Mark Fuller:

First things first, I am 27, living in Nottingham and I am a professional squash player, sponsored by MANTIS. Please visit my blog to find out what it is really like to be a professional squash player. Below is a bit more about me...

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I’m hoping that UK-Racketball will be a huge success. One of the things about both squash and racketball that I love most is that in both sports the people that play are very loyal to the game. They all remember the sharp decline of squash in the 90’s and many players are really concerned with how the sport will survive in the long run. At UK-Racketball we’re those players. We have all played squash since we were children and long before we even conceived the idea of UK-Racketball, we ran the University of Sheffield Squash team together. I have been coaching juniors and adults of all abilities ever since university and played in many teams of very different standards. Looking back, it’s hard to tell whether I loved squash more when I was first starting out or now while playing professionally. Without Squash it’s hard to imagine what my life would be like.

We are not just an online shop, we’re massive fans of squash and racketball. We’re committed to helping the sport to keep growing and bring as many people and as much successes to racketball as possible. Putting on tournaments, providing information on where to play, how to play and putting up coaching tips, we’re hoping UK-Racketball can have a real and positive impact on the future of the sport.  Before starting this project I don’t think we had any idea how much work it would entail to make it a success, but what has been great right the way through has been the number of emails from players saying that they love the site and that the sport needs it, this really helps us to keep going.

I recently played the racketball nationals where I had the privilege of playing Peter Nicol (Squash commonwealth gold medallist) in the first round and I loved every minute of it. Nicol said afterwards that racketball is what squash was like 20 years ago before glass courts, double dot balls and lowered tins.  For me, this is what I love most about racketball. It’s a one-on-one battle, huge rallies, toe-to-toe right to the end. It’s fantastic.

Another great moment for me over the weekend of the racketball nationals was the end of the over 65 final. It was one of the best ends to a match (of any sport) I have ever seen with both players giving it everything. That feeling of throwing everything you have at an opponent and forcing your body to go somewhere it really doesn’t want to, for me is the best of sport, racketball has this in abundance.

I now have very little time for anything outside of playing full time squash or working on UK-Racketball, but the subjects that interest me most are History, Philosophy and Economics. One of the great attractions of the squash was a chance to see the world, not only historical monuments but also how people in different countries work and live and how different societies function. I love going to different places, it’s one of the best parts of my life.

My plans for the future are to get as good as I possibly can at squash, to make UK-Racketball the success that I’m sure it can be, and then I’m sure I will come up with something. My aim in life is to finish with not one ounce of talent left unused and not one mile of energy left in my legs.

Click here to veiw my blog