European Squash announces new President

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European Squash announces new President

In her hometown, Birmingham, the Members National Federations waved Zena Wooldridge OBE off as President of the European Squash Federation.

Zena is the Director of Sport at the University of Birmingham, and the combination of two time consuming jobs couldn't have been easy. At the 2019 European Squash AGM, Members thanked Zena for her 9 years commitment and she was made Honorary Member of ESF. Zena rightly said that ESF is in a strong financial and administrative position. 

The outgoing President spoke of how proud she was of her achievement, due to the respect and thanks of many committed individuals. Zena was also pleased with the growth to 46 Member nations in a small geographical area, noting 65 teams participating in European Team events and 31 Junior tournaments on the circuit.  She expressed her thanks to WSF for pursuing the Olympic bid and welcomed PSA's coverage of European Teams. Before handing over the reins, the outgoing President expressed her personal thanks to the Board and the Treasurer who work so well together. Directors and their Committees were also thanked, together with the Event Directors and the office team.  The President concluded by saying it had been a privilege and pleasure to have served. 

Vice-President Hugo Hannes (Belgium) was elected President. Hugo was Vice-President (1998-2002) and President (2007-2013) and has the ambition to lead Rosie Barry (Ireland), Thomas Troedsson (Sweden) and Jackie Robinson (England) who was elected Vice-President for her third term.

Jim Hay (Scotland) is elected as the fourth Vice-President. Jim was President of Scottish Squash for 5 years and he was selected for the WSF Ethics Committee. Last year he received the “Scotland Volunteer of the Year Award”. We learned from this that Jim focusses on teamwork, respect and partnership working.

“These are exactly the fundamentals I would like to find in this new Board. Then and only then can we serve our 46 members and try to elevate our squash in Europe by means of the various Championships and our junior and master circuits. Because of all these events and their hosts, we are the strongest region in the world. The quantity is there and we must keep on focussing on the quality. However we cannot do this all by ourselves and I hope that this new Board and the ESF Office will receive a lot help and input from the many volunteers in various committees and from the Member Nation Federations who hopefully tender for one of the many championships and tournaments part of the circuit. ”,  said Hugo Hannes.

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