WJC Day 7 - Cassie Thomas senses Aussie advantage

Former world champion and now coach, Cassie Thomas MBE, says Australia’s junior players have a wonderful opportunity to turn a major disadvantage in their favour when the Women’s Team event takes place from today at the WSF World Junior Championships in Melbourne.

After the singles competition came to a conclusion on Sunday, the Championships now move into the Team phase and Thomas’s advice to the Aussie women is to enjoy the experience.

“I think they’ll do alright,” Thomas says. “We’ve got Maddy (Lyon) and Erin (Classen) who’ve played in previous world juniors, and we’ve also for Hannah (Slyth) and Amelie (Guziak) who are younger and so they’ll be able to play in future tournaments.

“Playing a home tournament is a great advantage, because you’ve obviously got home support and we hope that comes through in a positive way. I think they’ve got a good chance.

“I used to love playing in team events because it doesn’t happen very often, squash is a very individual sport. So to be involved in a team environment is a different set up and most people thrive on that. I hope they really enjoy it.”

Thomas (nee Jackman) is one of England’s greatest squash players of all time, a former world champion and Commonwealth Games gold medallist.

But it wasn’t until she relocated to Melbourne more than a decade ago that Thomas truly appreciated the geographical challenge Australians face, and how tough it is for juniors to gain experience against their international peers.

Bringing the world to Australia for these World Junior Championships, Thomas says, will be a major boost for the nation’s junior players and programs.

“Most of the [Australian] states have got really good [junior] programs,” Thomas says. “I think it’s more that the players don’t get exposed to other countries as much as players in other countries do. They’re definitely at a disadvantage there, because players from Europe, America or other countries get to play each other a lot more and you get a better idea of the international standard.

“That’s a real focus now, trying to get Australian juniors to as many tournaments abroad and to get them exposure. It’s only going to help their game.”

It was the major reason for Australia taking a group of more than 20 junior players to the British Junior Open at the start of the year.

“I think that was a really valuable experience because they saw the standard and what they need to aspire to. I feel like the players who went to the British Junior Open have come back, worked harder and realised what they need to do to improve. It was a very positive trip.”

Thomas launched her own squash career by winning the World Junior Championships in 1991, also helping England to defeat Australia is the team event that same year.

More than three decades later, she’s now coaching Australia’s most promising juniors. Head coach of  Squash Melbourne, Thomas works directly with Connor Hayes and Amelie Guziak, among Australia’s 12 representatives at this World Junior Championships.

But Thomas says she was “humbled” to be asked to take a broader coaching role with the Australian junior team ahead of this World Junior Championships in Melbourne, along with Stewart Boswell and Jenny Duncalf.

Thomas was forced into retirement as a player in 2004, after a string of back surgeries, and took time away from the sport. Thomas says she never sought to become a coach, but it evolved naturally.

“I played professional for 17 years so once I finished playing I stepped away from squash for a little bit and had a family,” Thomas says. “When I moved to Australia, I picked it up when my girls were a bit older. I really enjoy coaching now, I’m just trying to pass on what I learned from my coaches and I what I experienced on the world tour. I coach everyone from beginners to the juniors competing in World Juniors. I didn’t know I’d love it as much as I have.

“I’m really excited to be part of World Juniors this year, to be back involved.

“If you look at the records of who has done well at world juniors, a lot of them have gone on to climb up the rankings in the senior tour. So, as a junior, it’s the ultimate competition.”

2023 WSF World Junior Championships
18-29 July | Melbourne Sports Centres VIC

Australian Women’s Team
Erin Classen (WA, co-captain), Amelie Guziak (VIC), Madison Lyon (QLD, co-captain), Hannah Slyth (WA)

Tuesday 25 July: Australia v Malaysia
Wednesday 26 July: Australia v New Zealand

Click here for the draw for the Women’s Team event.