THE Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) have got themselves some reinforcement after bringing Jess Tay on board as a coach.
The 24-year-old Sarawakian is the second former player to join the SRAM stable as a coach after former World No 12 Delia Arnold returned in August.
Initially, Jess was supposed to work alongside Delia but SRAM’s offer for him was rejected by the National Sports Council (NSC).
The national association, however, did get their man with Jess — an accomplished doubles player having won the men’s doubles gold with Marcus Sim at the 2016 Malaysia Games — reporting for work on Oct 1.
Jess, who has been working with the Sarawak Malaysia Games team from 2016-2018, will certainly add value to the national setup as he is also a certified level three coach.
“I see this as a good opportunity to gain more experience as a coach. It’s really a good opportunity to learn more from the national team perspective,” said Jess.
“I have always been interested in learning more about squash and to become a coach in the national setup is a step in the right direction.”
SRAM director Mejar (rtd) S. Maniam said: “A person like Jess, a former player who played at a reasonable level, adds value to the team.”
“He has a good demeanour, gets along well with the players and most importantly, he is a team player.
“Furthermore, we’ve always been running short of coaches. For quality work, a coach shouldn’t work with more than five players and Jess’ arrival certainly helps solve that issue.”
On Saturday, Jess and Maniam were present at SRAM’s World Squash Day celebration with activities involving a large group of junior players.