Author: Alan Batchelor

Retired teacher church member squash admin enthusiast, coach, referee

Rick Bower

This is heart-breaking news that a much loved and respected squash player has fallen victim to this horrid corona virus. Rick’s daughter has, throughout his illness, had the courage to share with us and here is her latest message:


FINAL CHAPTER – RICHARD vs COVID-19:

It has been a long, long road to get here for the Bower Family but unfortunately there is no light shining at the end of this tunnel.

This afternoon we got a call from Richard’s Drs, confirming what we have been preparing for over the past week. Although my Dad has been able to make it through the fight with COVID-19, it ravaged his body and has left his brain irreparably damaged. He has been taken off all sedation and is still not waking up and now tests have shown that his brain waves are abnormal and he will never be waking up. 

After the tracheostomy was inserted, he was taken for scans and the Drs called to let us know they had discovered that he has suffered a stroke some time in the past few weeks since he has been on the ventilator. The sodium in his blood has also been extremely high due to his kidneys not working efficiently and his brain has been starved of oxygen over a long period of time whilst suffering with virus. It is likely we will never know which of these issued caused the brain damage but that is somewhat irrelevant now as we know the damage is irreversible.

Anyone who knows Richard would know how much he would hate for his body to be left on life support in this state if there is no hope of recovery. In order to preserve his dignity and his memory we now have to be the ones to turn him off.

We have an approx 48 hour period where some final tests will be run and discussions with neurologists will take place (legal tick boxes) before we will be called in as a family to be with Richard and hold him tight whilst they shut down the support that is keeping him alive.

As much as this is a horrific and tragic situation for us all, we can take some comfort in the fact that Richard lived what life he had to the absolute fullest. One of his favorite mottos was ‘There are no withdrawals from the Bank of Experiences’ and now we are eternally grateful for all the shared experiences we have tucked away in our own personal ‘Banks’.

Now we begin the process of slowly grieving and learning how to live in a world without Richard, whilst being deprived of the comfort and support of having friends and family around us, as we are confined to our house during an extended lockdown.

I’m truly sorry that I cannot bring you good news, but this virus is a killer and it has taken my heart along with my Dad. Thank you for being a support in this nightmare path we have had to walk.

We will let you know when his time has finally come.

The Bower Family

The thoughts of all Cheshire players and club members are with the Bower family at this time

new photos?

They are not actually new, but they are new to the website. Check them out. I have a lot more to add, but should I do so on a more user friendly gallery. I’ll have to upgrade the site to do so. Would anyone like to sponsor the photos page? your company details can be at the top of the page. Contact me if you would be interested.

Important notice for all coaches

The following notice has just been issued by England Squash and should be noted by all coaches in the county

  • All existing coaches must undertake face-to-face safeguarding training when their current safeguarding qualification lapses.
  • Once a coach has attended the latest face-to-face training, future courses they attend could either be online or face-to-face.
  • For coaches whose safeguarding qualification expires soon, we are offering a grace period between now and 1 February 2020, during which time their Coach Membership (including insurance) will still be valid regardless of whether their safeguarding qualification has expired. This will allow reasonable time for those coaches to complete the face-to-face training.
  • Coach Member validity will be subject to the coach having evidenced that they are booked on to a course before the end of the grace period (e.g. emailing evidence of their booking to England Squash), alongside holding a current Coach Membership, up to date DBS certificate, and First Aid certificate (Level 2 and above).
  • England Squash will continue to working with the CPSU to ensure that training courses are available and that we have the best possible safeguards in place for the squash community. We are committed to supporting coaches through this transitionary period so please do get in touch if you have any questions.

Ray Bentham

Cheshire Squash are sad to hear of the death of Ray Bentham, former Chair of Prestbury Squash Club. Ray was well known throughout the county as a stalwart supporter of the NWSCL, both in his time, advice and financial. He will be greatly missed by all.