Nigeria Sports Celebrating passion, talent and excellence

Squash · Careers

How to build a squash career in Nigeria

From your first lesson to junior trials, the PSA World Tour and the road to LA 2028: every step, what squash pays and the rules that keep you safe.

Nigerian squash players in national colours in a rally on a glass-backed court

Careers in squash

Your road to a life in squash

Behind the glass walls of courts in Surulere, Ikoyi, Ikeja and Abuja, a small group of Nigerians has done something remarkable. With little money and often no coach, they have climbed the world rankings, won professional titles and put Nigeria on the squash map. In 2023 Onaopemipo Adegoke became the first Nigerian to win a PSA World Tour title. In July 2026 Nigeria's junior girls won the country's first ever match at the World Junior Team Championships. And squash joins the Olympic Games at Los Angeles 2028.

This page is for young players, parents, PE teachers and club coaches. It explains how to start, how juniors are picked for Nigeria, how the professional tour works, what squash really pays, the coaching and refereeing courses you can take, and the safety rules every young player must know. Every figure was checked on 1 October 2026.

One honest truth first: squash in Nigeria is a sport of courage and self-reliance. Nigeria's top players still find their own sponsors, and some coach themselves. But the sport has more than 300 courts across Nigeria, a busy home tournament calendar, and a new Olympic dream. With good planning, it can give you a career, an education and a way of life.

A young Nigerian squash player in green waits to return the ball as an older player prepares his shot on a glass-backed court

Career facts · Checked 1 October 2026

Nigerian squash careers in numbers

  • 130

    Best Nigerian men's ranking

    Onaopemipo Adegoke, January 2025.

  • 104

    Best Nigerian women's ranking

    Yemisi Olatunji, the best by a Nigerian woman.

  • 300+

    Squash courts in Nigeria

    Many with glass back walls.

  • 16

    Olympic places per gender

    Squash makes its debut at LA 2028.

The pathway at a glance

Six stages from first lesson to the world tour

Ages are a guide, not a rule. Squash rewards players who start early, but late starters with fitness and drive can still rise.

  1. Age 7 to 12

    Club and school squash

    Start at a club or stadium court with a coach. Yemisi Olatunji began at a local court in Akure at about ten, in 2004.

  2. Age 10 to 15

    Junior tournaments

    Play club, state and national junior events. Good results bring you to the notice of the Nigeria Squash Federation.

  3. Age 13 to 18

    Junior national team

    Trials pick Nigeria's junior squads. In 2026, 17 juniors were invited to trials at Ikoyi Club 1938 and eight made the team for Canada.

  4. Age 16 to 20

    Senior national champion

    Win national events such as the national championships and National Sports Festival. Adegoke was national champion at 19.

  5. Age 18 and up

    PSA Challenger and Satellite events

    Join the Professional Squash Association (PSA) and earn ranking points, including at PSA-ranked events staged in Lagos.

  6. Age 20 and up

    World ranking, Africa and the Olympics

    Africa Senior Championships, the 2027 African Games in Cairo and, for a few, the road to LA 2028.

Step by step

Eight steps to a squash career

Follow these in order. Each step builds on the one before it.

  1. Get on a court with a coach, and stay in school

    Squash is fast and technical, so a good coach early saves years. Find a club, school or stadium court near you: Nigeria has more than 300, many with glass back walls. At the same time, do not neglect school. Yemisi Olatunji, Nigeria's best-ranked woman ever, remembers that someone at her first big tournament paid for her senior school certificate exam: squash and school went together from the start.

    • Ask your state squash association or the nearest club which coaches take juniors.
    • Train three or four times a week if you can, and build fitness with running and court sprints.

  2. Commit, and train with purpose

    Talent is not enough. Olatunji admits that when she started she was not consistent because her attention was divided; her turning point came in 2006 when she committed fully, and her intense training earned her the nickname “fire down”. Three years later she won bronze at her first major competition, the 2009 Fembas Squash Open in Abeokuta.

  3. Play every junior event you can reach

    Matches teach what drills cannot. Enter club, state and national junior tournaments and play older opponents whenever you can. Nigeria's home calendar includes the national championships, the Chamberlain Squash Open series in Lagos, the President Obasanjo Squash Open, the Lagos International Squash Classic, the Abuja Squash Open and the National Sports Festival.

  4. Earn a junior national team place

    Nigeria now sends junior teams to world events. For the 2026 World Squash Junior Team Championships in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada (26 to 31 July), the federation invited 17 juniors to trials at Ikoyi Club 1938, cut the group to 12 for a camp in Abuja, and picked eight: four boys and four girls. The girls then beat ninth seeds Brazil 2-1, Nigeria's first ever win at the event. Places were won at trials, so your results count.

  5. Become national champion

    Senior titles at home build your name and your ranking. Adegoke began playing only after some reluctance, encouraged by his brother, then rose through Nigeria's junior ranks to become national champion at 19. Olatunji won national titles again and again between 2013 and 2021, plus National Sports Festival gold in 2018 and 2021.

  6. Turn professional on the PSA Tour

    The Professional Squash Association runs the world rankings. Its 2024-25 season had 1,019 sanctioned events, including 215 Challenger events and 720 Satellite and Federation events, the levels where new professionals start. Several Nigerian tournaments carry PSA ranking points, so you can climb without leaving home. Adegoke turned professional in 2018, won the Namibian Open in 2023 from two games down and reached world No. 130 in January 2025.

  7. Aim for Africa, the African Games and LA 2028

    Nigeria's men and women both won team bronze at the 2022 Africa Senior Championships in Bulawayo. The next big target is the African Games in Cairo (20 January to 7 February 2027), one of the continental routes to the Olympics. Squash at LA 2028 has only 16 places per gender, earned through continental Games, PSA world rankings, universality places and a final world qualifier in June 2028. Adegoke's stated goal is to be Nigeria's first Olympic squash player.

  8. Build a life in squash that lasts

    Playing careers end; squash careers need not. Olatunji retired from the tour in 2023 and now coaches full-time; she guided her sister Busayo to a world ranking of 141. Take a coaching or refereeing course while you are still playing (see below), and keep studying: Busayo combined the tour with studies at the University of Lagos.

Pay

Making a living from squash

Squash pay is honest work for modest money for most players. These are the figures we could verify.

Squash money: verified figures, checked 1 October 2026
LevelWhat we could verifySource
Whole PSA TourA record $12,534,421 in prize money in the 2024-25 season, across 1,019 events in 70 countriesPSA, August 2025
The very topThe top 10 players averaged $183,734; the men's and women's world No. 1s each earned about $400,000PSA, August 2025
Nigerian professionalsNo reliable prize money figures are published; Nigeria's best players find most of their own sponsorshipThe Guardian (Nigeria), August 2025
GrassrootsMany Nigerian players have relied on goodwill from a few enthusiasts of the sportThe Guardian (Nigeria), January 2019

In practice, Nigerian squash players fund themselves through a mix of personal sponsors, club support, jobs and coaching income. Adegoke has said players try to solicit sponsors themselves. Plan for rackets, strings, shoes, eyewear, travel and entry fees before you plan for prize money, and save from your first payment.

Beyond playing

Careers around the court

Not every squash career is on court. Clubs and federations need coaches, referees and organisers, and these routes are open to former players and newcomers alike.

Careers around Nigerian squash
CareerHow to startNext level
CoachThe World Squash Foundation Coaching Award, run online by World Squash and SquashSkills: seven modules and an assessment, about eight hours, £99, no court needed.Level 1 certificates through national governing bodies, then higher levels. Ask the Nigeria Squash Federation which courses it recognises.
RefereeWorld Squash Officiating's Level 0 Rules course is free online, then Level 1 (Club) and Level 2 (Tournament).Level 3 (National) prepares officials for national, PSA and World Squash events; Levels 4 and 5 are continental and world.
Club professionalTeach juniors and members at a club with courts, as Yemisi Olatunji does after her playing career.Head coach, academy or national junior coach.
Tournament organiserVolunteer at the Chamberlain Squash Open, a national championship or your club's events.Event management, federation or sponsor roles.

Women's squash

The path for girls and women

Nigerian women have proved they belong on the world tour.

  • Yemisi Olatunji, born in Igbara-Odo, Ekiti State, reached world No. 104, the best ever by a Nigerian woman, before retiring in 2023 to coach.
  • Her younger sister Busayo Olatunji reached world No. 141 in April 2024 while studying at the University of Lagos.
  • Nigeria's women won team bronze at the 2003 All-Africa Games in Abuja and again at the 2022 Africa Senior Championships.
  • In July 2026 the junior girls, Awawu Balogun, Delight Allison and Mosturah Durosinlorun, won Nigeria's first match at the World Junior Team Championships.

Olatunji believes Olympic squash will change the picture, saying more kids, “especially females”, will learn about the game. Parents: meet the coach, watch sessions, and make sure a guardian or team official travels with any junior going to an event.

Stay safe

Safety, eyewear and clean sport

Squash is safe when played properly, but a few rules protect young players.

Five rules to protect your squash career

  • Wear protective eyewear. World Squash requires all players under 19 to wear suitable eyewear in competition, even in senior events, and everyone in doubles.
  • Warm up properly, drink water, and stop at once if you feel chest pain or dizziness.
  • Check every medicine and supplement before you take it, and tell every doctor you are an athlete.
  • Never pay anyone who promises a place on a national team or a sponsorship abroad. Team places come from open trials.
  • Never agree to lose a match or a game for money, and report any approach to your federation.

Anti-doping

Nigeria's National Anti-Doping Act, 2025 set up the Nigeria Anti-Doping Centre, whose Technical Board was inaugurated on 3 July 2026 to educate athletes and enforce the World Anti-Doping Code. With squash entering the Olympics, testing will matter more than ever for anyone chasing LA 2028.

Advice from the stars

What Nigerian squash people want you to know

Every quote below was checked word for word against the outlet named under it. We add one practical lesson to each.

  • In Nigeria, it has shaped a lot of players; took a lot of players out of the streets.

    Onaopemipo AdegokeNigeria's No. 1 and first PSA World Tour title winner
    The Guardian (Nigeria), 11 August 2025

    The lesson: Squash can change a life, not just a ranking.

  • We try as much as possible to solicit for sponsors ourselves.

    Onaopemipo AdegokeNigeria's only squash player at the 2025 World Games
    The Guardian (Nigeria), 11 August 2025

    The lesson: Learn early to present yourself to sponsors: it is part of the job.

  • You know it has been hard getting new sponsors; we players have only been thriving due to goodwill from few enthusiasts of the sport.

    Yemisi OlatunjiBest-ranked Nigerian woman in history, now a coach
    The Guardian (Nigeria), 18 January 2019

    The lesson: Build relationships with the people who love the sport; they keep careers alive.

  • When I started, I was not consistent with training because my attention was divided with other engagements just to get my life going.

    Yemisi OlatunjiWorld No. 104 at her peak
    BlitzikSports, 11 June 2021

    The lesson: Real progress begins the day you commit fully.

  • We are really excited. We are so happy to get our first win as a team.

    Jonah IbrahimHead coach, Nigeria's junior girls
    Squash Mad, 28 July 2026

    The lesson: Every Nigerian first starts with a team that believed it could win.

Your first move

Where to start this week

Whatever your age, you can start this week. Tick these off:

  • Find a club, school or stadium squash court near you and ask about junior sessions.
  • Buy protective eyewear before you buy an expensive racket.
  • Ask your state squash association about junior tournaments and trials.
  • Keep your school grades up: Nigeria's top players combined squash with education.
  • Take the free World Squash Officiating Level 0 rules course online.
  • Keep a diary of your results and, when you turn professional, your PSA ranking.
  • Parents and coaches: contact the Nigeria Squash Federation for official programmes.

Find the federation's details on our Contact squash in Nigeria page, and see the home calendar on our games and tournaments page.

Keep exploring

Explore Nigerian squash

Quick answers

Squash careers in Nigeria: your questions

How do I start playing squash in Nigeria?

Find a club, school or stadium court with a coach. Nigeria has more than 300 squash courts, including the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos. Ask your state squash association about junior sessions and tournaments.

How are Nigeria's junior squash teams selected?

Through trials. For the 2026 World Junior Team Championships in Canada, 17 juniors were invited to trials at Ikoyi Club 1938, 12 went to a camp in Abuja, and eight players were picked.

Can a Nigerian squash player turn professional?

Yes. Players join the Professional Squash Association and earn ranking points at PSA events, including some staged in Nigeria. Onaopemipo Adegoke won the first PSA World Tour title by a Nigerian in 2023 and reached world No. 130 in 2025.

How much do squash players earn?

The PSA Tour paid a record $12.5 million in 2024-25, and the top 10 averaged $183,734. Nigerian professionals earn far less and mostly rely on sponsors they find themselves, club support and coaching.

Is squash in the Olympics?

Yes, from Los Angeles 2028, with 16 places per gender. Places come through continental Games such as the 2027 African Games in Cairo, PSA world rankings, universality places and a final world qualifier in June 2028.

How do I become a squash coach or referee?

Coaches can start with the online World Squash Foundation Coaching Award (about eight hours, £99). Referees can take World Squash Officiating's free Level 0 rules course, then Levels 1 to 5. Ask the Nigeria Squash Federation which courses it recognises.

Do young squash players have to wear goggles?

Yes. World Squash requires all players under 19 to wear suitable protective eyewear in competition, even in senior events, and all players in doubles.