Squash SA has approved funding to make this event the official training for the 2010 world student championshps.

Athletes get put through fitness, on court coaching and drills and routines. SSMU and ISR as well as recovery units are involved.

Approximately 30 athletes, including international players from Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa and the USA will take part.

• More on Mark: as a junior Mark captained England to 1st place in the World Junior Team Championships and finished fourth in the 1990 World Junior Individual Championships.

At 18 years old he turned professional and spent two seasons playing in Cape Town for The Camps Bay Club - during this period he helped Western Province to win two Inter Provincial Jarvis Cup titles (1991 and 1992).

He competed for three years on the P.S.A. tour, and during this time achieved a highest world ranking of 41. Highlights included tournament wins over some of the best players in the world including Peter Nicol, and Jonathan Power.

In 1993 Mark made a difficult decision to step down from professional squash in order to attend Nottingham University. He graduated in 1996 with a B.A. in industrial economics. While there, he continued to play at the university level capturing three British University Individual Championship titles in addition to captaining the British Universities Squash Team to victory in the 1996 World Student Games.

After graduation Mark moved back into professional squash, but this time as Coach and Director of Squash on the island of Guernsey. During his two years in the Channel Islands, Mark taught England No 1 junior Chris Simpson, and he coached/managed the Guernsey squash team that competed in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.

In 2000 Mark qualified as an English SRA Level IV Coach with Elite Status, this is recognized worldwide as one of the highest coaching qualifications in squash.

Mark has been working for Western Athletic Clubs, as head squash professional at The San Francisco Bay Club: with over 5,000 members and an estimated 800 squash players. As head squash pro for The Bay Club, Mark was responsible for programs, instruction, tournaments, and international squash events.

From September 2003 to August 2005, Mark was Head Coach and Manager of the U.S. National Junior Women's Team. The U.S. Team finished 4th in The 2005 World Junior Championships, and No 1 player Lily Lorentzen finished in the top 8 places in the individual event; both of these were best ever finishes for the United States in a world championship squash event.

For this success, and other record performances from members of the team during his two year tenure, Mark was voted by U.S. Squash as the National Coach of the Year, 2005.

Mark is a U.S. Squash Coaching Panel Tutor, qualifying U.S. Coaches to teach at Level I and Level II, and he is currently writing the syllabus for the U.S. Level III program.

In December 2007 Mark decided to make a move back to Cape Town, South Africa, where his professional squash career first started.

Coaching Experience (National Squads and Teams):

• U.S. Squash National Junior Women's Team Head Coach, Sep '03 to Aug '05;

• U.S. Squash National Junior Squad Coach, '01 to '03;

• Squash England National Junior Squad Coach, May '01;

• Guernsey Commonwealth Games Squash Team Coach/Manager, Kuala Lumpur, '98