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This page explains what governing bodies, standards bodies and researchers publish. It is not a substitute for lessons from a qualified coach or for medical advice.
The world body: World Squash
World Squash is the trading name of the World Squash Federation Ltd, according to Wikipedia, which gives its history as follows: founded as the International Squash Rackets Federation (ISRF), first meeting on 5 January 1967; renamed the World Squash Federation in 1992; based in Hastings, England. The rebrand to "World Squash" was announced on 28 January 2025 as the first phase (a new name and logo), tied to the sport's Olympic debut at LA28, The Squash Site reported.
The founding, told several ways
- Year: Wikipedia-based summaries give 1966, for a meeting in London, or 1967, for the first meeting. Another search summary gives 1968.
- Founders: the World Squash Library, as summarised in search results, says the federation began with six founder member nations. The 1966 London meeting, as Wikipedia lists it, was attended by representatives of nine: Australia, Great Britain, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, the USA, Canada and the United Arab Republic.
Size, leadership and committees
Wikipedia counts 115 national federations as of 2026; that figure was not confirmed on a World Squash page, and search summaries of older pages gave 122 and, in a 2008 article, 141. The president is Zena Wooldridge, in office since 2020 according to Wikipedia, and quoted as WSF President by US Squash in October 2023.
Rules and standards sit with committees. Wikipedia names a Rules Commission that monitors the rules and recommends changes, and a Technical Committee for court and equipment standards. The 2025 Singles Rules (Appendix 5) say the technical specifications are set and agreed by the Courts and Equipment Commission. The World Squash Federation delegated its whole anti-doping programme to the International Testing Agency from January 2021 under a four-year agreement, the ITA announced in 2020; whether that agreement was renewed was not confirmed for this site; see anti-doping.
National bodies
United States: US Squash
US Squash's history page says it was founded in Philadelphia in 1904 as the United States Squash Racquets Association, was renamed US Squash in 2006, and was the world's first national squash governing body. The women's body (USWSRA) merged into it in 1979, and the switch from hardball singles to the international softball game happened during an executive director's tenure of about 1992 to 2002. It is a member of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee.
The founding year is disputed: a document from the racket maker Victor and a secondary history, both seen as search summaries, give 1907. US Squash itself says 1904.
England: England Squash
Wikipedia, and a search summary of England Squash's history page (the site returned an access error), give this sequence: the Squash Rackets Association was founded in 1928, relaunched as England Squash in 2001 and became England Squash and Racketball in 2009. It is recognised by Sport England as the governing body for squash and Squash 57.
The professional tour: the PSA
The Professional Squash Association (PSA) runs the professional tour for men and women. It does not make the rules: a search summary of England Squash's governance page says World Squash is responsible for the rules of the game. A search summary of the PSA's board page names Ziad Al-Turki as chairman; that page was not opened.
When the PSA began: each version
| Date | What it refers to | Who says so |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Jonah Barrington setting up a Professional Players' Association | A PSA article on the 1973 British Open, as summarised in search results (single source) |
| 21 February 1974 | The International Squash Players Association (ISPA), founded at a crisis meeting after a seeding protest at the Prodorite Open in Birmingham, with Barrington as chairman and Geoff Poole as first secretary | The PSA's own history, which dates its lineage to ISPA and marked a 50th anniversary on that basis |
| 1975 | The PSA's founding | Wikipedia |
| 11 September 1992 and 1 January 1993 | The PSA incorporated in 1992; it took over on 1 January 1993, when ISPA and the North American hardball body (WPSA) ceased to exist. The WPSA had approved the merger in Hartford on 4 December 1992 by 21 votes to 4, with 4 abstentions | The historian James Zug, Squash Magazine, 2018 |
The women's tour
The PSA's history says a first attempt at a separate women's body failed in 1978; players agreed at the 1983 World Open in Perth to form one (WISPA), which first met at the Belfast Boat Club in 1984, renamed itself the Women's Squash Association (WSA) in 2012 and merged with the PSA in 2015. Wikipedia differs on two points: it gives 2011 for the WSA name, and says the merger was announced in November 2014, with women's events on the PSA calendar from January 2015.
How the PSA ranks players is on rankings explained. Squash's place at LA28 is on the Olympic and Paralympic programme, and the game's beginnings at Harrow on squash at Harrow and after.
Sources
- Wikipedia, World Squash (secondary)
- The Squash Site, WSF rebrands as World Squash (28 January 2025)
- Squashinfo, World Squash Library unveils historical record (search-result summary)
- Squash Worldwide, History of squash (search-result summary)
- World Squash, Singles Rules 2025, effective 1 September 2025 (copy hosted by the Dutch federation)
- US Squash, Squash confirmed for LA28 Olympic Games (October 2023)
- US Squash, History
- Victor (racket maker), document dating the US association (search-result summary)
- Wikipedia, England Squash (secondary)
- England Squash, History of squash (search-result summary)
- England Squash, Governance of squash in England (search-result summary)
- PSA, History of the PSA
- James Zug, The merger of hardball and softball (Squash Magazine, 1 April 2018)
- Wikipedia, Professional Squash Association (secondary)
- Wikipedia, Women's Squash Association (secondary)
- PSA, Board page (search-result summary)
- International Testing Agency, ITA to run clean sport programme for the WSF (23 September 2020)