Northern Ontario squash coaches welcome the sport's inclusion into the Olympics

A squash coach in Timmins expects the sport's inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will help boost its popularity in northern Ontario.

"As we start to see things on the radio and TV about the Olympics and what's being selected, it's more visibility, more awareness," said Clifford Laming.

Laming has been coaching squash players for 15 years, and has lived in Timmins for 10 years.

He said the city didn't have an international standard court when he arrived, but now there's one at Northern College.

"And we created a league that got as many as 50 people playing," he said.

Laming said it's been a long journey for squash associations around the world to get the sport included in the Olympics.

"It's truly an international sport, played in 185 countries around the world," he said.

"So we couldn't see why it wasn't making the cut."

But now with its inclusion in the 2028 Summer Olympics, along with baseball/softball, cricket, flag football and lacrosse, Laming said the world's best squash players will have a bigger platform to showcase the sport.

And that could encourage more people to play the sport he loves.

"It's friendly, fun, healthy and the weather's always good inside the squash court," he said.

Brian Clark, a squash coach and volunteer at YMCA in Sudbury, said squash presents on television much better than it once did, which should make it an exciting Olympic sport. 

"The top professional levels are now playing on a glass court," he said.

"They play with a slightly tinted court and they have a white ball. And with all of the high-definition cameras, and all of the camera angles, and all the different things that they've got now, the game is very exciting to watch on TV."

Clark said Sudbury had a vibrant squash scene