Jade Wilson (1977 – 14 May 1998) was a New Zealand squash player representing the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exam ...

mainly in the junior level competitions. Jade Wilson is still remembered as one of the greatest ever junior squash players to have emerged from New Zealand and to have represented the country at junior level along with

Stuart Davenport Stuart Davenport (born 21 September 1962 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a former professional squash (sport), squash player from New Zealand. He reached the World No. 3 ranking in 1987. Davenport learned to play squash in Christchurch, and was ...

Susan Devoy Dame Susan Elizabeth Anne Devoy (born 4 January 1964) is a former New Zealand squash player and senior public servant. As a squash player, she was dominant in the late 1980s and early 1990s, winning the World Open on four occasions. She served ...

and Glen Wilson. She won the 1995 World Junior Squash Championships individual event in Sydney, which was her highest career performance. With this triumph, she also became the first ever New Zealander to win a Junior Squash Championship singles title. On 14 May 1998, she committed suicide in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

after becoming an international professional player. In 2013,

Squash New Zealand Squash New Zealand is the governing body of squash in New Zealand. Founded in 1932, Squash New Zealand is affiliated to both the World Squash Federation and Oceania Squash. Regional and club administration Squash New Zealand is responsible ...

recognised the Wilson's achievements and inducted her into the New Zealand Squash Hall of Fame, 15 years after her death.

Early life

Wilson was born in 1977 and was raised in Wellington. She attended

Wellington Girls' College Wellington Girls' College was founded in 1883 in Wellington, New Zealand. At that time it was called Wellington Girls' High School. Wellington Girls' College is a year 9 to 13 state secondary school, located in Thorndon in central Wellington. H ...

. She started playing squash at the Tawa Club and was coached by Tony Naughton, who was her first coach. She also played squash in

Mana Club According to Melanesian and Polynesian mythology, ''mana'' is a supernatural force that permeates the universe. Anyone or anything can have ''mana''. They believed it to be a cultivation or possession of energy and power, rather than being a ...

and was coached by Rob Walker. She also hired

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

based coach Barrie Matthews who later inspired her to win the Junior world title in 1995.

Career

Wilson emerged at the international level for the first time at the age of 16, during the 1993 World Junior Squash Championships reaching semi-finals in the individual category and was part of the New Zealand squad which became runners-up to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

at the team event. At the 1995 World Junior Squash Championships, she made history by winning the women's individual title in Sydney defeating favourite Australia's

Rachel Grinham Rachael Margaret Grinham (born 22 January 1977 in Toowoomba, Queensland) is an Australian professional squash player. She won the World Open in 2007, and the British Open in 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2009. She reached the World No. 1 ranking in Aug ...

in the finals to secure her maiden title. After winning the 1995 Junior World title, she became the first and only player from New Zealand to become a Junior Squash World Champion. Despite her achievement, New Zealand failed to reach the final in the women's team event and had a third-place finish at the 1995 World Junior Squash Championships. She was named the Manawatu sportsperson of the year in 1995 for her memorable achievement of winning the 1995 Junior World title. Besides the World Junior title, Wilson also emerged victorious at the 1995 British Junior Open Squash in the U19 category. She became a professional squash player in 1997 by achieving her highest ever career rating of 18.

Death

Jade Wilson committed suicide on 14 May 1998 when she was 21 years old.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Jade 1977 births 1998 deaths New Zealand female squash players Sportspeople from Wellington City 1998 suicides Suicides in Western Australia People educated at Wellington Girls' College