Squash legend Sarah Fitz-Gerald hopes the sport's inclusion at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics can trigger a total reset for the ailing game in Australia.
Among the most popular sports in the country in the 1980s, participation rates in squash have been on the decline for decades as courts got knocked down in favour of more lucrative real estate options.
From being a global powerhouse boasting one world champion after another, including Heather McKay, Geoff Hunt, Fitz-Gerald, Rhonda Thorne, Michelle and Rodney Martin and most recently David Palmer, Australia's highest-ranked player now is women's world No.65 Jessica Turnbull.
World No.98 Joseph White is the only Australian in the men's top 100 featuring players from 26 different nations.
So while being "absolutely over the moon" about squash being accepted at the Games, Fitz-Gerald still carries a nagging regret her sport wasn't added to the Olympic program years ago.
"It would have been amazing had it got in for Sydney 2000 because we dominated, Australia dominated every position - male, female, juniors - and could have picked up a whole bunch of medals," the five-time world champion told AAP.
"But this is a chance for us to rebuild."
Fitz-Gerald points to tennis as a great example of another sport that was once dominated from only a handful of players before going fully international, and says squash in Australia can grow and produce global stars again.
"Back in the day, tennis was all Australia, then it was America, then it was the Czechs and the Russians, and now it's the Spaniards and Serbs, it just keeps moving," she said.
"And right now, squash has moved as well. It used be Australia, England, Pakistan. Then it shifted around a bit - Egypt, Malaysia, US.
"So it does move. Other new countries are really opening up to squash, countries like Poland, China, Peru.
"So by the time LA comes around and beyond - Brisbane in 2032 - we have a chance to build and we have to accept that we do have to build and start again. Just as tennis did."
Fitz-Gerald hopes squash's inclusion at the Olympics will not only lead to improved government funding and more courts being built in Australia, but also jolt councils and court owners into upgrading outdated facilities.
"Courts used to be in every suburb but they were all built in the 70s and 80s," said Fitz-Gerald, who is also president of Squash Victoria.
"So a lot of them are just really old and we haven't had an opportunity to really modernise and move into the 21st century.
"There's a lot of technology out there but the venue owners and councils need some inspiration and money to actually warrant doing it.
"So hopefully it's an opportunity to revamp their courts. Get rid of the all the old hard-backs and bring in all-glass. Make the sport viewer friendly. That's a great start".
And start selling squash to the uninitiated and younger generations to make it fashionable again.
"The converted are all on board. They love it, they're mad about it and are still playing," said Fitz-Gerald, the president of Squash Victoria.
"It's so healthy, so dynamic. You use every muscle in the body to play squash.
"But we've got to get to the lay person who doesn't know anything about it into it.
"You so often hear kids say 'my dad used to play squash'. But kids don't play - so we've got to get to them."
