Lt Col C.S. Blad (left) and Lt Col B.H. O’Donnell playing the first game of squash on the Elizabeth College court 60 years ago. (0663361)

SQUASH has brought Guernsey more international recognition than any other sport.

It’s a remarkable story, one which Chris Simpson carries around with him all around the world as he threatens to break into the globe’s top 20.

This winter, Sarnian squash celebrates its 60th birthday for it was just before Christmas in 1948 that the first court – at Elizabeth College – was opened.

Previously the game had only been played by a privileged few at Fort George before the war, but the opening of the Waite Memorial Squash Racket Court just inside the back gate of the Upland Road entrance got the white dot rolling as far as the sport was concerned.

Even before the court was officially opened, the Old Elizabethan Squash Racket Club had been formed and was open for use to any OE and his spouse, the college staff and parents of boys at the school.

Lt-Col B. E. O’Donnel was its first captain/treasurer and Lt-Col C. E. Blad, who many years earlier had carved his name on the College Field centurion honours board for cricket, was the first secretary.