FINALLY the Malaysian squash fraternity has come to realise that they need to look beyond Nicol David if they are to secure the future of the sport in the country.

But several formidable obstacles lay in the path of the Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia's (SRAM) stated vision of making "Malaysia a powerhouse in world squash" by 2010.

Lack of funding, coaches and facilities, posers over selection of junior players for national assignments and the breakdown of communication between parents and state bodies were among issues highlighted during the two-day SRAM convention which ended in Subang Jaya yesterday.

The convention brought together 11 of SRAM's 14 affiliates -- Penang, Malacca and Sabah were the absentees -- to formulate a strategic plan for Malaysian squash in a workshop that discussed, among others, the role of the national and state associations, development programmes, funding, communication and manpower.

SRAM president Datuk A. Sani Karim hailed the convention as a success which allowed the various stakeholders in squash to share ideas and interact as a team.
"This convention was held to develop a strategic plan that required us to look into action plans to achieve our vision. I'm pleased to say that all of our branches have endorsed our vision as ambitious but achievable," said Sani after the close of the convention yesterday.

Sani said the output of the convention will be collated and circulated among the branches for feedback and discourse before being adopted at SRAM's management committee meeting on May 3.

"The biggest issue we face is adapting to the National Sports Council's reduction in funding for not just squash but all sports and how do we maintain our level of programmes given that reduction.

"Many of our branches have tried to adjust by creating alternative income streams. The Johor representative, for instance, wants us to discard the subsidy mentality and they have increased their membership fees in a bid to finance their own programmes."

Selangor and Pahang SRAs have cited the chronic lack of coaches and facilities as hampering their efforts to develop squash in their states.

National chief coach Jamie Hickox believes the only way to address the shortage of squash coaches is to make it financially viable for the coaches to consider coaching in the long term.

" There is a need to make it lucrative and financially feasible for local coaches at the entry level to be life-term coaches," he said.