Innovative coach Marc Thrill has constructed his own portable outdoor court to promote squash across his native Luxembourg.
The court measures 6m long, with a 3m high front wall and its back wall has a walkway in the middle. The floor is a system of connectable, stabilised mats. When disassembled, it easily fits into his SUV and building it takes 25 minutes.
The court had its first public outing at the University of Luxembourg to celebrate a government initiative called BeActive Day 2022. Over 120 people tried it out using normal squash rackets, with adults using a red-dot squash ball and kids using the Dunlop junior squash ball.
“I remain convinced that our sport needs to change – and the courts need to go to the people,” said Thrill. “An outdoor court like this opens squash to the public. I see large potential for sports weeks in schools and universities as the court is very easy to mount.”
Twice a month, Thrill builds the court in the Schengen sports hall, which we featured in Squash Player 2021 Issue 3. The climbing wall there that he converted into a one-wall squash court remains a big success.
Outdoor squash courts, which saw a popularity boom during the COVID-19 pandemic, have continued to gain popularity. Courts of a number of shapes and sizes have been utilised all over the world, including in South Africa, El Salvador, England, USA, Iran and plenty more as a way to make squash more accessible than ever.
Find out more about the outdoor squash movement here.
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