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About Mark Allen
Squash Coach As
a junior Mark captained England to first place in the World Junior Team
Championships and finished fourth in the 1990 World Junior Individual
Championships. At 18 years old he turned professional and spent two
seasons playing in Cape Town for The Camps Bay Club - during this
period he helped Western Province to win two Inter Provincial Jarvis
Cup titles (1991 and 1992). He competed for 3 years on the P.S.A. tour,
and during this time achieved a highest world ranking of 41. Highlights
included tournament wins over some of the best players in the world
including Peter Nicol, and Jonathan Power. In 1993 Mark made a
difficult decision to step down from professional squash in order to
attend Nottingham University. He graduated in 1996 with a B.A. in
industrial economics. While there, he continued to play at the
university level capturing 3 British University Individual Championship
titles in addition to captaining the British Universities Squash Team
to victory in the 1996 World Student Games.
After graduation Mark moved back into professional squash, but this
time as Coach and Director of Squash on the island of Guernsey. During
his two years in the channel islands, Mark taught England #1 junior
Chris Simpson, and he coached/managed the Guernsey squash team that
competed in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. In 2000 Mark
qualified as an English SRA Level IV Coach with Elite Status, this is
recognized worldwide as one of the highest coaching qualifications in
squash.
 From
September 2000 to August 2003 Mark worked for The National Capital
Squash Racquet's Association teaching squash in the Northern Virginia
and Washington, D.C. area. During this time he was also coach at The
Potomac High School in McLean, Virginia
For the last four years Mark has been working for
Western Athletic Clubs, as head squash professional at The San
Francisco Bay Club:
an 86,000
square-foot, five squash court, multi purpose fitness club with over 5,000 members
and
an estimated 800 squash players. As head squash pro for The Bay Club,
Mark was responsible for programs, instruction, tournaments, and
international squash events. Over this same period he was also Director
of the squash program at Bay Club Marin -
another W.A.C. facility with an additional two squash courts and 150 squash players.
From September 2003 to August 2005, Mark was Head Coach and Manager of
the U.S. National Junior Women's Team. The U.S. Team finished 4th in
The 2005 World Junior Championships, and #1 player Lily Lorentzen
finished in the top 8 places in the individual event; both of these
were best ever finishes for the United States in a world championship
squash event. For this success, and other record performances from
members of the team during his two year tenure, Mark was voted by U.S.
Squash as the National Coach of the Year, 2005.
Mark is a U.S. Squash Coaching Panel Tutor, qualifying U.S.
Coaches to teach at Level I and Level II, and he is currently writing
the syllabus for the U.S. Level III program.
In December 2007 Mark decided to make a move back to Cape Town, South
Africa, where his professional squash career first started. He is
available for lessons, camps and clinics.
Playing Achievements
Semi-finalist World Masters 35+, '06
2004 United States National Champion, 30+, '04
Highest P.S.A World Ranking of 41, '03
Highest English ranking of 14, '03
Finalist P.S.A. Swiss Open Championships, '97
Captain and No. 1 player of the British Universities World Championship winning team,'96
British Universities Individual Squash Champion '94 and '95
Winner of the P.S.A Rochester Open, '92
Finalist in the P.S.A. Chicago Open, '92, and P.S.A. Minneapolis Open, 92
English Senior National Championships finalist, '92
Captain of the England World Junior Team Championship winning team, '90
Fourth place in the World Junior Individual Championships, '90
14 England representative caps at junior level, '86 to '90
Coaching Experience
Commercial Clubs
Head Squash Professional at The San Francisco Bay Club, California. Sep '03 to Nov '07
Head Squash Professional at Bay Club Marin, California. Sep '03 to Nov '07
Head Coach at Kings Health Club, St. Peter Port, Guernsey. Sep '98 to Augt '00
Frinton Lawn Tennis & Squash Club Coach, Frinton-on-Sea, England. '89/'90
Squash Associations
U.S. Squash level I and level II Certification Course Instructor,'02 to present
National Capitol S.R.A. Coach, Sep '00 to Aug '03
Guernsey S.R.A. Director of Island Squash, Aug '98 to Aug '00
Essex S.R.A. Boys U.16 coach ('91/'92) & Boys U.19 coach ('92/'93)
Schools and Colleges
Boy's Varsity Coach at the Potomac High School, McLean, Virginia, '00 to '03
Guest coach at many schools and colleges in the U.S. including:
Episcopal High School (VA), St. George's School (Newport, R.I.), George
Washington University (D.C.), Connecticut College (New London, CT), and
U.C. Berkeley (Berkeley, CA)
Nottingham University Squash Coach '95/96, '96/97 and '97/98
National Squads and Teams
U.S. Squash National Junior Women's Team Head Coach, Sep '03 to Aug '05
U.S. Squash National Junior Squad Coach, '01 to '03
Squash England National Junior Squad Coach, May '01
Guernsey Commonwealth Games Squash Team Coach/Manager, Kuala Lumpur, '98
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