A Shropshire sports club welcomed former number one Squash star Nick Matthews to the county to experience the facilities amid a major overhaul.
Working alongside the facilities management team at Shrewsbury School, the Shropshire Squash Club, based on the school site, is currently undergoing development work throughout – both on the courts and online.
There have been courts at Shrewsbury School since shortly after the Second World War, with the current facilities being built in 1979, and the site has now been refurbished with new flooring, LED lighting and new seating in the social area.
English professional player Nick Matthews, who won the British Open and the World Open three times over and reached the World number one ranking in 2010, paid a visit to the club to meet the committee and Shrewsbury-based developers Six Ticks, who stepped in to rejuvenate the club website.
The club, previously known as Kingsland Squash and Racketball Club, was rebranded as Shropshire Squash Club and the committee decided to raise its digital presence and marketing to attract a new wave of players.
Andy Lawrence, of the club committee, said: “With a focus very much on the ‘out with the old’ mindset, we decided it was time for a club refresh and general overhaul!
“While the sport itself is continuing to gather momentum and popularity globally, it can still carry a bit of a legacy as a ‘white shorts and T-shirt’ gentlemans club, however, the modern game is anything but!
“With a dated website and 10-year old technology, we thought it was high time to both raise the marketing profile to generate a new wave of young players, and to make certain features more accessible for club members – and it was great to show Nick the efforts we have made to raise the profile of the sport and the club.
“The site was launched this Summer and immediately began attracting new members in exactly the manner we’d hoped and planned.”
Stephanie Henson, from Six Ticks, which specialises in creating mobile apps, website development and custom systems, said: “We are pleased to have developed a website which ticks all the boxes for Shropshire Squash Club and its members.
“A lot of organisations are looking to have new looks – in with the new and out with the old as the club has done – and we look to create high quality, modern websites that utilise of the digital capabilities now available to business owners.
“We work really well with businesses who want to keep up with the times and get a modern new look but are not sure exactly how to do that.”
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