Teenager Kyle is working towards sporting restart
Bridge of Allan Sports Club’s double Scottish squash champion Kyle Penman is treating the enforced lockdown as another learning curve in his increasingly impressive squash career.
The 14 year-old claimed national titles at both under-15 and under-17 level at the Aberdeen Squash and Racquetball Club in January and has firmly established himself as the Minewood club’s No.2 player behind Scotland No.6 Fergus Richards, during a hugely impressive campaign.
But it has not all been a tale of triumph for the Wallace High School pupil with a gut-wrenching fifth set loss in the final of the Bridge of Allan Sports Club Gold tournament to his great rival Rory Richmond in what was the final junior competition before the lockdown.
Kyle has also seen his hopes of starring for Scotland at the European Team Championships in Nottingham next month left in tatters by the Covid-19 pandemic.
But he has embraced other challenges in his bid to be ready to resume his squash career when the lockdown is lifted.
“Without doubt my biggest disappointment is not being able to represent my country at the Junior European Team Championships in Nottingham,” admitted Kyle.
“I’ve trained hard all season for this and it would have been my biggest challenge to compete against the top players in Europe and it is very disappointing to miss out on the opportunity to test your game against them.
“But it is important to look beyond this summer and hopefully there will be other Europeans and when the lockdown does lift, I will be even hungrier to kick on.
“I am making sure I am keeping as fit as I can and trying different things. I’ve been running quite a bit to maintain my fitness levels and I was nominated by a friend to complete 5k for a £5 donation to the NHS, which fitted with my training.
“The run went well and I donated my £5 and nominated five friends to join in and it was nice in my own small way to contribute something back to the NHS and also to have so many of my friends and other teenagers doing the same.
“We are so lucky to have an NHS full of so many brave and dedicated people and it’s great to recognise that.”
Looking back at his prematurely ended campaign, Kyle is sanguine about the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune he has experienced.
He said: “There is no doubt that winning both the under-15 and under-17 national titles was the highlight of the campaign for me. To be honest I was over the moon, as it had not been done before.
“Beating my great rival and friend Rory Richmond in the U17 final was massive but then the way things worked we then played each other three time in three weeks with me losing the final match in the BOASC Gold tournament and that was really tough to take.
“I thought I had the upper hand but lost the fifth set 14-12 on the tie-break and in front of my home crowd, that was a sore one. But the way I look at it is that we will be battling it out on the squash court for years to come, so I guess it will be a case of some you win some you lose, but winning the Scottish against him was sweet.”
Kyle, with the help of his dad Stewart Penman, the new president at Bridge of Allan Sports Club, mapped out a special training circuit in his back garden as he bids to stay in shape.
“Training is going well at the moment, outside in the garden doing circuits every lunchtime then generally a 3-5km run after. This keep sthe muscles stay strong and keeps the fitness high.
“I am focusing on what I can do without a squash court and that is an interesting challenge and one dad has been extremely helpful in overcoming.
“Looking forward my goals for next season are to retain the Scottish Junior under-17 title and cement my place in the Bridge of Allan first team.”