WISPA Stars On Top of the World!

The opportunity to play on the northern-most court in the world was the squash highlight of the second leg of the 2006 WISPA Promo Tour to Svalbard - the Norwegian islands above the Arctic Circle, two thirds of which are permanently covered by ice and snow, and where there are nearly twice as many polar bears as people!

The eighth annual promotional tour, led by Malaysia's world champion Nicol David and Australia's five-times former world champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald, is the latest initiative by the Women's International Squash Players' Association in its continuing drive to support local development of the sport and promote the women's game around the world.

The arrival in the town of Longyearbyen, only a few hundred miles away from the North Pole and the most northerly community in the world served by a scheduled air service, followed the party's three-day visit to Estonia.

The WISPA party touched down at Longyearbyen airport at 1.30am. Snow was falling and it was broad daylight - as it is 24 hours per day during most of the spring and all through the summer!

The sole squash court is one of the numerous facilities available to the 1,800 population of Longyearbyen in its new Sports Centre, in the middle of the town centre and surrounded by ice-capped mountains.

Rune Hansen is the Vice Governor of Svalbard and a keen squash player. "When I returned to Svalbard for my second spell of duty here, I was delighted to find that a squash court had been included within the specification of the new sports facility," said the Norwegian, who is also an international grade badminton umpire.

The court has no viewing facilities, just a small glass panel in the door in the back wall which opens out into the main sports hall. "There are around 20 people who regularly use the court, though I'm sure there would be more if people could more easily see what squash is all about," explained Hansen.

Fitz-Gerald and David both put the Vice Governor through his paces on the historic court - but Hansen was able to redeem some of his pride when he introduced the world squash stars to badminton!

"It was very special to have had the chance to play Sarah and Nicol on this court. In all my 30 years in badminton as an international umpire, I've never before played a world champion," added Hansen.

The WISPA party were able to enjoy many of the tourist attributes of the world's most accessible high arctic area. Fitz-Gerald and David helped harness up 30 husky dogs for the five sleds which took the party high up into the mountains on an exhilarating afternoon excursion.

There are thought to be some 3,000 polar bears in Svalbard, though the party were disappointed not to see any of these protected, yet highly dangerous, animals - other than those stuffed in the hotel's lobby and the town's new museum! Reindeer, however, were regular visitors to the town and surprisingly tame.

Fully kitted out in hats, goggles and waterproof all-in-ones to protect the party from the arctic conditions, the WISPA group also braved the choppy sea - and a floating iceberg just a few kilometres out into the fjords - to visit a Russian coal-mining settlement which was abandoned in the mid-sixties.

"It was incredible," said Nicol David, after looking in one of the numerous houses which seemed perfectly preserved in the arctic conditions. "There were rooms which looked as if they hadn't been touched since people had left in a hurry - in one, there was a half-cut loaf of bread which must have been more than 40 years old!"

The WISPA stars enjoyed their brief visit to the top of the world - and especially the chance to be the first professionals to play on its historic squash court: "It was a very good court, considering where it was, and it was really special to have the chance to play on it," said Sarah Fitz-Gerald.

"I guess we should now look forward to finding the most southern court in the world - so that we can arrange a match on that!"

WISPA Chief Executive Andrew Shelley had the final word: "WISPA really do go to the ends of the earth to help promote squash!"

WISPA's promotional tour concept was launched in 1999 with a visit to the Czech Republic. Successive years featured trips to Jamaica, El Salvador, Peru, Kenya, Thailand, Brunei, Sarawak, Russia, China and Nepal, and, last year, to Jordan and Turkey.