Devan Kandiah

Evening to Honour Devan Kandiah​

On Thursday 24th May we held an informal evening at Fair Oak Squash and Racketball Club to dedicate Court 1 with its newly installed accessible glass door, to our ex-President Devan Kandiah, who we sadly lost nearly a year ago. We unveiled a special wall plaque to show members and visitors how special Devan was to our club over the past five decades. Attending the event was club members who knew Devan, plus representatives from the Fair Oak Parish and Eastleigh council, together with Devan's wife, son and grandson, Bridget, Andrew and Kieron.

Devan Kandiah has been involved with Fair Oak Squash Club from the early 1970's, when only a single court building stood in Campbell Way, with nothing more than a tiny changing room, single shower, a broom cupboard and some stairs to a viewing balcony.  Like most of the founding and early members of Fair Oak Squash Club, Devan, being new to the game was keen to play and improve his own game. 

Devan soon became part of the organising committee and took on many roles. For the decades to come, Devan remained an integral part of the club's management, helping it through many extensions and improvements. His real passion was helping players improve their game and dedicated so much of his time to coaching and mentoring Fair Oak club members into the best players that they could be.  He would organise club tournaments and help the club to develop an active social section. 

As the long-standing Club Captain, he took our clubs 1st team to become one of the best teams in the South of England and many times Hampshire League Champions.  Over the years Devan secured many top ranked players to represent our small club, which became well known for punching well above its weight on the national squash scene. 

Devan's focus was not only on his Fair Oak club, but also on helping the county association, Hampshire Squash and latterly also the UK governing squash body, England Squash, where he was a key committee member for many years. His knowledge of the game and ability to manage and develop players saw him coaching our countries top players during the 1980's.  Devan was well known and respected throughout the world of squash as an outstanding ambassador of the sport. 

During more recent years when Devan's active squash days were over, he dedicated himself to local charity fundraising, however he remained a keen supporter of this club and stood as our nominated and elected Club President up until he was taken from us. He would regularly make a point of dropping in for a chat to find out what is going on and offering words of wisdom, whilst enjoying his favourite tipple a whiskey and water. 

Devan will be remembered by those who knew him, as someone who was able to speak his mind, was always fair and above all willing to give his time to anyone that needed support or guidance where squash was concerned. He remained for many decades, a part of the fabric of our club, and it is fitting that we have dedicated the original 'Court 1' and the new accessible glass door to his name. 

Thank you Devan for a lifetime of selfless dedication to our sport. Gone now, but not forgotten.