A glimpse inside Gympie's new $1m squash facility

 
Matthew Robinson, the new owner of the Victory Squash courts in Gympie.


THE construction of Gympie's new $1million squash courts in Victory Heights is near completion.
Victory Squash is the concept of Matthew Robinson and his wife Rachel Coull, and after four years of toil, the facility is closely resembling its finished product.
The $1million construction is scheduled for completion before the end of the year.
"I've looked at it for several years, I've been working as a teacher and running a coffee cart on the side for a while and I just felt the time was right," Robinson said.
"The council process has taken a long three years, but before that, the dream, it really began four years ago."
The facility will feature four high-quality squash courts, with a movable wall for adaptation to the size of international doubles court, a feature many facilities in Australia simply do not have.
The four courts can accommodate eight players at once in total, and easily cater for a tournament of around eighty competitors.
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There will be room for 14 car parking spaces with overflow for roughly twice that number.
Robinson has been a squash player since 1986 and was inspired to build the squash courts, with its associated cafe, by his experiences overseas.
He also has experience working for Squash Australia before he became a full-time teacher.
An on-site cafe open daily from 7am-4pm, is the key point of difference to many squash courts around the country, and will feature seating for about 30 people in and outside with a view over a dam.
The Gympie Squash Club will also have their own area, complete with fridge and bar, there will be bathrooms, showers and lockers.
The facility quickly resembles a social club with a racquet and ball game attached.
"It's definitely influenced by what I saw in the UK and overseas, where they have cafes and restaurants on-site," Robinson said.
"There you have people having a few games, then sitting down to eat and drink and socialising and things like that."
Buoyed by his time working within the sport, Robinson and Coull have their numbers dotted.
They estimate about 500 squash players live in and around Gympie, and they need less than a quarter of those players to become members to float the business.
"There's a lot of interest in the sport, particularly within the schools," Robinson said.
"We asked the high schools for input and both James Nash and Gympie High seemed to have much higher interest than we thought."
If the courts are finished in time, Gympie newest sporting arena could be christened by world-class athletes.
Such is the scarcity of international doubles sized courts, there is a chance a Commonwealth Games squash team could train in Gympie in the lead up to the tournament.
Victory Squash will aim to host a tournament soon after completion to celebrate the project.