Beef cattle farmer Rob Blacker of Bega, at 61 years of age, has been playing squash for more than 40 years.
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He is currently excited for the upcoming Masters Squash Tournament at the end of April.
While he has had two complete knee reconstructions, he admits he has never been a runner, but rather that the game is more about strategy than being the fastest on the court.
"I was never fast in any race or anything I did. I'm very slow," Mr Blacker said with a laugh, "So my forte are the drop shots and the lobs and the precision stuff. Squash is all about angles.
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"I always use pool terminology: if you hit it hard enough on a pool table, it will eventually find the angle to go down a hole. Squash is the same thing. It's using the angles of the walls to get the ball into the place where you want to put it."
It all started when he was in his twenties and a group of friends went for a game held over by the butter factory at Peter 'Mr Squash' Eaton's Courts in Bega.
"From there on I just kept playing," Mr Blacker said.
We're just a group of people that get together and play squash and we enjoy the social side of it just as much as the competitiveness of it.
- Rob Blacker
Bega Squash Club is holding a Masters Tournament on Saturday April 29 and Sunday April 30 at Bega Country Club on Tarraganda Lane.
The Masters event is open to men over 35 and ladies over 30.
The Tournament will be conducted as a graded non gender event and the format will ensure each player plays a minimum of three best-of-five matches.
Mr Blacker, who is the Chairman of Bega Masters Squash committee, hopes around 70 players will compete at the four courts over the tournament weekend. Players come from across the state and even from Victoria.
The squash competition, which is a part of the New South Wales Masters Tournament, is one of a number that are run monthly in different locations across the state.
"You're playing for the sport and the social weekend, and there's a group of Bega people that travel to these on a regular basis based on their other commitments," he said.
"We're just a group of people that get together and play squash and we enjoy the social side of it just as much as the competitiveness of it."
For more information visit begasquashclub.com.au
Entry closes April 20.
Jimmy Parker
I am a regional daily news journalist on the Far South Coast of NSW aiming to immortalise the stories of everyday people through narratives. Have you got a story? Contact me on 0437 166 441 or at james.parker@austcommunitymedia.com.au
I am a regional daily news journalist on the Far South Coast of NSW aiming to immortalise the stories of everyday people through narratives. Have you got a story? Contact me on 0437 166 441 or at james.parker@austcommunitymedia.com.au
