Design/Build Blueprint for Low Cost Outdoor Courts

Who are we ?

Mays Bounty is the historic name given to our sports club, which dates back to May 1865. It was born at a special meeting, held at the Wheatsheaf Inn in Basingstoke, which brought about a new cricket club.

Various members were elected by the mayor of Basingstoke, Cllr Edward White, and one of these was the brewery owner and local benefactor John May, who was made president of the club.

Four years later the cricket ground was handed over to the trustees of “May’s Bounty”, a name by which the ground is still known today.

John May died in 1920, aged 83, having given a great deal of money and support to the club.

Today the club is a thriving multi sport club, with cricket, rugby, football and squash. Basingstoke Sports and Social Club

Three squash courts were added in 1977 and today the club is the premier squash club in Basingstoke. We have over 100 adult members, running multiple adult teams in the Berkshire squash league, a thriving Saturday morning junior section and over 200primrary school children a week have squash lessons at the club.

Despite that, many members of the public do not know we have three squash courts hidden behind the main club house !

What we want to achieve

• We want to make squash more visible to the public and introduce squash to new communities.
• We will inspire, engage and connect people to realise their full potential and live happier, healthier lives together.
• This project extends the  reach of the great work that Squash United is doing as part of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022. Squash United has been using portable mini courts to raise the awareness of squash and introduce the game to new audiences.
• We are extending this work by building outdoor courts in Basingstoke
• The outdoor courts will be available for public and community use, as well as for local schools and colleges.
• This project at Bounty Squash Club in Basingstoke is the first of its kind to build outdoor squash courts using innovative low cost construction method.
• Our target is to raise £10K and will run the project over following 4 phases

Phase 1 - Complete build of our initial prototype court (estimate £1500 to £2000)

Phase 2 - Resurface the floor, add draining and flood lights (estimate £2000)

Phase 3 - Review lessons learnt and gain formal planning permission

Phase 4 - Scale up and build a full sized court on the field behind our existing indoor courts (estimate £6000)

• The first portion of funds raised will enable us to complete the build of our first prototype court. This court is already under construction.
• We then plan to enhance the playing surface, add floodlights lights and drainage
• Will then the review and refine our design
• The remaining funds will be used to build further full sized outdoor court on the sports field behind our indoor courts. 
• The field belongs to Basingstoke College of Technology who has given their approval to use part of the field

Why are we doing this project ?

Squash suffered during covid lockdown

• Squash is a very popular game that suffered dramatically during the covid lockdown - Not many people wanted to be running around in a small enclosed room 10m * 7m !
• People are used to seeing outdoor tennis courts, football pitches, cricket pitches, but not many members of the general public have seen a squash court
• During the pandemic, People stopped things they used to do and many are still worried about getting together in enclosed spaces.
• We want to increase the visibility of squash to the local community and offer free court use to the local public.
• We will inspire, engage and connect people to realise their full potential and live happier, healthier lives together.

Who will benefit

• Our vision is to help the community try a new sport, to get healthy and improve their wellbeing.
• Outdoor courts will make squash visible, accessible and relevant to a range of people across the community, spanning generations from young to old.
• The learnings and design blueprint/specifications from this project will be made freely available so that anyone can build their own low-cost squash court. 
• Designs will be shared via the PSA Outdoor Squash initiative.

Squash and the Commonwealth Games

• This project extends the  reach of the great work that Squash United is doing as part of the Commonwealth Games.
• Squash United by Birmingham 2022 is a year-long legacy programme for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games which aims to showcase and raise the profile of squash, and give thousands of people from the West Midlands the chance to try the sport during a number of Community Engagement Roadshows.
• Squash United has built portable mini-courts which are being taken into the community to schools and community events. They have also built a mini court in the playground at King Solomon's International Business School.
• This CrowdFund project takes the court building concept to the next level and will build full-sized low cost outdoor courts in Basingstoke to raise visibility of squash to a new audience.

The Squash United movement is being driven by a dedicated team from across the West Midlands and is supported by England Squash, the PSA Foundation, the World Squash Federation, Rackets Cubed as well as the county associations across the West Midlands.

Want to see the court being built ?

• Click here to visit our "Build A Squash Court" web site for full details of the court and watch how it is progressing, see more photos and time lapse video of it's construction
• 

What the court looks like today

• This is current state - as at 12th June - we will continually update this picture as building progresses

How we will use the money we raise

Below is a rough breakdown of the materials and costs for those that are interested in how the money will be spent

• Heras Fence Panel - 3m * 2m (around £40 per fence panel)
• Prison Fence Panel - 3m * 2m (around £150 per fence panel)
• Twinwall polycarbonate sheeting - 3m * 2m - (approx £120 per panel)
• Various fixings - Cable ties, hinges, screws, fixing - (approx £300)
• Electrics and Floodlighting (approx £500)
• Drainage for improved for court surface (approx £500)
• Groundworks for playing surface (approx £2K to £3K)
• Netting for roof (approx £100)

Our big vision

• We will learn lessons from building the first prototype court and then use remaining money to build a full size court, or maybe even two.
• We have agreement from Basingstoke College of Technology to use the space on the rugby field directly behind our existing indoor courts.
• The picture below shows the space marked out to illustrate where we plan to build further courts once our first prototype court has been built.
• 

Picture below is an early sketch of what the final full sized courts might look like

How you can help

• Please support our campaign, spread the word and give generously.
• Your contribution will bring squash to new communities, inspiring, engaging and connect people to live happier, healthier lives playing squash together.

Rewards

• Thanks to the generous donations of gifts from our local and national supporters we have some wonderful rewards that you can purchase by donating to this project.
• These rewards range in price from pocket money £3 up to £1000
• Discounts are between 20% and 40% of Retail Price
• There are some great bargains that will appeal to non-squash enthusiasts and squash enthusiasts alike.