Britain’s gay squash club given 6,500 pounds grants to encourage lesbians to take up sport

LONDON - 4Play Squash, Britain’s first gay squash club has been handed a 6,500 pounds Government grant with an intention to help recruit lesbian and transgender players to the sport.

The club was given the cash by Sport England that is part of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The funds will also be used to encourage bisexuals to take advantage of free coaching sessions, as well as funding new equipments, The Telegraph reports.

4Play Squash, based at the Finsbury Leisure Centre, in Camden, north London, was formed 21 years ago.

The paper quoted John Forni, the club’s publicity officer, as saying that the club intends to open up squash to experts or beginners of “any age, gender or sexuality.”

“It’s nice to attract different members. Many of ours at present are males between 20 and 50 years old, but we want to open up squash to experts or novices of any age, gender or sexuality,” he said.

“We can show that there are other things to do as an LGBT person, other ways to meet people, not just the stereotypical party scene. You can meet like-minded people through doing something that keeps you fit and you enjoy. Sport brings people together,” Forni added.

The club says that it is proud of the “non-threatening environment” it offers lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender players.

However, the move has been opposed by many in Camden.

“It’s great that there are clubs for everyone, but whey they need #6,500 is a mystery to me - especially when everyone is cutting back. If I wanted to join a squash club I’d just turn up at a leisure centre and join the league and that wouldn’t cost anybody anything,” one of the residents said. (ANI)