{"id":549382,"date":"2026-03-18T23:56:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T23:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/549382\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T23:56:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T23:56:14","slug":"squash-meets-volleyball-the-secret-bush-sport-winning-over-new-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/549382\/","title":{"rendered":"Squash meets volleyball \u2014 the ‘secret’ bush sport winning over new fans"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the heart of western New South Wales, a quirky sport has been quietly thriving behind the doors of the local squash courts for three decades.<\/p>\n

Welcome to the world of “squalleyball”, if you are from Cobar, or “volley squash”, if you are from Parkes.<\/p>\n

Same game, different name, and a vital boost to the bottom line.<\/p>\n

“It pays our rent, much more than squash,” Parkes squash court manager Judy Kross said.<\/p>\n

Part volleyball, part squash, the fast-paced game has been passed down through generations, evolving into a local institution without ever making it into the mainstream.<\/p>\n

But who invented it remains a mystery.<\/p>\n

\"six<\/p>\n

Squalleyball or volley squash is a mash-up sport of volleyball and squash.\u00a0 (Supplied: The Cobar Weekly)<\/p>\n

Australian first?<\/p>\n

Squalleyball has been a Cobar staple for between 25 and 30 years, according to longtime Cobar player Colby Lawrence.<\/p>\n

But head east for about 360 kilometres and Ms Kross will tell you she recalls playing volley squash in primary school in the early 90s in Parkes.<\/p>\n

Which means this fast-paced fusion might just be one of regional NSW’s best-kept sporting secrets.<\/p>\n

“We claim it as ours,” Ms Kross said.<\/p>\n

At the moment, a weekly competition draws 150 people to Parkes.<\/p>\n

“The local high school comes to play too,” Ms Kross said.<\/p>\n

“If it was squash, they could probably bring 16 kids, but with volley squash, they can have 40 playing.”<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Colby Lawrence says people of all ages can play the sport.\u00a0 (Supplied: Colby Lawrence)<\/p>\n

Over in Cobar, Mr Lawrence agreed it was a sport “anyone can play”.<\/p>\n

“Squalleyball is a variant of volleyball, but we play it on squash courts,” he said.<\/p>\n

“So you get to play rebounds off the wall and things like that, so it is a little bit faster-paced.”<\/p>\n

Played four-a-side, the game follows traditional volleyball rules with a few local twists.<\/p>\n

“It’s a point for point, you do not have to be serving to score a point, you cannot use your feet, and it is first to 21,” Mr Lawrence said.<\/p>\n

“You cannot touch the net or the walls on the serve, and [the ball is] never allowed to touch the roof.”<\/p>\n

Mr Lawrence said the walls meant quick reflexes were key, as the ball bounced unpredictably off painted brick.<\/p>\n

“You have to be quick, but you do not need a lot of skill,” he said.<\/p>\n

“A bit of hand and eye coordination is probably the only thing that would be of benefit for you.”<\/p>\n

\"Cobar<\/p>\n

Squalleyball has been played in Cobar in western New South Wales for nearly three decades.\u00a0 (ABC news: Gary-Jon Lysaght\u00a0)<\/p>\n

It may have been a well-kept secret for several decades, but Mr Lawrence said he hoped the sport would spread to other towns.<\/p>\n

“I did have a couple of colleagues who were working out here last year who said we definitely need to take it further than Cobar,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the heart of western New South Wales, a quirky sport has been quietly thriving behind the doors…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":549383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[64,63,33041,5214,33479,229623,13882,588,85,271767,271768,145810],"class_list":["post-549382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cobar","tag-community","tag-goodnews","tag-parkes","tag-social","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-squash","tag-squash-courts","tag-volleyball"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}