Squads

28/2/2009
28/3/2009
25/4/2009
23/5/2009
13/6/2009

Coaches

Nick Taylor

Occupation:Head Squash coach for Manchester City Council
Playing History:I left school and turned Professional in 1988 aged 17, based at the Village Hyde Squash club, U.K, as assistant pro. I joined I.S.P.A (now P.S.A) in 1992 with a World ranking on 266, reaching a career high of No14… England No3…Twice British finalist in 1995 and 2001…twice European Champion 1995 and 1996….Holder of 10 P.S.A World tour titles… And an England International (9caps)

I retired from the World circuit in 2004 after setting up the "Nick Taylor Squash Academy" at Sportcity, Manchester, U.K, I passed my level 3 coaching certificate in July 2004 and in Jan 2005 was appointed as Manchester's Head Squash coach.

Highlights:
8 times Lancashire senior county champion
12 years on the P.S.A circuit 1992 - 2004
England International (9 caps) 1996 - 2001
10 P.S.A World tour titles
Winner of over 30 UK domestic tournaments
Twice European Champion
Twice National Finalist
1998 & 2002 commonwealth Games squad member
2002 World doubles finalist with partner Vicky Botwright
Career high World ranking of 14
Career high English ranking of 3

Coaching:
2003 - 2006 - appointed Head squash coach for Manchester university ( largest university in Europe)
2004 - 2006 - Assisting National coaches on senior and junior National Squads
2005 - present day - Head Squash coach for Manchester's squash development programme
2005 - present day - director of squash and head coach for Lancashire Squash rackets Association
2005 - present day - Head coach for the North west area squads (National Academy England Squash)

Favourite piece of advice:Don't let anybody tell you that you can not achieve something…. If you work very hard and you believe it than anything is possible!

Inspirations: Jahangir Khan, Peter Nicol, my parents, my wife and my children.

My coaching philosophy:As a coach the first thing for me is enjoyment, just like playing, a good coach must always keep an open mind on new ideas… being able to adapt and communicate because everyone is different just to get the best out of your players.

Key Words: Enjoyment, confidence, Planning, power, Strength.

Danny Massaro

Occupation: Lecturer of Sports Psychology, Sports Coaching & Performance. University of Central Lancashire

Squash/Coaching History:I have played Squash for 22 years. The last 6 years have involved more focus in playing and coaching. I coach with Nick (Taylor) the North West Regional junior Squads. I am involved with the Manchester Squash Academy and coach individual players when time permits. I mainly work with the psychological aspects of training for and playing Squash which compliments efforts on the technical, tactical and physical areas of relevance. My wife is currently ranked in the top 12 in the world and I am proud to be associated with some of her recent developments.

Personal Achievements:
BA (Hons) Degree in Physical Education/English
Post Graduate Certificate in Education
England Squash Level 3 coach
Master Practitioner - Neuro Linguistic Programming (INLPTA)

Favourite piece of advice received:
"If you don't shine as you think you should, try cleaning the light bulb before blaming the power station."

I find this helps to remind me to concentrate on bringing things into my control and making efforts to make them evolve positively. I try to focus less on things I can't control.

"No one is completely wrong, they must be correct at some level. Consequently, everything is true and/but partial." (Ken Wilber, Cosmic Consciousness CD)

This helps me to keep open minded about opinions, viewpoints and theories. If you presuppose most people are right at some level and not completely wrong then you tend to listen more and understand more things. I apply this to myself also and consequently I know I don't know complete answers to anything really. I only know the partial truth and this keeps me interested in learning from people.

Inspirations: Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Tiger Woods, Sir Clive Woodward, Jonah Barrington, Parents, Ken Wilber.

My Coaching Philosophy (in 100 words!!):
As coaching directly involves people and communication the 'coach' first and foremost must continually develop high level skills in understanding people and how most appropriately to communicate with them. People are different. We are strange concoctions of emotional, physical, spiritual and behavioral qualities. If, as a coach, you can utilize and develop a person's specific qualities to a high percentage and you can offer beneficial content knowledge relating to the sport in question, then you are likely to help create a player who achieves close to their fullest potential. Wherever that takes them will remain unknown until it happens! Ultimately, I believe the coach should nurture players to become highly emotionally intelligent people, who ironically begin to make their coaches almost redundant.

Key Words: Innovation, Optimism, Planning, Enjoyment, Learning, Growth, Desire, Honesty, Integral