After forming my team, I quickly was on the hunt to find ideally a cohort of young players. I didn’t want any beginners for now but rather dedicated players who have trained the craft as much as they could till that point but need boosts in certain areas. Due to Jimmy and Mr. Nathan being leaders of the Nchanga Squash club in Chingola, I knew that would be the best way to find someone. I asked them to look first and they barely got any leads so I knew I had to get there myself. I flew into Ndola and drove into Chingola only for 1 full day so I could select the right people for the program. I went there during peak training time when they were all asked to come and only one person showed up, his name was Chishimba Sipho. When I spoke to him, he told me that he used to have many squash friends but due to the difficulty for their parents to pay for rackets, grips, balls, court time, etc, they had to stop or were discouraged from playing squash. He himself fought for his passion which he has had since he was only 6 years old.

We continued to speak and eventually played some games of squash. Although I won 3-2, it was evident that he had potential, grit and hard work written on his forehead. With some frequent 1 on 1 training with a good coach like Mr. Nathan and better equipment, he would have the platform to be one of Zambia’s best junior players.