New Zealand's Squash Star, on a brief visit to North London, works the locally based players to their limits (From Times Series)

Jaclyn Hawkes, Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist, Trains at Oakleigh Park

2:05am Friday 25th February 2011

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It was a pleasure to spend two lungbusting hours on Tuesday training with a Kiwi, an Argentine, and an Aussie at the Oakleigh Park Lawn Tennis and Squash Club in Whetstone. As I lost the final rally of the session and shook hands with our honoured guest, I reflected on what a phenomenal sport squash is.

Jaclyn Hawkes is a leading New Zealand athlete who is on a brief visit to London. We were joined by two others. Guillermo Pedernera will be pushing for a place in his national team when he returns to Argentina in June. The fourth participant was Ben Werchon, currently on a 3 month trip to the UK from his base in Adelaide. He made the final of his national under 19 championship last July. Both these players tested the Commonwealth Games gold medallist with all their might. However, gliding gracefully around the court Ms Hawkes played smooth, controlled and accurate squash and basically won all the training games.

According to the US Forbes Foundation, squash is the ultimate sport for all round physical fitness. Two hours' training with Jaclyn Hawkes underlined for your author the veracity of Forbes' research. A Commonwealth Games gold medal is the highest profile trophy to which a squash player can aspire. Well aware that Jaclyn had climbed that mountain and claimed one in Delhi in September 2010, none of the three men expected the workout to be easy.

The format of the training session was a series of drills and routines followed by competitive training games. First the players split onto two courts and played ten minute games on a round robin basis, then three players played on one court as the young Australian rested and stretched having trained a tad too hard this week. The three on one court format is particularly hard and fast. Two play a competitive point with the “dead” player redundant by the court door. The loser of the point switches places with the dead man for the next point, the winner stays on. First to 11 points wins.

I was not surprised by the quality of Ms Hawkes’ play. As Oakleigh Park regulars know, the club boasts among its ranks Alison Waters, world number 3, who has just recently returned to competitive play after an enforced 4 month injury break.

Reflecting on these two fine female athletes as I drove home on Tuesday I was struck by the thought of what a great burden would be lifted from the sagging shoulders of our National Health Service if more people played squash. Our local and national leaders should stop throwing money at various wheezes intended to address the obesity crisis, but doomed to failure. Publishing leaflets about healthy eating will make no difference to the problem. Just build more sports facilities, particularly squash courts.

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