Balls to the Wall: Touched by an Angel

From the relative innocence of a small town education and a mind-numbing year of military service, I headed for Die Baai with hopes of vanquishing virgins as I straddled the new “free” world of student life. Sadly it was not to be. A dry white drought-like season of romance and loving, awaited me, in my first year at university. Ironically, therefore, it was lust, and not a deep philanthropic love of the game and desire to improve people’s squash, that was my raison d’etre to hurl myself into the whirlpool of squash coaching - a past-time that became a passion,  has taken me around the world ,brought me friends, more satisfaction than rands, made me a better squash player, and, I think, a better person.

I had been a school provincial player and was hovering around 1^st league level and there were some pretty good looking girls around, playing some pretty average squash. Having realised that I was not the smoothest “chatterer-up” on campus, I thought squash might be a good route to a woman’s heart and a way to getting a leg-up to finding a partner. So I started “coaching” i.e hitting with the girls and passing on titbits of coaching I had received. One evening, after a squad session , I was confronted by a Margaret Thatcher- like woman, who asked me who I was, what I was doing and how could I be coaching if I hadn’t done a coaches course, and if I wanted to continue, I had better attend a course which she would be running at Westview !!

Little did I know. I had just been touched by an angel.

I attended the course, run by Angela Difford, and could not have asked for a better grounding in the basics of technique, matters technical and the intricacies of coaching. Principled, passionate, committed, knowledgeable, disciplined, eccentric, loyal and straight-talking, Mrs Difford was clearly not a person who would suffer fools. I would be lying if I said that our relationship has been smooth and honey-moonish. No, we have often fought, argued , disagreed, and probably cursed each other.  I am sure that many a time, she has asked herself why she bothers with an idiot like this. But over the years I have realised that this is a woman who takes the road less travelled. She seeks tracks, and hammers them into highways in order to make the lives of squash players more rewarding. And I have developed a deep love, respect and admiration for this incredible woman who has meant so much to Eastern Province , and South African squash.

Last month, Angela Difford celebrated her 87^th birthday. Born and educated in Natal, Angela’s life is a list of trail –blazing and opening frontiers. After lying,( she calls it bluffing) about her age, she was accepted into the Military College, trained as an Instructor and served in the WAAF where she met her husband, John. After the war, the Diffords moved to Port Elizabeth where they married. Already a provincial hockey player and playing representative tennis and badminton. she  was re- introduced to squash by Joan Mitchell who invited her to join a small group of women “who had been given permission” to use the Old Grey courts after 8pm on Tuesday nights ! With 3 young children in tow, no maid and no transport and with hockey starting to bite into her time, the squash bug bit.

 And many lives were destined to be changed.

Frustrated by the lack of facilities, Mitchell and Difford formed a  committee which raised funds to build the original Westview courts, and  the P.E.M club was established, the first to offer equal facilities to men and women and entrenched women members on the committee. Since then, Angela has been at the forefront of establishing the EP Ladies Squash Association, now part of the EP Squash Union, the EP Schools committee, the EP Vets ( now Masters), the 1^st National Vets Inter-provincial, setting up the 1^st PE ladies league, a Housewives League, the SA Schools Squash Association, the Londt Park club, which is the now the biggest squash club in South Africa in terms of members, and the list goes on.

But it was first as a player that Angela established her name, representing the province for the first time in 1956, and continued for another 17 years. She  then graduated to the Provincial Vets  where she continued playing till 2000 when a serious knee injury forced an end to an illustrious playing career. A career which saw her being selected for the first ever Springbok side in 1963, where she filled a National Ranking of 3.  Probably the highest ranked EP women ever.

As one of the leading players in the country, she was continually being asked to help, and quickly realised that there is a huge gulf between being a good player and a good coach. In typical Angela fashion, every course was attended, every squash book bought, and every angle explored. As her competitive playing days came to an end, so she took to coaching full time. Here, again Angela became one of the driving forces in setting up SA Schools Inter-provincial tournaments where literally thousands of young squash players have benefited from being able to travel and compete. The tournaments have created a need for more specialised coaching, and there can be very few Port Elizabeth bred squash players who have not benefited from her technical expertise and her wily and experienced eye for identifying opponents’ weaknesses. And to this day, one of her major irritations, is inadequate coaching and lazy ill-disciplined coaches

By the time, the apartheid walls had come tumbling down, Angela had already identified the need for coaching, facilities and equipment amongst our township children. In 1991 , she established a Development Programme which unlike many  others, has stood the test of time. Is sustainable and successful. Today, Eastern Province stands head and shoulders above other regions in terms of the multi-racial face of our provincial teams. And testament to her skill as a coach is that protégés like Thami Mngcete, Garth Plaaitjies, Bonakele Nomkala and Lonwabo Sigele all feature amongst the top players in the province today. And there are more on the way.

Angela’s achievements have not gone unnoticed. In fact, for a person involved with a Cindarella sport, her awards speak volumes. A Headgirl’s blazer would heave under the weight of all of these scrolls but just to mention a few – State Presidents Award, Squash SA Honours Award, The Ina Ackerman Award, nominated for SABC Woman of the Year Award, and Algoa FM  Woman Distinction and, and, and…..

But for all that Angela Difford has achieved,, all of the awards and the recognition, the tough times she has travailed, ( and there have been many), the travel, the titles, the miles of meetings and the boardroom bashes, the lessons she has taught in correcting  technique, and movement, of self- motivation and belief, and how  to THINK on a court. For all of that, her fondest memory of squash is the friends she has found on the way.

If we could all just learn this lesson and appreciate how lucky we are to be playing this wonderful sport.

Angela Difford –  wife, mother, squash  player, coach and administrator, politician, pioneer, suffragette, fighter, mentor, friend. Tough, tetchy, straight-talking . But behind that façade of toughness, there is a soft,caring  woman, with a gentle heart, a loving smile and a love for good laughs and better wine. Angela - You are a very special person.

From the 1000’s of squash people, whose lives have been touched by this angel, we wish you a belated 87^th birthday. We salute you, and we hope you continue to touch our lives for many years.Balls to the Wall: Touched by an Angel

From the relative innocence of a small town education and a mind-numbing year of military service, I headed for Die Baai with hopes of vanquishing virgins as I straddled the new “free” world of student life. Sadly it was not to be. A dry white drought-like season of romance and loving, awaited me, in my first year at university. Ironically, therefore, it was lust, and not a deep philanthropic love of the game and desire to improve people’s squash, that was my raison d’etre to hurl myself into the whirlpool of squash coaching - a past-time that became a passion,  has taken me around the world ,brought me friends, more satisfaction than rands, made me a better squash player, and, I think, a better person.

I had been a school provincial player and was hovering around 1^st league level and there were some pretty good looking girls around, playing some pretty average squash. Having realised that I was not the smoothest “chatterer-up” on campus, I thought squash might be a good route to a woman’s heart and a way to getting a leg-up to finding a partner. So I started “coaching” i.e hitting with the girls and passing on titbits of coaching I had received. One evening, after a squad session , I was confronted by a Margaret Thatcher- like woman, who asked me who I was, what I was doing and how could I be coaching if I hadn’t done a coaches course, and if I wanted to continue, I had better attend a course which she would be running at Westview !!

Little did I know. I had just been touched by an angel.

I attended the course, run by Angela Difford, and could not have asked for a better grounding in the basics of technique, matters technical and the intricacies of coaching. Principled, passionate, committed, knowledgeable, disciplined, eccentric, loyal and straight-talking, Mrs Difford was clearly not a person who would suffer fools. I would be lying if I said that our relationship has been smooth and honey-moonish. No, we have often fought, argued , disagreed, and probably cursed each other.  I am sure that many a time, she has asked herself why she bothers with an idiot like this. But over the years I have realised that this is a woman who takes the road less travelled. She seeks tracks, and hammers them into highways in order to make the lives of squash players more rewarding. And I have developed a deep love, respect and admiration for this incredible woman who has meant so much to Eastern Province , and South African squash.

Last month, Angela Difford celebrated her 87^th birthday. Born and educated in Natal, Angela’s life is a list of trail –blazing and opening frontiers. After lying,( she calls it bluffing) about her age, she was accepted into the Military College, trained as an Instructor and served in the WAAF where she met her husband, John. After the war, the Diffords moved to Port Elizabeth where they married. Already a provincial hockey player and playing representative tennis and badminton. she  was re- introduced to squash by Joan Mitchell who invited her to join a small group of women “who had been given permission” to use the Old Grey courts after 8pm on Tuesday nights ! With 3 young children in tow, no maid and no transport and with hockey starting to bite into her time, the squash bug bit.

 And many lives were destined to be changed.

Frustrated by the lack of facilities, Mitchell and Difford formed a  committee which raised funds to build the original Westview courts, and  the P.E.M club was established, the first to offer equal facilities to men and women and entrenched women members on the committee. Since then, Angela has been at the forefront of establishing the EP Ladies Squash Association, now part of the EP Squash Union, the EP Schools committee, the EP Vets ( now Masters), the 1^st National Vets Inter-provincial, setting up the 1^st PE ladies league, a Housewives League, the SA Schools Squash Association, the Londt Park club, which is the now the biggest squash club in South Africa in terms of members, and the list goes on.

But it was first as a player that Angela established her name, representing the province for the first time in 1956, and continued for another 17 years. She  then graduated to the Provincial Vets  where she continued playing till 2000 when a serious knee injury forced an end to an illustrious playing career. A career which saw her being selected for the first ever Springbok side in 1963, where she filled a National Ranking of 3.  Probably the highest ranked EP women ever.

As one of the leading players in the country, she was continually being asked to help, and quickly realised that there is a huge gulf between being a good player and a good coach. In typical Angela fashion, every course was attended, every squash book bought, and every angle explored. As her competitive playing days came to an end, so she took to coaching full time. Here, again Angela became one of the driving forces in setting up SA Schools Inter-provincial tournaments where literally thousands of young squash players have benefited from being able to travel and compete. The tournaments have created a need for more specialised coaching, and there can be very few Port Elizabeth bred squash players who have not benefited from her technical expertise and her wily and experienced eye for identifying opponents’ weaknesses. And to this day, one of her major irritations, is inadequate coaching and lazy ill-disciplined coaches

By the time, the apartheid walls had come tumbling down, Angela had already identified the need for coaching, facilities and equipment amongst our township children. In 1991 , she established a Development Programme which unlike many  others, has stood the test of time. Is sustainable and successful. Today, Eastern Province stands head and shoulders above other regions in terms of the multi-racial face of our provincial teams. And testament to her skill as a coach is that protégés like Thami Mngcete, Garth Plaaitjies, Bonakele Nomkala and Lonwabo Sigele all feature amongst the top players in the province today. And there are more on the way.

Angela’s achievements have not gone unnoticed. In fact, for a person involved with a Cindarella sport, her awards speak volumes. A Headgirl’s blazer would heave under the weight of all of these scrolls but just to mention a few – State Presidents Award, Squash SA Honours Award, The Ina Ackerman Award, nominated for SABC Woman of the Year Award, and Algoa FM  Woman Distinction and, and, and…..

But for all that Angela Difford has achieved,, all of the awards and the recognition, the tough times she has travailed, ( and there have been many), the travel, the titles, the miles of meetings and the boardroom bashes, the lessons she has taught in correcting  technique, and movement, of self- motivation and belief, and how  to THINK on a court. For all of that, her fondest memory of squash is the friends she has found on the way.

If we could all just learn this lesson and appreciate how lucky we are to be playing this wonderful sport.

Angela Difford –  wife, mother, squash  player, coach and administrator, politician, pioneer, suffragette, fighter, mentor, friend. Tough, tetchy, straight-talking . But behind that façade of toughness, there is a soft,caring  woman, with a gentle heart, a loving smile and a love for good laughs and better wine. Angela - You are a very special person.

From the relative innocence of a small town education and a mind-numbing year of military service, I headed for Die Baai with hopes of vanquishing virgins as I straddled the new “free” world of student life. Sadly it was not to be. A dry white drought-like season of romance and loving, awaited me, in my first year at university. Ironically, therefore, it was lust, and not a deep philanthropic love of the game and desire to improve people’s squash, that was my raison d’etre to hurl myself into the whirlpool of squash coaching - a past-time that became a passion,  has taken me around the world ,brought me friends, more satisfaction than rands, made me a better squash player, and, I think, a better person.

I had been a school provincial player and was hovering around 1^st league level and there were some pretty good looking girls around, playing some pretty average squash. Having realised that I was not the smoothest “chatterer-up” on campus, I thought squash might be a good route to a woman’s heart and a way to getting a leg-up to finding a partner. So I started “coaching” i.e hitting with the girls and passing on titbits of coaching I had received. One evening, after a squad session , I was confronted by a Margaret Thatcher- like woman, who asked me who I was, what I was doing and how could I be coaching if I hadn’t done a coaches course, and if I wanted to continue, I had better attend a course which she would be running at Westview !!

Little did I know. I had just been touched by an angel.

I attended the course, run by Angela Difford, and could not have asked for a better grounding in the basics of technique, matters technical and the intricacies of coaching. Principled, passionate, committed, knowledgeable, disciplined, eccentric, loyal and straight-talking, Mrs Difford was clearly not a person who would suffer fools. I would be lying if I said that our relationship has been smooth and honey-moonish. No, we have often fought, argued , disagreed, and probably cursed each other.  I am sure that many a time, she has asked herself why she bothers with an idiot like this. But over the years I have realised that this is a woman who takes the road less travelled. She seeks tracks, and hammers them into highways in order to make the lives of squash players more rewarding. And I have developed a deep love, respect and admiration for this incredible woman who has meant so much to Eastern Province , and South African squash.

Last month, Angela Difford celebrated her 87^th birthday. Born and educated in Natal, Angela’s life is a list of trail –blazing and opening frontiers. After lying,( she calls it bluffing) about her age, she was accepted into the Military College, trained as an Instructor and served in the WAAF where she met her husband, John. After the war, the Diffords moved to Port Elizabeth where they married. Already a provincial hockey player and playing representative tennis and badminton. she  was re- introduced to squash by Joan Mitchell who invited her to join a small group of women “who had been given permission” to use the Old Grey courts after 8pm on Tuesday nights ! With 3 young children in tow, no maid and no transport and with hockey starting to bite into her time, the squash bug bit.

 And many lives were destined to be changed.

Frustrated by the lack of facilities, Mitchell and Difford formed a  committee which raised funds to build the original Westview courts, and  the P.E.M club was established, the first to offer equal facilities to men and women and entrenched women members on the committee. Since then, Angela has been at the forefront of establishing the EP Ladies Squash Association, now part of the EP Squash Union, the EP Schools committee, the EP Vets ( now Masters), the 1^st National Vets Inter-provincial, setting up the 1^st PE ladies league, a Housewives League, the SA Schools Squash Association, the Londt Park club, which is the now the biggest squash club in South Africa in terms of members, and the list goes on.

But it was first as a player that Angela established her name, representing the province for the first time in 1956, and continued for another 17 years. She  then graduated to the Provincial Vets  where she continued playing till 2000 when a serious knee injury forced an end to an illustrious playing career. A career which saw her being selected for the first ever Springbok side in 1963, where she filled a National Ranking of 3.  Probably the highest ranked EP women ever.

As one of the leading players in the country, she was continually being asked to help, and quickly realised that there is a huge gulf between being a good player and a good coach. In typical Angela fashion, every course was attended, every squash book bought, and every angle explored. As her competitive playing days came to an end, so she took to coaching full time. Here, again Angela became one of the driving forces in setting up SA Schools Inter-provincial tournaments where literally thousands of young squash players have benefited from being able to travel and compete. The tournaments have created a need for more specialised coaching, and there can be very few Port Elizabeth bred squash players who have not benefited from her technical expertise and her wily and experienced eye for identifying opponents’ weaknesses. And to this day, one of her major irritations, is inadequate coaching and lazy ill-disciplined coaches

By the time, the apartheid walls had come tumbling down, Angela had already identified the need for coaching, facilities and equipment amongst our township children. In 1991 , she established a Development Programme which unlike many  others, has stood the test of time. Is sustainable and successful. Today, Eastern Province stands head and shoulders above other regions in terms of the multi-racial face of our provincial teams. And testament to her skill as a coach is that protégés like Thami Mngcete, Garth Plaaitjies, Bonakele Nomkala and Lonwabo Sigele all feature amongst the top players in the province today. And there are more on the way.

Angela’s achievements have not gone unnoticed. In fact, for a person involved with a Cindarella sport, her awards speak volumes. A Headgirl’s blazer would heave under the weight of all of these scrolls but just to mention a few – State Presidents Award, Squash SA Honours Award, The Ina Ackerman Award, nominated for SABC Woman of the Year Award, and Algoa FM  Woman Distinction and, and, and…..

But for all that Angela Difford has achieved,, all of the awards and the recognition, the tough times she has travailed, ( and there have been many), the travel, the titles, the miles of meetings and the boardroom bashes, the lessons she has taught in correcting  technique, and movement, of self- motivation and belief, and how  to THINK on a court. For all of that, her fondest memory of squash is the friends she has found on the way.

If we could all just learn this lesson and appreciate how lucky we are to be playing this wonderful sport.

Angela Difford –  wife, mother, squash  player, coach and administrator, politician, pioneer, suffragette, fighter, mentor, friend. Tough, tetchy, straight-talking . But behind that façade of toughness, there is a soft,caring  woman, with a gentle heart, a loving smile and a love for good laughs and better wine. Angela - You are a very special person.

From the relative innocence of a small town education and a mind-numbing year of military service, I headed for Die Baai with hopes of vanquishing virgins as I straddled the new “free” world of student life. Sadly it was not to be. A dry white drought-like season of romance and loving, awaited me, in my first year at university. Ironically, therefore, it was lust, and not a deep philanthropic love of the game and desire to improve people’s squash, that was my raison d’etre to hurl myself into the whirlpool of squash coaching - a past-time that became a passion,  has taken me around the world ,brought me friends, more satisfaction than rands, made me a better squash player, and, I think, a better person.

I had been a school provincial player and was hovering around 1^st league level and there were some pretty good looking girls around, playing some pretty average squash. Having realised that I was not the smoothest “chatterer-up” on campus, I thought squash might be a good route to a woman’s heart and a way to getting a leg-up to finding a partner. So I started “coaching” i.e hitting with the girls and passing on titbits of coaching I had received. One evening, after a squad session , I was confronted by a Margaret Thatcher- like woman, who asked me who I was, what I was doing and how could I be coaching if I hadn’t done a coaches course, and if I wanted to continue, I had better attend a course which she would be running at Westview !!

Little did I know. I had just been touched by an angel.

I attended the course, run by Angela Difford, and could not have asked for a better grounding in the basics of technique, matters technical and the intricacies of coaching. Principled, passionate, committed, knowledgeable, disciplined, eccentric, loyal and straight-talking, Mrs Difford was clearly not a person who would suffer fools. I would be lying if I said that our relationship has been smooth and honey-moonish. No, we have often fought, argued , disagreed, and probably cursed each other.  I am sure that many a time, she has asked herself why she bothers with an idiot like this. But over the years I have realised that this is a woman who takes the road less travelled. She seeks tracks, and hammers them into highways in order to make the lives of squash players more rewarding. And I have developed a deep love, respect and admiration for this incredible woman who has meant so much to Eastern Province , and South African squash.

Last month, Angela Difford celebrated her 87^th birthday. Born and educated in Natal, Angela’s life is a list of trail –blazing and opening frontiers. After lying,( she calls it bluffing) about her age, she was accepted into the Military College, trained as an Instructor and served in the WAAF where she met her husband, John. After the war, the Diffords moved to Port Elizabeth where they married. Already a provincial hockey player and playing representative tennis and badminton. she  was re- introduced to squash by Joan Mitchell who invited her to join a small group of women “who had been given permission” to use the Old Grey courts after 8pm on Tuesday nights ! With 3 young children in tow, no maid and no transport and with hockey starting to bite into her time, the squash bug bit.

 And many lives were destined to be changed.

Frustrated by the lack of facilities, Mitchell and Difford formed a  committee which raised funds to build the original Westview courts, and  the P.E.M club was established, the first to offer equal facilities to men and women and entrenched women members on the committee. Since then, Angela has been at the forefront of establishing the EP Ladies Squash Association, now part of the EP Squash Union, the EP Schools committee, the EP Vets ( now Masters), the 1^st National Vets Inter-provincial, setting up the 1^st PE ladies league, a Housewives League, the SA Schools Squash Association, the Londt Park club, which is the now the biggest squash club in South Africa in terms of members, and the list goes on.

But it was first as a player that Angela established her name, representing the province for the first time in 1956, and continued for another 17 years. She  then graduated to the Provincial Vets  where she continued playing till 2000 when a serious knee injury forced an end to an illustrious playing career. A career which saw her being selected for the first ever Springbok side in 1963, where she filled a National Ranking of 3.  Probably the highest ranked EP women ever.

As one of the leading players in the country, she was continually being asked to help, and quickly realised that there is a huge gulf between being a good player and a good coach. In typical Angela fashion, every course was attended, every squash book bought, and every angle explored. As her competitive playing days came to an end, so she took to coaching full time. Here, again Angela became one of the driving forces in setting up SA Schools Inter-provincial tournaments where literally thousands of young squash players have benefited from being able to travel and compete. The tournaments have created a need for more specialised coaching, and there can be very few Port Elizabeth bred squash players who have not benefited from her technical expertise and her wily and experienced eye for identifying opponents’ weaknesses. And to this day, one of her major irritations, is inadequate coaching and lazy ill-disciplined coaches

By the time, the apartheid walls had come tumbling down, Angela had already identified the need for coaching, facilities and equipment amongst our township children. In 1991 , she established a Development Programme which unlike many  others, has stood the test of time. Is sustainable and successful. Today, Eastern Province stands head and shoulders above other regions in terms of the multi-racial face of our provincial teams. And testament to her skill as a coach is that protégés like Thami Mngcete, Garth Plaaitjies, Bonakele Nomkala and Lonwabo Sigele all feature amongst the top players in the province today. And there are more on the way.

Angela’s achievements have not gone unnoticed. In fact, for a person involved with a Cindarella sport, her awards speak volumes. A Headgirl’s blazer would heave under the weight of all of these scrolls but just to mention a few – State Presidents Award, Squash SA Honours Award, The Ina Ackerman Award, nominated for SABC Woman of the Year Award, and Algoa FM  Woman Distinction and, and, and…..

But for all that Angela Difford has achieved,, all of the awards and the recognition, the tough times she has travailed, ( and there have been many), the travel, the titles, the miles of meetings and the boardroom bashes, the lessons she has taught in correcting  technique, and movement, of self- motivation and belief, and how  to THINK on a court. For all of that, her fondest memory of squash is the friends she has found on the way.

If we could all just learn this lesson and appreciate how lucky we are to be playing this wonderful sport.

Angela Difford –  wife, mother, squash  player, coach and administrator, politician, pioneer, suffragette, fighter, mentor, friend. Tough, tetchy, straight-talking . But behind that façade of toughness, there is a soft,caring  woman, with a gentle heart, a loving smile and a love for good laughs and better wine. Angela - You are a very special person.

From the relative innocence of a small town education and a mind-numbing year of military service, I headed for Die Baai with hopes of vanquishing virgins as I straddled the new “free” world of student life. Sadly it was not to be. A dry white drought-like season of romance and loving, awaited me, in my first year at university. Ironically, therefore, it was lust, and not a deep philanthropic love of the game and desire to improve people’s squash, that was my raison d’etre to hurl myself into the whirlpool of squash coaching - a past-time that became a passion,  has taken me around the world ,brought me friends, more satisfaction than rands, made me a better squash player, and, I think, a better person.

I had been a school provincial player and was hovering around 1^st league level and there were some pretty good looking girls around, playing some pretty average squash. Having realised that I was not the smoothest “chatterer-up” on campus, I thought squash might be a good route to a woman’s heart and a way to getting a leg-up to finding a partner. So I started “coaching” i.e hitting with the girls and passing on titbits of coaching I had received. One evening, after a squad session , I was confronted by a Margaret Thatcher- like woman, who asked me who I was, what I was doing and how could I be coaching if I hadn’t done a coaches course, and if I wanted to continue, I had better attend a course which she would be running at Westview !!

Little did I know. I had just been touched by an angel.

I attended the course, run by Angela Difford, and could not have asked for a better grounding in the basics of technique, matters technical and the intricacies of coaching. Principled, passionate, committed, knowledgeable, disciplined, eccentric, loyal and straight-talking, Mrs Difford was clearly not a person who would suffer fools. I would be lying if I said that our relationship has been smooth and honey-moonish. No, we have often fought, argued , disagreed, and probably cursed each other.  I am sure that many a time, she has asked herself why she bothers with an idiot like this. But over the years I have realised that this is a woman who takes the road less travelled. She seeks tracks, and hammers them into highways in order to make the lives of squash players more rewarding. And I have developed a deep love, respect and admiration for this incredible woman who has meant so much to Eastern Province , and South African squash.

Last month, Angela Difford celebrated her 87^th birthday. Born and educated in Natal, Angela’s life is a list of trail –blazing and opening frontiers. After lying,( she calls it bluffing) about her age, she was accepted into the Military College, trained as an Instructor and served in the WAAF where she met her husband, John. After the war, the Diffords moved to Port Elizabeth where they married. Already a provincial hockey player and playing representative tennis and badminton. she  was re- introduced to squash by Joan Mitchell who invited her to join a small group of women “who had been given permission” to use the Old Grey courts after 8pm on Tuesday nights ! With 3 young children in tow, no maid and no transport and with hockey starting to bite into her time, the squash bug bit.

 And many lives were destined to be changed.

Frustrated by the lack of facilities, Mitchell and Difford formed a  committee which raised funds to build the original Westview courts, and  the P.E.M club was established, the first to offer equal facilities to men and women and entrenched women members on the committee. Since then, Angela has been at the forefront of establishing the EP Ladies Squash Association, now part of the EP Squash Union, the EP Schools committee, the EP Vets ( now Masters), the 1^st National Vets Inter-provincial, setting up the 1^st PE ladies league, a Housewives League, the SA Schools Squash Association, the Londt Park club, which is the now the biggest squash club in South Africa in terms of members, and the list goes on.

But it was first as a player that Angela established her name, representing the province for the first time in 1956, and continued for another 17 years. She  then graduated to the Provincial Vets  where she continued playing till 2000 when a serious knee injury forced an end to an illustrious playing career. A career which saw her being selected for the first ever Springbok side in 1963, where she filled a National Ranking of 3.  Probably the highest ranked EP women ever.

As one of the leading players in the country, she was continually being asked to help, and quickly realised that there is a huge gulf between being a good player and a good coach. In typical Angela fashion, every course was attended, every squash book bought, and every angle explored. As her competitive playing days came to an end, so she took to coaching full time. Here, again Angela became one of the driving forces in setting up SA Schools Inter-provincial tournaments where literally thousands of young squash players have benefited from being able to travel and compete. The tournaments have created a need for more specialised coaching, and there can be very few Port Elizabeth bred squash players who have not benefited from her technical expertise and her wily and experienced eye for identifying opponents’ weaknesses. And to this day, one of her major irritations, is inadequate coaching and lazy ill-disciplined coaches

By the time, the apartheid walls had come tumbling down, Angela had already identified the need for coaching, facilities and equipment amongst our township children. In 1991 , she established a Development Programme which unlike many  others, has stood the test of time. Is sustainable and successful. Today, Eastern Province stands head and shoulders above other regions in terms of the multi-racial face of our provincial teams. And testament to her skill as a coach is that protégés like Thami Mngcete, Garth Plaaitjies, Bonakele Nomkala and Lonwabo Sigele all feature amongst the top players in the province today. And there are more on the way.

Angela’s achievements have not gone unnoticed. In fact, for a person involved with a Cindarella sport, her awards speak volumes. A Headgirl’s blazer would heave under the weight of all of these scrolls but just to mention a few – State Presidents Award, Squash SA Honours Award, The Ina Ackerman Award, nominated for SABC Woman of the Year Award, and Algoa FM  Woman Distinction and, and, and…..

But for all that Angela Difford has achieved,, all of the awards and the recognition, the tough times she has travailed, ( and there have been many), the travel, the titles, the miles of meetings and the boardroom bashes, the lessons she has taught in correcting  technique, and movement, of self- motivation and belief, and how  to THINK on a court. For all of that, her fondest memory of squash is the friends she has found on the way.

If we could all just learn this lesson and appreciate how lucky we are to be playing this wonderful sport.

Angela Difford –  wife, mother, squash  player, coach and administrator, politician, pioneer, suffragette, fighter, mentor, friend. Tough, tetchy, straight-talking . But behind that façade of toughness, there is a soft,caring  woman, with a gentle heart, a loving smile and a love for good laughs and better wine. Angela - You are a very special person.

From the relative innocence of a small town education and a mind-numbing year of military service, I headed for Die Baai with hopes of vanquishing virgins as I straddled the new “free” world of student life. Sadly it was not to be. A dry white drought-like season of romance and loving, awaited me, in my first year at university. Ironically, therefore, it was lust, and not a deep philanthropic love of the game and desire to improve people’s squash, that was my raison d’etre to hurl myself into the whirlpool of squash coaching - a past-time that became a passion,  has taken me around the world ,brought me friends, more satisfaction than rands, made me a better squash player, and, I think, a better person.

I had been a school provincial player and was hovering around 1^st league level and there were some pretty good looking girls around, playing some pretty average squash. Having realised that I was not the smoothest “chatterer-up” on campus, I thought squash might be a good route to a woman’s heart and a way to getting a leg-up to finding a partner. So I started “coaching” i.e hitting with the girls and passing on titbits of coaching I had received. One evening, after a squad session , I was confronted by a Margaret Thatcher- like woman, who asked me who I was, what I was doing and how could I be coaching if I hadn’t done a coaches course, and if I wanted to continue, I had better attend a course which she would be running at Westview !!

Little did I know. I had just been touched by an angel.

I attended the course, run by Angela Difford, and could not have asked for a better grounding in the basics of technique, matters technical and the intricacies of coaching. Principled, passionate, committed, knowledgeable, disciplined, eccentric, loyal and straight-talking, Mrs Difford was clearly not a person who would suffer fools. I would be lying if I said that our relationship has been smooth and honey-moonish. No, we have often fought, argued , disagreed, and probably cursed each other.  I am sure that many a time, she has asked herself why she bothers with an idiot like this. But over the years I have realised that this is a woman who takes the road less travelled. She seeks tracks, and hammers them into highways in order to make the lives of squash players more rewarding. And I have developed a deep love, respect and admiration for this incredible woman who has meant so much to Eastern Province , and South African squash.

Last month, Angela Difford celebrated her 87^th birthday. Born and educated in Natal, Angela’s life is a list of trail –blazing and opening frontiers. After lying,( she calls it bluffing) about her age, she was accepted into the Military College, trained as an Instructor and served in the WAAF where she met her husband, John. After the war, the Diffords moved to Port Elizabeth where they married. Already a provincial hockey player and playing representative tennis and badminton. she  was re- introduced to squash by Joan Mitchell who invited her to join a small group of women “who had been given permission” to use the Old Grey courts after 8pm on Tuesday nights ! With 3 young children in tow, no maid and no transport and with hockey starting to bite into her time, the squash bug bit.

 And many lives were destined to be changed.

Frustrated by the lack of facilities, Mitchell and Difford formed a  committee which raised funds to build the original Westview courts, and  the P.E.M club was established, the first to offer equal facilities to men and women and entrenched women members on the committee. Since then, Angela has been at the forefront of establishing the EP Ladies Squash Association, now part of the EP Squash Union, the EP Schools committee, the EP Vets ( now Masters), the 1^st National Vets Inter-provincial, setting up the 1^st PE ladies league, a Housewives League, the SA Schools Squash Association, the Londt Park club, which is the now the biggest squash club in South Africa in terms of members, and the list goes on.

But it was first as a player that Angela established her name, representing the province for the first time in 1956, and continued for another 17 years. She  then graduated to the Provincial Vets  where she continued playing till 2000 when a serious knee injury forced an end to an illustrious playing career. A career which saw her being selected for the first ever Springbok side in 1963, where she filled a National Ranking of 3.  Probably the highest ranked EP women ever.

As one of the leading players in the country, she was continually being asked to help, and quickly realised that there is a huge gulf between being a good player and a good coach. In typical Angela fashion, every course was attended, every squash book bought, and every angle explored. As her competitive playing days came to an end, so she took to coaching full time. Here, again Angela became one of the driving forces in setting up SA Schools Inter-provincial tournaments where literally thousands of young squash players have benefited from being able to travel and compete. The tournaments have created a need for more specialised coaching, and there can be very few Port Elizabeth bred squash players who have not benefited from her technical expertise and her wily and experienced eye for identifying opponents’ weaknesses. And to this day, one of her major irritations, is inadequate coaching and lazy ill-disciplined coaches

By the time, the apartheid walls had come tumbling down, Angela had already identified the need for coaching, facilities and equipment amongst our township children. In 1991 , she established a Development Programme which unlike many  others, has stood the test of time. Is sustainable and successful. Today, Eastern Province stands head and shoulders above other regions in terms of the multi-racial face of our provincial teams. And testament to her skill as a coach is that protégés like Thami Mngcete, Garth Plaaitjies, Bonakele Nomkala and Lonwabo Sigele all feature amongst the top players in the province today. And there are more on the way.

Angela’s achievements have not gone unnoticed. In fact, for a person involved with a Cindarella sport, her awards speak volumes. A Headgirl’s blazer would heave under the weight of all of these scrolls but just to mention a few – State Presidents Award, Squash SA Honours Award, The Ina Ackerman Award, nominated for SABC Woman of the Year Award, and Algoa FM  Woman Distinction and, and, and…..

But for all that Angela Difford has achieved,, all of the awards and the recognition, the tough times she has travailed, ( and there have been many), the travel, the titles, the miles of meetings and the boardroom bashes, the lessons she has taught in correcting  technique, and movement, of self- motivation and belief, and how  to THINK on a court. For all of that, her fondest memory of squash is the friends she has found on the way.

If we could all just learn this lesson and appreciate how lucky we are to be playing this wonderful sport.

Angela Difford –  wife, mother, squash  player, coach and administrator, politician, pioneer, suffragette, fighter, mentor, friend. Tough, tetchy, straight-talking . But behind that façade of toughness, there is a soft,caring  woman, with a gentle heart, a loving smile and a love for good laughs and better wine. Angela - You are a very special person.

From the relative innocence of a small town education and a mind-numbing year of military service, I headed for Die Baai with hopes of vanquishing virgins as I straddled the new “free” world of student life. Sadly it was not to be. A dry white drought-like season of romance and loving, awaited me, in my first year at university. Ironically, therefore, it was lust, and not a deep philanthropic love of the game and desire to improve people’s squash, that was my raison d’etre to hurl myself into the whirlpool of squash coaching - a past-time that became a passion,  has taken me around the world ,brought me friends, more satisfaction than rands, made me a better squash player, and, I think, a better person.

I had been a school provincial player and was hovering around 1^st league level and there were some pretty good looking girls around, playing some pretty average squash. Having realised that I was not the smoothest “chatterer-up” on campus, I thought squash might be a good route to a woman’s heart and a way to getting a leg-up to finding a partner. So I started “coaching” i.e hitting with the girls and passing on titbits of coaching I had received. One evening, after a squad session , I was confronted by a Margaret Thatcher- like woman, who asked me who I was, what I was doing and how could I be coaching if I hadn’t done a coaches course, and if I wanted to continue, I had better attend a course which she would be running at Westview !!

Little did I know. I had just been touched by an angel.

I attended the course, run by Angela Difford, and could not have asked for a better grounding in the basics of technique, matters technical and the intricacies of coaching. Principled, passionate, committed, knowledgeable, disciplined, eccentric, loyal and straight-talking, Mrs Difford was clearly not a person who would suffer fools. I would be lying if I said that our relationship has been smooth and honey-moonish. No, we have often fought, argued , disagreed, and probably cursed each other.  I am sure that many a time, she has asked herself why she bothers with an idiot like this. But over the years I have realised that this is a woman who takes the road less travelled. She seeks tracks, and hammers them into highways in order to make the lives of squash players more rewarding. And I have developed a deep love, respect and admiration for this incredible woman who has meant so much to Eastern Province , and South African squash.

Last month, Angela Difford celebrated her 87^th birthday. Born and educated in Natal, Angela’s life is a list of trail –blazing and opening frontiers. After lying,( she calls it bluffing) about her age, she was accepted into the Military College, trained as an Instructor and served in the WAAF where she met her husband, John. After the war, the Diffords moved to Port Elizabeth where they married. Already a provincial hockey player and playing representative tennis and badminton. she  was re- introduced to squash by Joan Mitchell who invited her to join a small group of women “who had been given permission” to use the Old Grey courts after 8pm on Tuesday nights ! With 3 young children in tow, no maid and no transport and with hockey starting to bite into her time, the squash bug bit.

 And many lives were destined to be changed.

Frustrated by the lack of facilities, Mitchell and Difford formed a  committee which raised funds to build the original Westview courts, and  the P.E.M club was established, the first to offer equal facilities to men and women and entrenched women members on the committee. Since then, Angela has been at the forefront of establishing the EP Ladies Squash Association, now part of the EP Squash Union, the EP Schools committee, the EP Vets ( now Masters), the 1^st National Vets Inter-provincial, setting up the 1^st PE ladies league, a Housewives League, the SA Schools Squash Association, the Londt Park club, which is the now the biggest squash club in South Africa in terms of members, and the list goes on.

But it was first as a player that Angela established her name, representing the province for the first time in 1956, and continued for another 17 years. She  then graduated to the Provincial Vets  where she continued playing till 2000 when a serious knee injury forced an end to an illustrious playing career. A career which saw her being selected for the first ever Springbok side in 1963, where she filled a National Ranking of 3.  Probably the highest ranked EP women ever.

As one of the leading players in the country, she was continually being asked to help, and quickly realised that there is a huge gulf between being a good player and a good coach. In typical Angela fashion, every course was attended, every squash book bought, and every angle explored. As her competitive playing days came to an end, so she took to coaching full time. Here, again Angela became one of the driving forces in setting up SA Schools Inter-provincial tournaments where literally thousands of young squash players have benefited from being able to travel and compete. The tournaments have created a need for more specialised coaching, and there can be very few Port Elizabeth bred squash players who have not benefited from her technical expertise and her wily and experienced eye for identifying opponents’ weaknesses. And to this day, one of her major irritations, is inadequate coaching and lazy ill-disciplined coaches

By the time, the apartheid walls had come tumbling down, Angela had already identified the need for coaching, facilities and equipment amongst our township children. In 1991 , she established a Development Programme which unlike many  others, has stood the test of time. Is sustainable and successful. Today, Eastern Province stands head and shoulders above other regions in terms of the multi-racial face of our provincial teams. And testament to her skill as a coach is that protégés like Thami Mngcete, Garth Plaaitjies, Bonakele Nomkala and Lonwabo Sigele all feature amongst the top players in the province today. And there are more on the way.

Angela’s achievements have not gone unnoticed. In fact, for a person involved with a Cindarella sport, her awards speak volumes. A Headgirl’s blazer would heave under the weight of all of these scrolls but just to mention a few – State Presidents Award, Squash SA Honours Award, The Ina Ackerman Award, nominated for SABC Woman of the Year Award, and Algoa FM  Woman Distinction and, and, and…..

But for all that Angela Difford has achieved,, all of the awards and the recognition, the tough times she has travailed, ( and there have been many), the travel, the titles, the miles of meetings and the boardroom bashes, the lessons she has taught in correcting  technique, and movement, of self- motivation and belief, and how  to THINK on a court. For all of that, her fondest memory of squash is the friends she has found on the way.

If we could all just learn this lesson and appreciate how lucky we are to be playing this wonderful sport.

Angela Difford –  wife, mother, squash  player, coach and administrator, politician, pioneer, suffragette, fighter, mentor, friend. Tough, tetchy, straight-talking . But behind that façade of toughness, there is a soft,caring  woman, with a gentle heart, a loving smile and a love for good laughs and better wine. Angela - You are a very special person.

From the relative innocence of a small town education and a mind-numbing year of military service, I headed for Die Baai with hopes of vanquishing virgins as I straddled the new “free” world of student life. Sadly it was not to be. A dry white drought-like season of romance and loving, awaited me, in my first year at university. Ironically, therefore, it was lust, and not a deep philanthropic love of the game and desire to improve people’s squash, that was my raison d’etre to hurl myself into the whirlpool of squash coaching - a past-time that became a passion,  has taken me around the world ,brought me friends, more satisfaction than rands, made me a better squash player, and, I think, a better person.

I had been a school provincial player and was hovering around 1^st league level and there were some pretty good looking girls around, playing some pretty average squash. Having realised that I was not the smoothest “chatterer-up” on campus, I thought squash might be a good route to a woman’s heart and a way to getting a leg-up to finding a partner. So I started “coaching” i.e hitting with the girls and passing on titbits of coaching I had received. One evening, after a squad session , I was confronted by a Margaret Thatcher- like woman, who asked me who I was, what I was doing and how could I be coaching if I hadn’t done a coaches course, and if I wanted to continue, I had better attend a course which she would be running at Westview !!

Little did I know. I had just been touched by an angel.

I attended the course, run by Angela Difford, and could not have asked for a better grounding in the basics of technique, matters technical and the intricacies of coaching. Principled, passionate, committed, knowledgeable, disciplined, eccentric, loyal and straight-talking, Mrs Difford was clearly not a person who would suffer fools. I would be lying if I said that our relationship has been smooth and honey-moonish. No, we have often fought, argued , disagreed, and probably cursed each other.  I am sure that many a time, she has asked herself why she bothers with an idiot like this. But over the years I have realised that this is a woman who takes the road less travelled. She seeks tracks, and hammers them into highways in order to make the lives of squash players more rewarding. And I have developed a deep love, respect and admiration for this incredible woman who has meant so much to Eastern Province , and South African squash.

Last month, Angela Difford celebrated her 87^th birthday. Born and educated in Natal, Angela’s life is a list of trail –blazing and opening frontiers. After lying,( she calls it bluffing) about her age, she was accepted into the Military College, trained as an Instructor and served in the WAAF where she met her husband, John. After the war, the Diffords moved to Port Elizabeth where they married. Already a provincial hockey player and playing representative tennis and badminton. she  was re- introduced to squash by Joan Mitchell who invited her to join a small group of women “who had been given permission” to use the Old Grey courts after 8pm on Tuesday nights ! With 3 young children in tow, no maid and no transport and with hockey starting to bite into her time, the squash bug bit.

 And many lives were destined to be changed.

Frustrated by the lack of facilities, Mitchell and Difford formed a  committee which raised funds to build the original Westview courts, and  the P.E.M club was established, the first to offer equal facilities to men and women and entrenched women members on the committee. Since then, Angela has been at the forefront of establishing the EP Ladies Squash Association, now part of the EP Squash Union, the EP Schools committee, the EP Vets ( now Masters), the 1^st National Vets Inter-provincial, setting up the 1^st PE ladies league, a Housewives League, the SA Schools Squash Association, the Londt Park club, which is the now the biggest squash club in South Africa in terms of members, and the list goes on.

But it was first as a player that Angela established her name, representing the province for the first time in 1956, and continued for another 17 years. She  then graduated to the Provincial Vets  where she continued playing till 2000 when a serious knee injury forced an end to an illustrious playing career. A career which saw her being selected for the first ever Springbok side in 1963, where she filled a National Ranking of 3.  Probably the highest ranked EP women ever.

As one of the leading players in the country, she was continually being asked to help, and quickly realised that there is a huge gulf between being a good player and a good coach. In typical Angela fashion, every course was attended, every squash book bought, and every angle explored. As her competitive playing days came to an end, so she took to coaching full time. Here, again Angela became one of the driving forces in setting up SA Schools Inter-provincial tournaments where literally thousands of young squash players have benefited from being able to travel and compete. The tournaments have created a need for more specialised coaching, and there can be very few Port Elizabeth bred squash players who have not benefited from her technical expertise and her wily and experienced eye for identifying opponents’ weaknesses. And to this day, one of her major irritations, is inadequate coaching and lazy ill-disciplined coaches

By the time, the apartheid walls had come tumbling down, Angela had already identified the need for coaching, facilities and equipment amongst our township children. In 1991 , she established a Development Programme which unlike many  others, has stood the test of time. Is sustainable and successful. Today, Eastern Province stands head and shoulders above other regions in terms of the multi-racial face of our provincial teams. And testament to her skill as a coach is that protégés like Thami Mngcete, Garth Plaaitjies, Bonakele Nomkala and Lonwabo Sigele all feature amongst the top players in the province today. And there are more on the way.

Angela’s achievements have not gone unnoticed. In fact, for a person involved with a Cindarella sport, her awards speak volumes. A Headgirl’s blazer would heave under the weight of all of these scrolls but just to mention a few – State Presidents Award, Squash SA Honours Award, The Ina Ackerman Award, nominated for SABC Woman of the Year Award, and Algoa FM  Woman Distinction and, and, and…..

But for all that Angela Difford has achieved,, all of the awards and the recognition, the tough times she has travailed, ( and there have been many), the travel, the titles, the miles of meetings and the boardroom bashes, the lessons she has taught in correcting  technique, and movement, of self- motivation and belief, and how  to THINK on a court. For all of that, her fondest memory of squash is the friends she has found on the way.

If we could all just learn this lesson and appreciate how lucky we are to be playing this wonderful sport.

Angela Difford –  wife, mother, squash  player, coach and administrator, politician, pioneer, suffragette, fighter, mentor, friend. Tough, tetchy, straight-talking . But behind that façade of toughness, there is a soft,caring  woman, with a gentle heart, a loving smile and a love for good laughs and better wine. Angela - You are a very special person.

From the relative innocence of a small town education and a mind-numbing year of military service, I headed for Die Baai with hopes of vanquishing virgins as I straddled the new “free” world of student life. Sadly it was not to be. A dry white drought-like season of romance and loving, awaited me, in my first year at university. Ironically, therefore, it was lust, and not a deep philanthropic love of the game and desire to improve people’s squash, that was my raison d’etre to hurl myself into the whirlpool of squash coaching - a past-time that became a passion,  has taken me around the world ,brought me friends, more satisfaction than rands, made me a better squash player, and, I think, a better person.

I had been a school provincial player and was hovering around 1^st league level and there were some pretty good looking girls around, playing some pretty average squash. Having realised that I was not the smoothest “chatterer-up” on campus, I thought squash might be a good route to a woman’s heart and a way to getting a leg-up to finding a partner. So I started “coaching” i.e hitting with the girls and passing on titbits of coaching I had received. One evening, after a squad session , I was confronted by a Margaret Thatcher- like woman, who asked me who I was, what I was doing and how could I be coaching if I hadn’t done a coaches course, and if I wanted to continue, I had better attend a course which she would be running at Westview !!

Little did I know. I had just been touched by an angel.

I attended the course, run by Angela Difford, and could not have asked for a better grounding in the basics of technique, matters technical and the intricacies of coaching. Principled, passionate, committed, knowledgeable, disciplined, eccentric, loyal and straight-talking, Mrs Difford was clearly not a person who would suffer fools. I would be lying if I said that our relationship has been smooth and honey-moonish. No, we have often fought, argued , disagreed, and probably cursed each other.  I am sure that many a time, she has asked herself why she bothers with an idiot like this. But over the years I have realised that this is a woman who takes the road less travelled. She seeks tracks, and hammers them into highways in order to make the lives of squash players more rewarding. And I have developed a deep love, respect and admiration for this incredible woman who has meant so much to Eastern Province , and South African squash.

Last month, Angela Difford celebrated her 87^th birthday. Born and educated in Natal, Angela’s life is a list of trail –blazing and opening frontiers. After lying,( she calls it bluffing) about her age, she was accepted into the Military College, trained as an Instructor and served in the WAAF where she met her husband, John. After the war, the Diffords moved to Port Elizabeth where they married. Already a provincial hockey player and playing representative tennis and badminton. she  was re- introduced to squash by Joan Mitchell who invited her to join a small group of women “who had been given permission” to use the Old Grey courts after 8pm on Tuesday nights ! With 3 young children in tow, no maid and no transport and with hockey starting to bite into her time, the squash bug bit.

 And many lives were destined to be changed.

Frustrated by the lack of facilities, Mitchell and Difford formed a  committee which raised funds to build the original Westview courts, and  the P.E.M club was established, the first to offer equal facilities to men and women and entrenched women members on the committee. Since then, Angela has been at the forefront of establishing the EP Ladies Squash Association, now part of the EP Squash Union, the EP Schools committee, the EP Vets ( now Masters), the 1^st National Vets Inter-provincial, setting up the 1^st PE ladies league, a Housewives League, the SA Schools Squash Association, the Londt Park club, which is the now the biggest squash club in South Africa in terms of members, and the list goes on.

But it was first as a player that Angela established her name, representing the province for the first time in 1956, and continued for another 17 years. She  then graduated to the Provincial Vets  where she continued playing till 2000 when a serious knee injury forced an end to an illustrious playing career. A career which saw her being selected for the first ever Springbok side in 1963, where she filled a National Ranking of 3.  Probably the highest ranked EP women ever.

As one of the leading players in the country, she was continually being asked to help, and quickly realised that there is a huge gulf between being a good player and a good coach. In typical Angela fashion, every course was attended, every squash book bought, and every angle explored. As her competitive playing days came to an end, so she took to coaching full time. Here, again Angela became one of the driving forces in setting up SA Schools Inter-provincial tournaments where literally thousands of young squash players have benefited from being able to travel and compete. The tournaments have created a need for more specialised coaching, and there can be very few Port Elizabeth bred squash players who have not benefited from her technical expertise and her wily and experienced eye for identifying opponents’ weaknesses. And to this day, one of her major irritations, is inadequate coaching and lazy ill-disciplined coaches

By the time, the apartheid walls had come tumbling down, Angela had already identified the need for coaching, facilities and equipment amongst our township children. In 1991 , she established a Development Programme which unlike many  others, has stood the test of time. Is sustainable and successful. Today, Eastern Province stands head and shoulders above other regions in terms of the multi-racial face of our provincial teams. And testament to her skill as a coach is that protégés like Thami Mngcete, Garth Plaaitjies, Bonakele Nomkala and Lonwabo Sigele all feature amongst the top players in the province today. And there are more on the way.

Angela’s achievements have not gone unnoticed. In fact, for a person involved with a Cindarella sport, her awards speak volumes. A Headgirl’s blazer would heave under the weight of all of these scrolls but just to mention a few – State Presidents Award, Squash SA Honours Award, The Ina Ackerman Award, nominated for SABC Woman of the Year Award, and Algoa FM  Woman Distinction and, and, and…..

But for all that Angela Difford has achieved,, all of the awards and the recognition, the tough times she has travailed, ( and there have been many), the travel, the titles, the miles of meetings and the boardroom bashes, the lessons she has taught in correcting  technique, and movement, of self- motivation and belief, and how  to THINK on a court. For all of that, her fondest memory of squash is the friends she has found on the way.

If we could all just learn this lesson and appreciate how lucky we are to be playing this wonderful sport.

Angela Difford –  wife, mother, squash  player, coach and administrator, politician, pioneer, suffragette, fighter, mentor, friend. Tough, tetchy, straight-talking . But behind that façade of toughness, there is a soft,caring  woman, with a gentle heart, a loving smile and a love for good laughs and better wine. Angela - You are a very special person.

From the relative innocence of a small town education and a mind-numbing year of military service, I headed for Die Baai with hopes of vanquishing virgins as I straddled the new “free” world of student life. Sadly it was not to be. A dry white drought-like season of romance and loving, awaited me, in my first year at university. Ironically, therefore, it was lust, and not a deep philanthropic love of the game and desire to improve people’s squash, that was my raison d’etre to hurl myself into the whirlpool of squash coaching - a past-time that became a passion,  has taken me around the world ,brought me friends, more satisfaction than rands, made me a better squash player, and, I think, a better person.

I had been a school provincial player and was hovering around 1^st league level and there were some pretty good looking girls around, playing some pretty average squash. Having realised that I was not the smoothest “chatterer-up” on campus, I thought squash might be a good route to a woman’s heart and a way to getting a leg-up to finding a partner. So I started “coaching” i.e hitting with the girls and passing on titbits of coaching I had received. One evening, after a squad session , I was confronted by a Margaret Thatcher- like woman, who asked me who I was, what I was doing and how could I be coaching if I hadn’t done a coaches course, and if I wanted to continue, I had better attend a course which she would be running at Westview !!

Little did I know. I had just been touched by an angel.

I attended the course, run by Angela Difford, and could not have asked for a better grounding in the basics of technique, matters technical and the intricacies of coaching. Principled, passionate, committed, knowledgeable, disciplined, eccentric, loyal and straight-talking, Mrs Difford was clearly not a person who would suffer fools. I would be lying if I said that our relationship has been smooth and honey-moonish. No, we have often fought, argued , disagreed, and probably cursed each other.  I am sure that many a time, she has asked herself why she bothers with an idiot like this. But over the years I have realised that this is a woman who takes the road less travelled. She seeks tracks, and hammers them into highways in order to make the lives of squash players more rewarding. And I have developed a deep love, respect and admiration for this incredible woman who has meant so much to Eastern Province , and South African squash.

Last month, Angela Difford celebrated her 87^th birthday. Born and educated in Natal, Angela’s life is a list of trail –blazing and opening frontiers. After lying,( she calls it bluffing) about her age, she was accepted into the Military College, trained as an Instructor and served in the WAAF where she met her husband, John. After the war, the Diffords moved to Port Elizabeth where they married. Already a provincial hockey player and playing representative tennis and badminton. she  was re- introduced to squash by Joan Mitchell who invited her to join a small group of women “who had been given permission” to use the Old Grey courts after 8pm on Tuesday nights ! With 3 young children in tow, no maid and no transport and with hockey starting to bite into her time, the squash bug bit.

 And many lives were destined to be changed.

Frustrated by the lack of facilities, Mitchell and Difford formed a  committee which raised funds to build the original Westview courts, and  the P.E.M club was established, the first to offer equal facilities to men and women and entrenched women members on the committee. Since then, Angela has been at the forefront of establishing the EP Ladies Squash Association, now part of the EP Squash Union, the EP Schools committee, the EP Vets ( now Masters), the 1^st National Vets Inter-provincial, setting up the 1^st PE ladies league, a Housewives League, the SA Schools Squash Association, the Londt Park club, which is the now the biggest squash club in South Africa in terms of members, and the list goes on.

But it was first as a player that Angela established her name, representing the province for the first time in 1956, and continued for another 17 years. She  then graduated to the Provincial Vets  where she continued playing till 2000 when a serious knee injury forced an end to an illustrious playing career. A career which saw her being selected for the first ever Springbok side in 1963, where she filled a National Ranking of 3.  Probably the highest ranked EP women ever.

As one of the leading players in the country, she was continually being asked to help, and quickly realised that there is a huge gulf between being a good player and a good coach. In typical Angela fashion, every course was attended, every squash book bought, and every angle explored. As her competitive playing days came to an end, so she took to coaching full time. Here, again Angela became one of the driving forces in setting up SA Schools Inter-provincial tournaments where literally thousands of young squash players have benefited from being able to travel and compete. The tournaments have created a need for more specialised coaching, and there can be very few Port Elizabeth bred squash players who have not benefited from her technical expertise and her wily and experienced eye for identifying opponents’ weaknesses. And to this day, one of her major irritations, is inadequate coaching and lazy ill-disciplined coaches

By the time, the apartheid walls had come tumbling down, Angela had already identified the need for coaching, facilities and equipment amongst our township children. In 1991 , she established a Development Programme which unlike many  others, has stood the test of time. Is sustainable and successful. Today, Eastern Province stands head and shoulders above other regions in terms of the multi-racial face of our provincial teams. And testament to her skill as a coach is that protégés like Thami Mngcete, Garth Plaaitjies, Bonakele Nomkala and Lonwabo Sigele all feature amongst the top players in the province today. And there are more on the way.

Angela’s achievements have not gone unnoticed. In fact, for a person involved with a Cindarella sport, her awards speak volumes. A Headgirl’s blazer would heave under the weight of all of these scrolls but just to mention a few – State Presidents Award, Squash SA Honours Award, The Ina Ackerman Award, nominated for SABC Woman of the Year Award, and Algoa FM  Woman Distinction and, and, and…..

But for all that Angela Difford has achieved,, all of the awards and the recognition, the tough times she has travailed, ( and there have been many), the travel, the titles, the miles of meetings and the boardroom bashes, the lessons she has taught in correcting  technique, and movement, of self- motivation and belief, and how  to THINK on a court. For all of that, her fondest memory of squash is the friends she has found on the way.

If we could all just learn this lesson and appreciate how lucky we are to be playing this wonderful sport.

Angela Difford –  wife, mother, squash  player, coach and administrator, politician, pioneer, suffragette, fighter, mentor, friend. Tough, tetchy, straight-talking . But behind that façade of toughness, there is a soft,caring  woman, with a gentle heart, a loving smile and a love for good laughs and better wine. Angela - You are a very special person.

From the relative innocence of a small town education and a mind-numbing year of military service, I headed for Die Baai with hopes of vanquishing virgins as I straddled the new “free” world of student life. Sadly it was not to be. A dry white drought-like season of romance and loving, awaited me, in my first year at university. Ironically, therefore, it was lust, and not a deep philanthropic love of the game and desire to improve people’s squash, that was my raison d’etre to hurl myself into the whirlpool of squash coaching - a past-time that became a passion,  has taken me around the world ,brought me friends, more satisfaction than rands, made me a better squash player, and, I think, a better person.

I had been a school provincial player and was hovering around 1^st league level and there were some pretty good looking girls around, playing some pretty average squash. Having realised that I was not the smoothest “chatterer-up” on campus, I thought squash might be a good route to a woman’s heart and a way to getting a leg-up to finding a partner. So I started “coaching” i.e hitting with the girls and passing on titbits of coaching I had received. One evening, after a squad session , I was confronted by a Margaret Thatcher- like woman, who asked me who I was, what I was doing and how could I be coaching if I hadn’t done a coaches course, and if I wanted to continue, I had better attend a course which she would be running at Westview !!

Little did I know. I had just been touched by an angel.

I attended the course, run by Angela Difford, and could not have asked for a better grounding in the basics of technique, matters technical and the intricacies of coaching. Principled, passionate, committed, knowledgeable, disciplined, eccentric, loyal and straight-talking, Mrs Difford was clearly not a person who would suffer fools. I would be lying if I said that our relationship has been smooth and honey-moonish. No, we have often fought, argued , disagreed, and probably cursed each other.  I am sure that many a time, she has asked herself why she bothers with an idiot like this. But over the years I have realised that this is a woman who takes the road less travelled. She seeks tracks, and hammers them into highways in order to make the lives of squash players more rewarding. And I have developed a deep love, respect and admiration for this incredible woman who has meant so much to Eastern Province , and South African squash.

Last month, Angela Difford celebrated her 87^th birthday. Born and educated in Natal, Angela’s life is a list of trail –blazing and opening frontiers. After lying,( she calls it bluffing) about her age, she was accepted into the Military College, trained as an Instructor and served in the WAAF where she met her husband, John. After the war, the Diffords moved to Port Elizabeth where they married. Already a provincial hockey player and playing representative tennis and badminton. she  was re- introduced to squash by Joan Mitchell who invited her to join a small group of women “who had been given permission” to use the Old Grey courts after 8pm on Tuesday nights ! With 3 young children in tow, no maid and no transport and with hockey starting to bite into her time, the squash bug bit.

 And many lives were destined to be changed.

Frustrated by the lack of facilities, Mitchell and Difford formed a  committee which raised funds to build the original Westview courts, and  the P.E.M club was established, the first to offer equal facilities to men and women and entrenched women members on the committee. Since then, Angela has been at the forefront of establishing the EP Ladies Squash Association, now part of the EP Squash Union, the EP Schools committee, the EP Vets ( now Masters), the 1^st National Vets Inter-provincial, setting up the 1^st PE ladies league, a Housewives League, the SA Schools Squash Association, the Londt Park club, which is the now the biggest squash club in South Africa in terms of members, and the list goes on.

But it was first as a player that Angela established her name, representing the province for the first time in 1956, and continued for another 17 years. She  then graduated to the Provincial Vets  where she continued playing till 2000 when a serious knee injury forced an end to an illustrious playing career. A career which saw her being selected for the first ever Springbok side in 1963, where she filled a National Ranking of 3.  Probably the highest ranked EP women ever.

As one of the leading players in the country, she was continually being asked to help, and quickly realised that there is a huge gulf between being a good player and a good coach. In typical Angela fashion, every course was attended, every squash book bought, and every angle explored. As her competitive playing days came to an end, so she took to coaching full time. Here, again Angela became one of the driving forces in setting up SA Schools Inter-provincial tournaments where literally thousands of young squash players have benefited from being able to travel and compete. The tournaments have created a need for more specialised coaching, and there can be very few Port Elizabeth bred squash players who have not benefited from her technical expertise and her wily and experienced eye for identifying opponents’ weaknesses. And to this day, one of her major irritations, is inadequate coaching and lazy ill-disciplined coaches

By the time, the apartheid walls had come tumbling down, Angela had already identified the need for coaching, facilities and equipment amongst our township children. In 1991 , she established a Development Programme which unlike many  others, has stood the test of time. Is sustainable and successful. Today, Eastern Province stands head and shoulders above other regions in terms of the multi-racial face of our provincial teams. And testament to her skill as a coach is that protégés like Thami Mngcete, Garth Plaaitjies, Bonakele Nomkala and Lonwabo Sigele all feature amongst the top players in the province today. And there are more on the way.

Angela’s achievements have not gone unnoticed. In fact, for a person involved with a Cindarella sport, her awards speak volumes. A Headgirl’s blazer would heave under the weight of all of these scrolls but just to mention a few – State Presidents Award, Squash SA Honours Award, The Ina Ackerman Award, nominated for SABC Woman of the Year Award, and Algoa FM  Woman Distinction and, and, and…..

But for all that Angela Difford has achieved,, all of the awards and the recognition, the tough times she has travailed, ( and there have been many), the travel, the titles, the miles of meetings and the boardroom bashes, the lessons she has taught in correcting  technique, and movement, of self- motivation and belief, and how  to THINK on a court. For all of that, her fondest memory of squash is the friends she has found on the way.

If we could all just learn this lesson and appreciate how lucky we are to be playing this wonderful sport.

Angela Difford –  wife, mother, squash  player, coach and administrator, politician, pioneer, suffragette, fighter, mentor, friend. Tough, tetchy, straight-talking . But behind that façade of toughness, there is a soft,caring  woman, with a gentle heart, a loving smile and a love for good laughs and better wine. Angela - You are a very special person.

From the relative innocence of a small town education and a mind-numbing year of military service, I headed for Die Baai with hopes of vanquishing virgins as I straddled the new “free” world of student life. Sadly it was not to be. A dry white drought-like season of romance and loving, awaited me, in my first year at university. Ironically, therefore, it was lust, and not a deep philanthropic love of the game and desire to improve people’s squash, that was my raison d’etre to hurl myself into the whirlpool of squash coaching - a past-time that became a passion,  has taken me around the world ,brought me friends, more satisfaction than rands, made me a better squash player, and, I think, a better person.

I had been a school provincial player and was hovering around 1^st league level and there were some pretty good looking girls around, playing some pretty average squash. Having realised that I was not the smoothest “chatterer-up” on campus, I thought squash might be a good route to a woman’s heart and a way to getting a leg-up to finding a partner. So I started “coaching” i.e hitting with the girls and passing on titbits of coaching I had received. One evening, after a squad session , I was confronted by a Margaret Thatcher- like woman, who asked me who I was, what I was doing and how could I be coaching if I hadn’t done a coaches course, and if I wanted to continue, I had better attend a course which she would be running at Westview !!

Little did I know. I had just been touched by an angel.

I attended the course, run by Angela Difford, and could not have asked for a better grounding in the basics of technique, matters technical and the intricacies of coaching. Principled, passionate, committed, knowledgeable, disciplined, eccentric, loyal and straight-talking, Mrs Difford was clearly not a person who would suffer fools. I would be lying if I said that our relationship has been smooth and honey-moonish. No, we have often fought, argued , disagreed, and probably cursed each other.  I am sure that many a time, she has asked herself why she bothers with an idiot like this. But over the years I have realised that this is a woman who takes the road less travelled. She seeks tracks, and hammers them into highways in order to make the lives of squash players more rewarding. And I have developed a deep love, respect and admiration for this incredible woman who has meant so much to Eastern Province , and South African squash.

Last month, Angela Difford celebrated her 87^th birthday. Born and educated in Natal, Angela’s life is a list of trail –blazing and opening frontiers. After lying,( she calls it bluffing) about her age, she was accepted into the Military College, trained as an Instructor and served in the WAAF where she met her husband, John. After the war, the Diffords moved to Port Elizabeth where they married. Already a provincial hockey player and playing representative tennis and badminton. she  was re- introduced to squash by Joan Mitchell who invited her to join a small group of women “who had been given permission” to use the Old Grey courts after 8pm on Tuesday nights ! With 3 young children in tow, no maid and no transport and with hockey starting to bite into her time, the squash bug bit.

 And many lives were destined to be changed.

Frustrated by the lack of facilities, Mitchell and Difford formed a  committee which raised funds to build the original Westview courts, and  the P.E.M club was established, the first to offer equal facilities to men and women and entrenched women members on the committee. Since then, Angela has been at the forefront of establishing the EP Ladies Squash Association, now part of the EP Squash Union, the EP Schools committee, the EP Vets ( now Masters), the 1^st National Vets Inter-provincial, setting up the 1^st PE ladies league, a Housewives League, the SA Schools Squash Association, the Londt Park club, which is the now the biggest squash club in South Africa in terms of members, and the list goes on.

But it was first as a player that Angela established her name, representing the province for the first time in 1956, and continued for another 17 years. She  then graduated to the Provincial Vets  where she continued playing till 2000 when a serious knee injury forced an end to an illustrious playing career. A career which saw her being selected for the first ever Springbok side in 1963, where she filled a National Ranking of 3.  Probably the highest ranked EP women ever.

As one of the leading players in the country, she was continually being asked to help, and quickly realised that there is a huge gulf between being a good player and a good coach. In typical Angela fashion, every course was attended, every squash book bought, and every angle explored. As her competitive playing days came to an end, so she took to coaching full time. Here, again Angela became one of the driving forces in setting up SA Schools Inter-provincial tournaments where literally thousands of young squash players have benefited from being able to travel and compete. The tournaments have created a need for more specialised coaching, and there can be very few Port Elizabeth bred squash players who have not benefited from her technical expertise and her wily and experienced eye for identifying opponents’ weaknesses. And to this day, one of her major irritations, is inadequate coaching and lazy ill-disciplined coaches

By the time, the apartheid walls had come tumbling down, Angela had already identified the need for coaching, facilities and equipment amongst our township children. In 1991 , she established a Development Programme which unlike many  others, has stood the test of time. Is sustainable and successful. Today, Eastern Province stands head and shoulders above other regions in terms of the multi-racial face of our provincial teams. And testament to her skill as a coach is that protégés like Thami Mngcete, Garth Plaaitjies, Bonakele Nomkala and Lonwabo Sigele all feature amongst the top players in the province today. And there are more on the way.

Angela’s achievements have not gone unnoticed. In fact, for a person involved with a Cindarella sport, her awards speak volumes. A Headgirl’s blazer would heave under the weight of all of these scrolls but just to mention a few – State Presidents Award, Squash SA Honours Award, The Ina Ackerman Award, nominated for SABC Woman of the Year Award, and Algoa FM  Woman Distinction and, and, and…..

But for all that Angela Difford has achieved,, all of the awards and the recognition, the tough times she has travailed, ( and there have been many), the travel, the titles, the miles of meetings and the boardroom bashes, the lessons she has taught in correcting  technique, and movement, of self- motivation and belief, and how  to THINK on a court. For all of that, her fondest memory of squash is the friends she has found on the way.

If we could all just learn this lesson and appreciate how lucky we are to be playing this wonderful sport.

Angela Difford –  wife, mother, squash  player, coach and administrator, politician, pioneer, suffragette, fighter, mentor, friend. Tough, tetchy, straight-talking . But behind that façade of toughness, there is a soft,caring  woman, with a gentle heart, a loving smile and a love for good laughs and better wine. Angela - You are a very special person.

From the relative innocence of a small town education and a mind-numbing year of military service, I headed for Die Baai with hopes of vanquishing virgins as I straddled the new “free” world of student life. Sadly it was not to be. A dry white drought-like season of romance and loving, awaited me, in my first year at university. Ironically, therefore, it was lust, and not a deep philanthropic love of the game and desire to improve people’s squash, that was my raison d’etre to hurl myself into the whirlpool of squash coaching - a past-time that became a passion,  has taken me around the world ,brought me friends, more satisfaction than rands, made me a better squash player, and, I think, a better person.

I had been a school provincial player and was hovering around 1^st league level and there were some pretty good looking girls around, playing some pretty average squash. Having realised that I was not the smoothest “chatterer-up” on campus, I thought squash might be a good route to a woman’s heart and a way to getting a leg-up to finding a partner. So I started “coaching” i.e hitting with the girls and passing on titbits of coaching I had received. One evening, after a squad session , I was confronted by a Margaret Thatcher- like woman, who asked me who I was, what I was doing and how could I be coaching if I hadn’t done a coaches course, and if I wanted to continue, I had better attend a course which she would be running at Westview !!

Little did I know. I had just been touched by an angel.

I attended the course, run by Angela Difford, and could not have asked for a better grounding in the basics of technique, matters technical and the intricacies of coaching. Principled, passionate, committed, knowledgeable, disciplined, eccentric, loyal and straight-talking, Mrs Difford was clearly not a person who would suffer fools. I would be lying if I said that our relationship has been smooth and honey-moonish. No, we have often fought, argued , disagreed, and probably cursed each other.  I am sure that many a time, she has asked herself why she bothers with an idiot like this. But over the years I have realised that this is a woman who takes the road less travelled. She seeks tracks, and hammers them into highways in order to make the lives of squash players more rewarding. And I have developed a deep love, respect and admiration for this incredible woman who has meant so much to Eastern Province , and South African squash.

Last month, Angela Difford celebrated her 87^th birthday. Born and educated in Natal, Angela’s life is a list of trail –blazing and opening frontiers. After lying,( she calls it bluffing) about her age, she was accepted into the Military College, trained as an Instructor and served in the WAAF where she met her husband, John. After the war, the Diffords moved to Port Elizabeth where they married. Already a provincial hockey player and playing representative tennis and badminton. she  was re- introduced to squash by Joan Mitchell who invited her to join a small group of women “who had been given permission” to use the Old Grey courts after 8pm on Tuesday nights ! With 3 young children in tow, no maid and no transport and with hockey starting to bite into her time, the squash bug bit.

 And many lives were destined to be changed.

Frustrated by the lack of facilities, Mitchell and Difford formed a  committee which raised funds to build the original Westview courts, and  the P.E.M club was established, the first to offer equal facilities to men and women and entrenched women members on the committee. Since then, Angela has been at the forefront of establishing the EP Ladies Squash Association, now part of the EP Squash Union, the EP Schools committee, the EP Vets ( now Masters), the 1^st National Vets Inter-provincial, setting up the 1^st PE ladies league, a Housewives League, the SA Schools Squash Association, the Londt Park club, which is the now the biggest squash club in South Africa in terms of members, and the list goes on.

But it was first as a player that Angela established her name, representing the province for the first time in 1956, and continued for another 17 years. She  then graduated to the Provincial Vets  where she continued playing till 2000 when a serious knee injury forced an end to an illustrious playing career. A career which saw her being selected for the first ever Springbok side in 1963, where she filled a National Ranking of 3.  Probably the highest ranked EP women ever.

As one of the leading players in the country, she was continually being asked to help, and quickly realised that there is a huge gulf between being a good player and a good coach. In typical Angela fashion, every course was attended, every squash book bought, and every angle explored. As her competitive playing days came to an end, so she took to coaching full time. Here, again Angela became one of the driving forces in setting up SA Schools Inter-provincial tournaments where literally thousands of young squash players have benefited from being able to travel and compete. The tournaments have created a need for more specialised coaching, and there can be very few Port Elizabeth bred squash players who have not benefited from her technical expertise and her wily and experienced eye for identifying opponents’ weaknesses. And to this day, one of her major irritations, is inadequate coaching and lazy ill-disciplined coaches

By the time, the apartheid walls had come tumbling down, Angela had already identified the need for coaching, facilities and equipment amongst our township children. In 1991 , she established a Development Programme which unlike many  others, has stood the test of time. Is sustainable and successful. Today, Eastern Province stands head and shoulders above other regions in terms of the multi-racial face of our provincial teams. And testament to her skill as a coach is that protégés like Thami Mngcete, Garth Plaaitjies, Bonakele Nomkala and Lonwabo Sigele all feature amongst the top players in the province today. And there are more on the way.

Angela’s achievements have not gone unnoticed. In fact, for a person involved with a Cindarella sport, her awards speak volumes. A Headgirl’s blazer would heave under the weight of all of these scrolls but just to mention a few – State Presidents Award, Squash SA Honours Award, The Ina Ackerman Award, nominated for SABC Woman of the Year Award, and Algoa FM  Woman Distinction and, and, and…..

But for all that Angela Difford has achieved,, all of the awards and the recognition, the tough times she has travailed, ( and there have been many), the travel, the titles, the miles of meetings and the boardroom bashes, the lessons she has taught in correcting  technique, and movement, of self- motivation and belief, and how  to THINK on a court. For all of that, her fondest memory of squash is the friends she has found on the way.

If we could all just learn this lesson and appreciate how lucky we are to be playing this wonderful sport.

Angela Difford –  wife, mother, squash  player, coach and administrator, politician, pioneer, suffragette, fighter, mentor, friend. Tough, tetchy, straight-talking . But behind that façade of toughness, there is a soft,caring  woman, with a gentle heart, a loving smile and a love for good laughs and better wine. Angela - You are a very special person.