WJC Profile: Erin Classen

She made her World Junior Championships debut at just 14 years of age, but Perth’s Erin Classen says the greatest highlights of her young squash career took place on training courts.

One of the most exciting prospects in Australian squash, Erin, 18, travelled to Europe for five months from the end of 2022 to test herself in training against some of the best players in the world.

She toured England, Scotland and the Netherlands, hitting with former world number ones, Nick Matthew and James Willstrop, both of England. 

She practised with proven top-20 players in the world, including Canada’s Hollie Naughton, England’s Patrick Rooney and Jasmine Hutton, and Malaysia’s Eain Ypow Ng.

She joined up with Australia’s Commonwealth Games gold medallist Donna Lobban in Edinburgh.

“When you’re on court with players like that, you have to really show up, and I did that,” Erin says. “You have to put in 110 per cent and, if you do that, they’re okay to hit with you. It was such a great experience.”

With ambitions to represent Australia at the Commonwealth Games, as early as 2026, and to be a top-five player in the world, Erin says the tour was about exposing herself to different international playing styles and building her self-belief. 

“I feel like I'm on track,” she says of her goals. “I’m still young, I know I’m up there, it’s just about having that self-belief I can do it. It’s a big goal to have, but it's good motivation to train hard.

“Before the trip [to Europe], I was doing maybe two training sessions a day. But there, I was doing three to four sessions a day, including recovery and gym. It was definitely different when I first started, but your body gets used to it if you can get your mindset right. I’m motivated and I enjoy it, because you can feel the progress and it’s very positive.”

Erin’s commitment to the sport is clear. She will contest her third WSF World Junior Championships in Melbourne this month. It would no doubt have been more, if not for COVID.

During that time, when squash courts were closed, Erin and twin brother Dylan, who will also compete at the World Junior Championships, would find outside walls to improvise training.

“Behind the squash courts there's a car park and this massive wall,” Erin says. “So me and my brother would hit there or at a nearby tennis court, they had a wall as well.”

Erin and Dylan were born in Cape Town, South Africa, but moved to Perth when they were four.

Not only did Erin benefit from growing up and hitting with her brother, from 12 she was coached by step-mother Amanda Hopps, an Australian squash representative with a career-high ranking of 57 in the world.

“We always had a special bond,” Erin says. “I always ask her about my squash and she’s always there to give me advice.”

For all the international experience she’s gaining, Erin says Egypt’s former world number one Raneem El Weleily is the player she admired most.

“She had such good skills, she was so crafty and it looked like she could do anything with the ball. I want to have skills like her, but I also admired how humble she was off the court. She was a really big inspiration.”

On scholarship with the Western Australian Institute of Sport, Erin is aiming to return to the UK later in the year to combine squash and study.

First, she’s looking forward to representing Australia in her final WSF World Junior Championships.

“Representing Australia feels good, knowing you’re going out represent your country and you’re doing it for the team.”

2023 WSF World Junior Championships
18-29 July | Melbourne Sports Centres VIC
Australian Squad
Men: Harvey Allan (VIC), Dylan Classen (WA), Oscar Curtis (WA), Connor Hayes (VIC), Ken Lamb (NSW), Thomas Scott (NSW)
Women: Erin Classen* (WA), Shona Coxedge (QLD), Amelie Guziak* (VIC), Madison Lyon* (QLD), Courtney Scholtz (VIC), Hannah Slyth* (WA)
* denotes competing in women’s team event
Coaches: Cassie Thomas, Stewart Boswell, Jenny Duncalf