WJC Profile: Oscar Curtis - back from the brink

Earlier this year, a doctor asked Perth teenager, Oscar Curtis, if he wanted to play squash again.

It was a confronting question for Oscar, the nation’s top-ranked junior men’s player with ambitions of becoming professional, reaching the world’s top-20 and representing Australia at the Commonwealth Games.

But the 18-year-old, successful for his fluent movement on court, had woken up one morning and was struggling to walk. His left leg was stiff, and his condition worsened throughout the day, stumbling and falling as he held on to walls just to maintain his balance.

He spent the next two weeks in hospital where he underwent extensive medical testing including a spinal puncture, blood and urine analysis, MRIs and other scans.

“Then after all the tests they couldn’t find anything and they said I had this thing called functional neurological disorder, which is where your brain doesn’t send the right signals to your body to function properly,” Oscar says. “I’m known to be a healthy guy, a good mover - it just came out of nowhere really.

“With a normal injury you know the recovery time, but with this you have no idea.

“My doctor asked me, ‘do you want to play squash?’. He wasn’t sure if I could play again.”

For all the doubt during his diagnosis, this was one question Oscar could answer easily.

“I said ‘for sure, I obviously want to play squash again’.”

From the southern Perth suburb of Joondalup, Oscar has played squash since he was introduced to the sport by his family.

“I started playing squash through my dad and my brothers, so when I was five years old I would hit on a spare court by myself while my dad and brothers played and then my dad would have a hit with me afterwards until I was good enough to join them,” Oscar says.

“I love that in squash there is a variety of ways to win points and that you can bring a lot of creativity to the way you play and be your own player. I love sport in general because I love to stay healthy and fit.”
While his three-month recovery off court was a frustrating and challenging period, Oscar’s commitment to squash and fitness also enabled him to make fast progress. He continues to work with a physiotherapist specialising in neurology.

“I did movements every day until my brain re-wired the messaging to my legs,” Oscar says. “Every day, I did squats, lunges and running. The first day I did it I kept falling over, but I got better every day slowly.

“Basically I had to learn to walk again, I couldn’t walk without holding onto something. I had to get comfortable with walking naturally again.

“Something that helped me was reaction timing - flashing lights on the floor and lunging towards that, to get reaction timing back in my legs.

“I wouldn’t say it’s 100 per cent recovered, I still have moments where my reaction timing is off and I don’t move properly, but I’m 95 per cent there.

“It’s coming along steadily, and I’m just trying to get fitter and stronger.

“[Doctors] are definitely surprised how fast [I’ve recovered].”

Oscar has won the Australian Junior Championships twice and the Australian Junior Open three times. He says his proudest moment was definitely defending his Australian Junior Open title this year, returning to the squash court just a fortnight before the tournament.

“My greatest achievement is for sure winning the recent Australian Junior Open, not for the title, but  because of what I went through before the event.

“It was such a journey just to be able to play that tournament.”

Having reached the top 32 at his previous World Junior Championships, Oscar would love to match that result again at the World Junior Championships in Melbourne in July.

“I had a lot of goals this year that got set back a bit, but that’s okay,” Oscar says.

“I’m a lot more grateful just to be able to play squash. I enjoy it a lot more. I’m just happy I’m able to move freely, like I used to.

“My long-term goals in squash will be representing Australia in Commonwealth Games and reaching a PSA ranking of top 20 in the world.”

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: Stewart Boswell, Jenny Duncalf, Cassie Thomas