On Friday 6th June, WSO hosted the inaugural Women in Refereeing Day at the GillenMarkets British Open, supported by the IOC Solidarity Fund and England Squash. The workshop, as part of the LA28 Women in Refereeing Initiative, presented a strategic opportunity to showcase the importance of female officiating while creating a scalable model for future implementation.
The initiative, led by Professional Referee Andrea Santamaria, aims to develop a minimum of 6 female referees to PSA Squash Tour and World Squash Major Championship standard by the 2028 Olympic Games. With female officials from across the UK and Europe in attendance, as well as players and administrators, the activities and networking enabled attendees to learn from each other and explore refereeing as an option.

The day was opened by the President of World Squash, Zena Wooldridge, who said, “This is an important milestone in the development of more female referees and we hope it’s the first session of a global series. My background was as a referee. We don’t have a competitive sport if we don’t have referees.”
Shining a light on the importance of gender equality in officiating, Wooldridge said, “We have greater gender equality in our sport, but refereeing is where we need to do the most work.” Also in attendance to support the initiative were eight-time British Open Champion and four-time World Champion Dame Susan Devoy, as well as five-time World Champion and recent PSA Hall of Fame inductee Sarah Fitzgerald.

After a morning of discussions and interactive decision-making, the group heard from key stakeholders including active WSO Referee and former World No. 188 Lucy Townley, who presented her journey beginning with England Squash’s Mission 2022 initiative. Lucy said, “Attending and presenting at the Women In Refereeing Day meant so much to me. Getting to share my journey with other women while being surrounded by the people who have supported and inspired me from the start was a special moment. The event highlighted the importance of female referees and I hope I was able to inspire others to start or continue their refereeing journey.”

Ex-World No.1 Vanessa Atkinson, as well as retired referees Wendy Danzey and Joss Garvey and Head of the Squash United Foundation, Adriana Olaya, also gave presentations at the event, outlining their journeys within the sport and highlighting the challenges they faced as women in the field.
The workshop also included promotion of the Player Referee Pathway Initiative (PRPI), led by Jason Foster, which encourages players and former players to take up refereeing. Current World No.67 Millie Tomlinson attended the event, who provided key insights into how refereeing decisions can be perceived by players.
The event was supported by the IOC Solidarity Fund, which provides assistance for development programmes, including those focusing on gender equality.
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