Facing his first day back teaching in four years, Daniel Abraham was a bit nervous about the short afternoon stint. The Prince George native was readying himself to be a substitute grade four teacher for a couple of hours when the Arrow Lakes News caught up with him at Gabi’s Fairytale Cafe.
Abraham has been very busy since moving to Nakusp with his spouse Dr. Chelsea Anchikoski in September. With what? Well, playing squash, of course, among other things.
Recently back from the Bear’s Den squash tourney in Revelstoke, Abraham is revved up and ready to pass on what he knows. The racket sport has a devoted following in the area around Nakusp and he would like to see the ball get picked up here too, especially because there are opportunities for players to take part in local tournaments. And because we already have a court here that’s ready to go.
“It’s such a shame that the squash court here that’s not being used,” he told the Arrow Lakes News. “In other communities it can be hard to book court time.” The under-utilized court in Nakusp, on the other hand, has time aplenty for players to come and practise their skills.
To help get more people into the sport, Abraham is offering an eight-week course of basics for new players so newcomers can get a taste for the game and see if it’s something they’d like to go further with. The squash enthusiast makes it clear that he’s not a licensed coach, just someone who’s played squash for a long time. But there’s more planned for the sessions than just swatting the ball around. If you’re interested in fitness as well as squash, the Tuesday night gigs are probably for you (Abraham mentioned jumping over pylons in the course of conversation).
And the relatively new resident has been impressed with his experience of getting things rolling in Nakusp. His funding request for goggles, balls, and rackets took a total of one day to come through. Thanks to Rec. Commission 4, squash newbies can now try the sport out before investing heavily.
But squash is only one opportunity of many in town, in Abraham’s eyes. He sees tons of possibility on the shores of Upper Arrow Lake.
“I think there’s a lot of opportunity in Nakusp,” he said, and he’s keen to run with what he finds.
And Abraham is just that kind of person. Back in Prince George, he began a photo business with a friend while he was subbing after teacher’s college. What began as a photo studio in his basement where he would take family portraits, grew into shooting real estate stills and video. The result was an online business Abraham started with a friend called pglistings.ca that was a full-time gig within six months for the two entrepreneurs.
Abraham loves the freedom that comes with running his own business, taking risks and learning from failures. He’s already joined the Nakusp and Area Development Board, and is scoping out new business opportunities (although they are top secret at the moment).
And while he’s developing his next move, he’s really happy to have more balls in play substitute teaching and running squash classes for beginners. If you’re interested in a free one hour of basics 6-7 p.m. for the next eight weeks, followed by an hour of box league play, you can get in touch with Daniel at 250-301-7000.