Wanaka's squash players are starting to feel a little squashed in at their clubrooms in Stone St and dream of a $1million expansion.
The club hosted about 70 players from around the South Island at the annual three-day Queen’s Birthday Tournament.
On Sunday night, the club had to borrow extra chairs for some of the 60 spectators of an elite exhibition by New Zealand men’s doubles representatives Lwamba (23) and Temwa (21) Chileshe, of Hamilton, in the men’s singles final.
Others sat on the floor or stood at the back as Temwa Chileshe achieved a rare 3-2 win over his higher-seeded brother.
Club president Tony Johnston said Wanaka’s Queen’s Birthday Tournament weekend was a popular annual fixture with squash players.
There were two big national club tournaments in New Zealand on the same weekend, but Wanaka’s tournament had always attracted people from out of town because it was a holiday place, he said.
With club membership at about 100 and boasting more juniors than any other club in Otago, it was time to expand, he said.
"There is just that mentality in Wanaka that kids have got to do stuff ... The kids here are brought up like that from the time they are 2 or 3. They arrive at playgroup riding their own bikes. It is a very active society," Mr Johnston said.
Secretary Pip Gardner said the long weekend tournament attracted more than 72 entries from Invercargill to Nelson, but she imposed a cut-off because Wanaka had two courts and could not cater for any more players. Expanding to three courts would be "huge" for the 40-year-old club, she said.
"For the likes of the Queen’s Birthday Tournament, we could take more entries ... We could also host national tournaments because we would have capacity to do that."
Mr Johnston said the club sat on about 2500sq m of land and the plan was to conclude a sale of some of that land within the next two months.
"We’ve definitely got demand to have another court.
"The whole complex was built by volunteers in 1979-80-81. They need tidied up and we need another court. We have plans in front of us.
"The way we hope to finance them is to sell off some of our land, and other fundraising activities in our club and hopefully from some of the charitable trusts," he said.
The club had developed several options to deal with the land, Mr Johnston said.
Funders needed more concrete details about what the club could contribute, so the most important thing was to get a signature on a contract, he said.
"In the end, land will sell in Wanaka, so it is just a matter of getting the best deal for the club," Mr Johnston said.
Wanaka club captain Roy Kewish said it was "super exciting to have plans on the table".
"It will extend the club exponentially. We will be able to have more club nights and grow our membership ... and we want to make sure our club could have some cross use ... We are trying to think laterally to have people using the area," Mr Kewish said.
