LIFE begins at 40 for some, so the saying goes, but for Colin Shields it could be said it started ten years later as he has just received his first England call up.
The 50-year-old this weekend takes a bow for his country in the Over-50s Home International squash championships at The Park, Nottingham.
The Stockton born racket fanatic, who has been a member of the Darlington Squash Club for 20 years, believed the opportunity to play for his country had passed him by, yet he lines up in a six man England squad against the best of Scotland, Wales and Ireland today and tomorrow.
"It's unbelievable," said Shields who admits this is his most successful season since taking up the game. "I didn't think it happened to people like me."
Shields revealed an England call up couldn't have been further from his thoughts and made known that his sole ambition in the last few years was only to win the Darlington Squash Club's own championship tournament. He'd gone close, reaching the last four on six occasions but he never managed to do so until recently.
He said: "I've played for Darlington for 20 years. Two years ago I won the club's championship. This was all age groups by the way, from teenager up. No one wins that at 49-years-old!"
Yet Shields topped that off with an England call up following some good form in several ranking tournaments earlier this season, taking the scalps of some of the country's biggest players. But the decision whether he would make the cut for the national squad all came down to the last tournament of the season against the competition's number one seed.
"I did think there might have been a chance at the start of the year," admitted Shields. "I played in the British Open, where anyone in the world could enter. Then I played five regional rounds and national tournaments.
"The top four seeds get automatic places and the other two are picked from whoever wins a national. I had to beat two England players who had both beaten me during the season - and I beat them both.
"The guy I beat in the semi-final, David Taylor, was the (Grantham Masters) tournament's number one seed. Nobody thought I had any chance to beat him at all because he had beaten all the England players this year.
"The chairman of selectors even said, before I got off court, I didn't think you were going to beat Taylor today. He then shook my hand and said you've got your England cap.
"I think I just wanted it more than him because it was resting on one game. Had I lost I wouldn't have played for England because I wouldn't have finished in the top four in ranking.
"I lost in the final to another England player Mo Sarwar, who was runner up in the nationals. I got to the quarters in the nationals, which was my seeding - five to eight - where I got beat of the country's number two.
"There was quite a bit of pressure. At the start of the tournament I felt I had an outside chance. In the seven competitions I've been involved with, I've getting to one final, four semi-finals and one quarter-final."
Shields revealed he is the only member of the England squad who still works, which makes his international call up even more remarkable.
He added: "They're all retired, only I work. Either that or they're ex-professionals like David Taylor, who owns a squash club and coaches for a living. I get up at 6am on a Monday morning to go to work after I've been away playing squash at the weekend - they don't. They have a slight advantage but it's all worth while."
Shields confessed he's taken inspiration from his wife, Jill, who has recently commented that she feels like a 'squash widow'. He was also magnanimous enough to bow down and concede that he will never be as good as his naturally gifted partner - no matter how hard he trains.
"My wife was professional standard and was the county's number one," admitted Shields who also hailed the influence of coaches Ken Robinson and Malcolm Mills. "In her day she was the best squash player in the North-East but had to retire.
"She went to the doctors as she thought she had tore her groin, but he told her she needed two new hips, or face never being able to walk again.
"I play to a good standard for my age but she was the best in her day. You can still be a good footballer when you are 45 but you're at your best in your early 20s aren't you? And she was. But she was good at all sports, in netball, hockey and golf and played county standard in all.
"It's a real shame because she's really disappointed. Now she swims about 60 lengths every other day. It's easier on the limbs.
"I've had to work hard at it but she was a natural."
As for the future Shields, who works as a fabrication supervisor at Cordell, said: "My next ambition is to stay there, every year. The only thing after that is a national title but there are ten or 12 super players chasing that and they're all trying to get in the England squad."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article