Doubles’ courts officially opened at Racquet Center

The Guyana Squash Association (GSA) and by extension Guyana, is proudly hosting the Caribbean Area Squash Association (CASA) Senior Championships, a feat that would not be possible without a doubles’ court in their artillery.
Announced approximately two years ago, with construction beginning in January 2023, the Doubles’ courts which are larger in dimensions than the singles’ courts, were finally opened for use at the National Racquet Center on Woolford Avenue on Wednesday afternoon.
During the official opening of the CASA Senior Championships and unveiling of the courts, GSA President David Fernandes recollected their initial request for such a facility.

“He asked how we would want to see this facility developed and we asked if he really wanted us to dream, put together a team of racquet sports and so, this facility is being developed for all racquet sports. The building behind you is for Badminton and Table Tennis, this facility was made for Squash. When we shared with him the cost for the facility, he said he would work on it. Obviously, he had to campaign on our behalf as well and he did a fantastic job and that gave us; for the first time in the Caribbean, any country owns ASB triple courts that convert to doubles,” Fernandes recalled.
The Woolford Avenue, Georgetown facility reportedly costed the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport some $65M GYD.
Subject Minister Charles Ramson Jr. spoke of the new facility as a catalyst to raise the standards of Guyana’s hosting abilities.
“We are grateful to have the opportunity to host you but we don’t want to host you if our standards are not satisfactory and now that we have made that commitment, since 202 when we had that meeting right up in this room. When we sat in this room, one of the things that was requested was a doubles’ court,” the Sport Minister shared.
Ramson further stated about the request to construct the new courts, “Now I never played Squash competitively and I wasn’t quite sure about the procurement and the estimates for a doubles’ court at that time, sounded to me that it was inexpensive, how wrong I was. But what mattered, was that there was an alignment of intention. That’s really what mattered.”
Given that the lack of a doubles court had barred Guyana from hosting major Squash competitions, Ramson jr. went on to encourage the GSA to explore such opportunities with their new asset.
“I’m gonna take the liberty as well, to authorize David and the Association to bid for and signal intentions to host as many Caribbean Championships as you would like,” Ramson jr. announced.
The Guyanese pair of Ashley Khalil and Ashley DeGroot later christened the new facility with a gold medal performance in the Women’s doubles final of the CASA Senior Championships. (G-6)