International squash player offering coaching to juniors

Jalal Hussain is a qualified coach with England Squash, a sport which has been his, and his wife’s, passion for many years.

Playing at national level, he was trained by the coaches who produced world champions for Pakistan and played alongside another world champion in his home country.

He has also won English competitions in the Midlands too since living in this country.

His wife, Zainub Khan, who shares his love of the sport, said: “We moved here and noticed squash courts were closing at places like Belton and Heckington and turning into gyms; they have closed courts within Sleaford as well, which is a great pity.

“It is a really good sport and both of us wanted to reignite the passion and bring it back for the youth of the town.

“It is a very high impact, indoor sport, so you can play it in all weathers. You burn a lot of calories and it keeps you fit. I believe people have stopped playing it as there has not been a British champion internationally for a long time.”

They have negotiated to use one of the little-used squash courts at Better Gym on East Road and focus on offering free taster sessions for juniors to grasp the basics of the action-packed game on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, sponsored by Nadim Aziz of Lincs Cabs. If the children are interested they can book up for more sessions. Jalal is also doing adult one to one sessions for £5 from 9am on Sundays.

Zainub said: “Better Gym say they rarely get any bookings for the courts, so we arranged to hire it for free for the first two months to get things going and then pay rent after that rather than seeing them standing empty.

“We are lucky to have got this opportunity.”

l To book into sessions you can email: [email protected] or contact them via Facebook at Sleaford Squash Club.