Growing squash needs support, says West Africa & Nigeria’s number one Yemisi Olatunji

West Africa and Nigeria number one squash women player Yemisi Olatunji is happy with the development of the sport in Nigeria but says there is room for improvement.

Yemisi Olatunji in an interview with Sportsration.com revealed that Squash is fastly growing in Nigeria compared to other African countries but a lot must be done to catch up with other top playing squash countries.

“I must say squash is really growing in Nigeria compared to other African countries. At the grass root level Nigeria is doing a great and at the National level we have a lot of good players across the country.

“We now have seven professional players representing the country at the world level and we are doing a great job but playing more tournaments, going for training tours will go a long way in improving us,” said Yemisi Olatunji to Sportsration.com.

Yemisi revealed to sportsration.com that the game of squash can further grow in Nigeria if it is taking to the grass root.

“Going to the grassroots is the key. By grass root I mean introducing squash to the Primary schools , Secondary school which will help at the tertiary level.”

The world number 127, whose career has been a success story since she became professional in 2014 called for the involvement of private companies, Federal government, State government in organising more competitions and promoting the sport.

“Federal government has abandoned Squash in Nigeria and this has affected the growth of the sport. We need them.

“We need the private companies involvement in terms of tournaments and athletes sponsorhips.

“The State government should also be involved in promoting the game at the state level.”