THE Border’s squash and racquetball community has been lauded for the success of its first 24-hour fundraiser.
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Up to 90 players and supporters competed in the teams event at the Wodonga centre in Hovell Street between noon Saturday and noon Sunday.
Convenor Paul Vear, of Racquetball Australia, said the sport wished to expand the MS 24 Hour Mega Squash and Racquetball, which had been held in Melbourne for six years.
“Wodonga in particular, that squash and racquetball association, has really become a role model centre for country centres in Victoria, along with the Commercial Club Albury,” he said.
“So we felt that this was the ideal location to pitch it to the country venues.
“It just worked fantastically, so now it enables us to look at other country regions.”
The Border event yielded $12,000 towards multiple sclerosis support, with the winning team, Commercial Club Albury, raising half of that.
Participants played a mix of squash and racquetball singles and doubles in 15 minute blocks. Each team had to field at least one competitor at all times.
“During the night it got more friendly, I suppose, as the bodies got a little more tired,” Mr Vear said.
“We had people dropping in just to help out, even just to score, knowing through the wee hours of the morning it's the difficult time.”
Wodonga Squash and Racquetball Association vice-president Kate Smith said all the teams saw the challenge through.
Some players stayed at the venue throughout, making use of the quiet room to take a nap, and the car park was still full at 6am Sunday.
“We started breakfast at about seven, so that picked up the spirits a little bit, I think,” Mrs Smith said.
She felt the association would probably host a mega event again, given the results of their inaugural attempt.
“We've never done it before, we didn't know what we were doing, but it all came together,” she said.
Mr Vear said the Wodonga and Melbourne events held this weekend had met their combined fundraising target of $35,000 and he thought the final figure would increase.
Overall the squash and racquetball initiative and the related 24 hour mega swim have raised more than $670,000 for multiple sclerosis.
