in a team environment within the office, where my daily tasks were duties such as; Tele-sales, statistics, research surveying, maintaining structure and efficiency within a 4-6 person group as Team Leader
-I have a competent knowledge of many Computer Programs and I work regularly with Word, Excel, Powerpoint & Publisher
-I have a clean EU & Australian Driver’s License

References:

Andrew Marshall– Swiss Squash President
Contact Details: Unterdorfstr.243
                           5028 Ueken,
                             Switzerland
Telephone:         +41-62 871 8400 (home)
Email:                             andrew.marshall@squash.ch

Martin Heath– Head Coach Rochester University (former PSA World No.4)
Contact Details: 207 Oxford St,
                             Apt. 707,
                             Rochester,
                             NY 14607-2143
Telephone:            +1-585 273 5184
Email:                             mheath@sports.rochester.edu

Roger Flynn– National Coach Scotland (former Head Coach of Victorian Institute of Sport, Melbourne, Australia 1995-2006)
Contact Details: Centre for Sports & Exercise,
                                      Heriot-Watt University,
                                      Edinburgh,
                                      EH14 4AS
Telephone:            +44-131 451 8416
Email:                             roger.flynn@scottishsquash.org