Bermuda squash has a new national coach ? 34-year-old Denise Sommers.

British-born Sommers, who is half-Jamaican and has lived and played in Holland for most of her career, arrives on the Island next Thursday to assume responsibility for both the male and female senior national teams.

Club professional Patrick Foster is set to take full charge of the Bermuda Squash Racquets Association?s popular junior programme as the national development coach.

Sommers is not short on expertise or experience, having been a long-standing member of the Dutch national team and coach of former world number one Vanessa Atkinson.

Her appointment frees up the BSRA?s director of squash, Ross Triffitt, to concentrate on developing the governing body?s plan for a new state-of-the-art facility while organising this year?s Bermuda Masters and the World Open in 2007.

?We had over 30 serious applications for the post and we?re delighted to have Denise coming on board,? Triffitt said.

?We have ambitious plans for the development of squash in Bermuda and having two full-time national coaches is one step further in the right direction.

?After we negotiated the deal to bring the two biggest tournaments in professional squash to Bermuda, the workload has increased enormously and we needed to improve our coaching resources.?

Triffitt is also hoping Sommers? presence will persuade more girls to take up the physically demanding sport, an issue which has concerned the BSRA for some time.