Update With Our Squash Star Sofia
A few months ago we caught up with Sofia – the 15 year old local squash star whom Instant Home is proud to sponsor. She has been very busy the last few months building her career, so we had another chat with her to find out what’s been happening in her world.
Here’s Sofia, in her own words:
It’s been a full on few months for me! The biggest event I did was a silver level competition run by England Squash. This took place in Manchester over the course of three days, with 32 under 17s competing from all over the country. This is the first competition I have done of this level so I was very nervous. But I went with some other friends from my club so we felt like a little team, and my mum came as well. I played five games over the three days and came 24th. I was really happy with the way I played and I also beat someone who is ranked 20th in England, which I’m incredibly proud of. Mainly doing competitions like this gives me really valuable experience as I’m still new to them. Now I feel more confident about going and doing more. In fact, my goal is to win my first bronze level title, which I’m hoping to achieve before Christmas.
Earlier this month, I went to Manchester for another event, this time representing Cambridge in the under 17s team. Again, this was organised by England Squash. I was on a team of five girls and we played against other counties. We came third in the tournament which was a big achievement! This means we get to go on to the second stage of the competition in November, which we’re all really excited about.
When Instant Home first started sponsoring me, I was in the Hunts County Women’s Team 2, and I have now moved up to Hunts County Women’s Team 1 and am playing second seed. I’ve been playing lots of tournaments with them and am really happy with my progression. I have a big county competition coming up in November and if I win my name goes up on a big board in the club – I’m really working hard towards that one.
I have also been helping to coach squash to younger kids and I’m working towards my level one in coaching, which I’m really enjoying.
Along with studying for my GCSEs which I take next summer, my time is pretty full, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I truly love playing squash and look forward to developing my game and my career. I would like to add a big Thank You! to Instant Home for continuing to support me.