Two brothers have revealed how they swapped life in the same army regiment for squash courts.
Nigel and Iain Jubbs, who served for 22 years and 15 years respectively, now run WIN Squash and Racketball Coaching, and coach the sport to people of all ages with international player Russell Watkins.
Nigel went on operational tours in Northern Ireland, Cyprus and Germany and played squash during his free time but an injury ended his ambition to carry on playing.
He said: “I was playing in a tournament for the Royal Artillery, and ripped my achilles tendon, and then I realised I wouldn’t be able to play at the level I had previously. That’s when I went down the coaching route.”
He also led a team to the Army Junior Championships and reached the final with no formal coaching qualifications. He added that the army funded his Level 1 and Level 2 qualifications because he got injured in military service.
Nigel is now working on getting his Level 3 for coaching, something which looks at more advanced areas of the game.
He continued: “I love the sport. I started a small group up and it’s grown and grown and grown. We were coaching before we formed and we’ve gone from strength to strength.”
Iain, who served in Iraq, explained how he wanted to make a change to his life when he returned home. He said: “I had just done my time, I’d just come back from Iraq and decided I wanted to do something else in life.
“When I was in training in juniors you had to do a sport. On a particular night, it was a choice of chess or squash. I tried squash at sixteen and have been hooked ever since.”
Iain added that Nigel led the way with coaching and has now completed his Level 2 qualification. He explained that they worked together to “get more qualified”.
However, he praised the young players he works with. “It’s good to see our juniors now competing in local competitons. They’re competing against people twice their age,” he added.
Nigel, Iain and Russell coach junior players on Saturday afternoons at Eastgate Club. After starting projects in Gainsborough and at the Yarborough Leisure Centre, WIN are about to launch another new project at Ruston Sports and Social Club.
Players of all ages can sign up and more information, including contact details, can be found on the WIN Squash and Racketball Coaching Facebook page.