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June 2008:
Ricketts in New Zealand
Kashif's Blog
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A
former world number 3, British Open Champion and fresh off the world
circuit, Anthony Ricketts has moved to New Zealand!
New Zealand number one Kashif Shuja caught up with Anthony
after a training session for a light chat about his new assignment
with Squash New Zealand.
 Although
I have known Anthony for well over a decade, it was really exciting
for me to have him here in New Zealand - especially in a coaching
role. I have found him helpful, open minded and most of all very
humble and modest in his approach. I think we are lucky to have him
here. I caught up with Anthony after a training session for a light
chat about his new assignment with Squash New Zealand.
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Anthony, welcome to New Zealand.
You have been here a couple of months now, how is it going so far?
Its going very well! Teething through the first month, finding my
way, learning the ropes. Very exciting, good group of people in
Squash NZ, I am working with. The National Squad which I am involved
in, is operating for 6 or 7 weeks now.
Very enjoyable, good bunch of people, very enthusiastic. We have set
up a programme which brings the best players in New Zealand to the
National Squash Centre in Auckland, training together day in day
out, twice a day. Its going really well!
There has been a bit of confusion about your job title and
description. Could you tell us what you are doing and what your job
entails?
The job title is ‘Head Coach of the National Squad'. I guess before
New Zealand Squash have had a National Coach which would entail
looking after the whole country, so to speak. My job is to train the
National Squad. The National Squad includes all the top players plus
all the lead players in the junior programme and we are looking at
bringing in more.
My brief is to look after these players and try to get them on the
world scene. New Zealand has a long history of top players and we
are trying to get the players back up there again.
Before we talk more about Squash, how are you finding New
Zealand in general and are you enjoying being here?
I love it! I love it to bits! I have spent the best part of 11 years
travelling on the circuit and its hard work. For me now to be
settled in one place and working with top Squash players, I feel
very lucky to be involved with such a programme with New Zealand
Squash. I am from Sydney and its not too far or different from here.
I feel right at home here. The people are great, very enthusiastic.
I am enjoying it!
Now a bit about your background, your playing career. A lot of
us know of your achievements and would like to hear from you how it
was to be a professional Squash player from the beginning. If you
take us through your career…
I guess there were a few different phases in my career. I lived in
Sydney until I was 15 – 16, with my family. I was coached by Geoff
Roberts at the Thornleigh Squash centre in Sydney. At that time the
Australian Institute of Sport had a very well established programme
with Geoff Hunt and Rodney Martin in Brisbane. So at the age of 16,
I moved up there away from family and then really just focused on
Squash, training twice a day. It involved a lot of discipline,
training early and hard.
Was it hard being away from family and out of your comfort
zone at such a young age?
Yeah, its tough. Absolutely it was hard and the AIS were aware of
that and looked after us well. I understood that competition in
Squash was hard and I was aware of the reasons I was doing it for –
it was necessary. |
What after the AIS?
After the AIS, when I finished my last exams in school, I went to
the UK. The AIS made sure we worked very hard before we went away.
They monitored it very closely. We worked really hard for two years
and then were sent away for a short period to start with. We went to
the Caversham Squash Club in Reading to train with Mike Johnson who
had coached, Rodney Martin, Rodney Eyles, Sarah Fitzgerald, a few
world champions. I was lucky to be involved with this setup. Then my
apprenticeship started as a professional. It was tough getting into
tournaments. It was really hard!
I had a good start and qualified for the British Open in the first
year which got me into a lot of tournaments. Then I had a lot of
losses…which made me more determined. Without a doubt there were
times when I was unhappy and a bit depressed about losing. But
that's Squash and sport and you cant expect to get to the top
quickly. There has to be hard work, determination. I got through
that and I started to establish myself on the tour. I set myself
goals every time I left Australia.
In the UK I realised how tough the competition was. I looked around
me and everyone was fit and strong and determined. There were a lot
of people like me out there and I wasn't different to any other
player. So we sat down and we had to work out how to beat these
people. We started analysing other players and it took another 2 or
3 years to break into the next level into the top 40 where I could
see light at the end of the tunnel.
The big breakthrough came when I beat three World Champions back to
back to win the Tournament of Champions. At that stage I realised I
was ready to take on the top guys. In a few months time I won the
British Open title which was the pinnacle of my career. It was
amazing! It meant a lot to my coaches. It was really special. I also
won the Super Series finals. I rose to number 3 in the world and put
me in contention for the number 1 spot. I was in the final of the
Saudi International against Jonathon Power and it was confirmed that
the winner of our match would take the number 1 spot.
I was ready for it and move to the top spot. Unfortunately, I lost
in 4 games and Jonathon took the spot. It was tough and
disappointing but now when I look back at it and think that all the
hard work paid off by winning these three titles and reaching a
career high world ranking. There is a lot of sacrifice involved in
sport and all sports people go through it but if I look back, I
wouldn't have it any other way. All the pain, the winning the
losing, its all worthwhile.
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Now you bring to New Zealand all
this experience, knowledge, the atmosphere and most importantly the
mentality of a top sportsman and top Squash player. How do you see
the future of Squash in New Zealand.
Well, our (Squash New Zealand's) motivation is to get the player
back into the top 10. I listen to the radio every weekend and hear
Susan Devoy and Carol Owens and other players are well known here as
well. I think Squash is embedded in the New Zealand culture, I
believe. We need to start talking Squash get people motivated to get
to the top and keep the standards high..
There is a lot of hard work and we have set this National Squad up
around this kind of attitude. I am lucky that I have inherited some
good players to work with. People are keen to work hard. Its going
to take time but I think our programme is good as any in the world.
In time, I am very confident we can get players in the top ranks
again.
What are your immediate goals?
What potential do you see?
The first goal for me is the World Junior Men's Championships in
July/ August in Switzerland. We have a very good team. I am
confident in the talent they have and feel we can do well. It will
be tough and a lot depends on the draw. There are a lot of good
junior programmes out there and we have been working hard as well.
We also have the World Women's Championships at the end of the year.
We are lucky that Susan Devoy will be travelling with the girls. I
think the girls have a good chance to do well there. We also have
the World Doubles Championships at the end of the year. New Zealand
has done well in the doubles in the past and it is quite important
to us. We will certainly be looking at medals there. Also, the world
rankings of players go hand in hand with these goals. I would like
to see all the players getting to the next level with the rankings.
Everyone has got the talent for it. Now that we have this programme
running, it will be good for the players to train for a few months
without having tournaments. It allows players to go through changes
in their games and improve. |
People out there in the clubs…
they might be juniors or adults trying to improve their Squash.
Could you give them some advice to improve on their Squash?
I probably wouldn't say anything different to what anyone else
would. Firstly, I think enjoyment is essential. You have got to
enjoy it, you have got to love what you do. There is no point doing
something you don't like. If you do enjoy playing but get frustrated
then this something you needs to work on. You need to find a way to
enjoy it and turn it into positive.
I am a big believer in repetition. Doing the same shot over and
over. If you don't do it well in the match you practice the same
shot over and over, spending time on court. For example Tiger Woods
would practice the same shot over and over again. Squash is no
different.
As far as a professional goes, I believe in hours on court,
repetition and discipline and attitude comes hand in hand with these
things.
Anything else you would like to say?
I would just like to say that I feel lucky to be a part of this
programme with Squash NZ. It's a fantastic programme and New Zealand
should be excited by this. It provides young players an opportunity
to be the best in the world.
Anthony, thank you very much for your time. All the best with
your goals for this year and the future!
Thank you!
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