Beryl Mortimer is a much loved member of the squash community in her hometown of Dubbo, and has contributed greatly to the sport and Dubbo Squash Club.
Beryl began her love of squash at 16 years old when she first picked up a racket in school sport after gaining interest through watching her older brother play at an A-grade level.
“I have a bit of a competitive streak in me and I tend to grow an extra leg when I get on the court”
Squash continued to be a major part of her life as her family stayed involved, with her three children and then her grandchildren, all playing from young ages.
Beryl’s love for squash has never faded and she has seen squash change since its use of wooden rackets to now with plastic rackets, “the speed of the game has changed, you can hit the ball and direct it so much easier, there is so much more power in the game.”
Over the years Beryl has continued to contribute to the squash community in Dubbo, having run junior programs and supported players as they developed.
This notably included starting Dubbos first local circuit in 2000, which still runs today. Through this she gave juniors the chance to compete and further develop their skills in a tournament setting. Beryl worked tirelessly during these competitions on everything from: grading teams and creating the preliminary draw, to running the canteen and ensuring it was always stocked full with food and drink.
Beryl is the heart and soul of Dubbo Squash Club and her involvement has been essential to its running, as Club President Gavin Stait says:
"Beryl is there every week, pretty much no matter what, to run the juniors, and also she looks after most of the social squash and competitions to. She’s always the first one there and the last one to leave.”
Beryl truly loves what she does and says that passing on knowledge to the juniors at the club and watching them learn and continuing to improve gives her great pleasure. With her best advice for junior players coming up the ranks being to “persevere and just stay with it”
She would love to see more juniors interested in squash and the numbers participating improve. “It’s good to keep the game going, I’d love to see Dubbo get back to what it was.”
“It’s been fun, I've enjoyed it, the social side particularly, as well as the competition, I’ve loved it otherwise I wouldn’t still be doing it”
Beryl has contributed greatly to the squash community and we thank her for sharing her skills and knowledge, as Eric Reynolds President of Dubbo RSL Squash Club said,
“Thanks for all the years you’ve been doing this, helping out and keeping the comps running and the juniors running…all I can say is thanks.”