Legacy is a word often associated with the success of a major sporting event such as the Commonwealth Games.

In the case of squash, the head of Scotland's governing body says they're already making great strides in reaching out to the next generation of athletes by adapting the sport for success in schools.

According to John Dunlop, CEO of Scottish Squash and Racketball, the fundamentals of squash have a simple appeal accessible to first-time players of all ages. "Bashing a ball against a wall is a very primordial urge, and people get it," he said.

"It's an expression you often hear in sport - 'I just don't get it' - well, they get this. They see this as a sporting option.

"Once they've got that in their head, then obviously we don't need four walls, because if you put a novice into a four-wall court they wouldn't use three of them anyway."

As only a few schools in Scotland are equipped with dedicated squash courts, Scottish Squash and Racketball have capitalised on the need to simplify the game for beginners by creating the Racketwall - a system of tape marking that can be quickly set up to transform the badminton courts in a typical school gym into a series of one-wall squash courts.

As well as reducing the playing surface, various grades of ball also make life easier for new players, as the squash tournament ball famously does not bounce.

"Squash itself is probably too difficult for kids, but what we do is we use a different ball, and that's where the racketball comes in," said John.

"If we use a bouncier ball, then the kids can practice hand-eye coordination. Basic sporting articulacy is pretty poor in schools now. You see kids that can't kick a ball, you see kids that can't run in a straight line. So something as basic as hand-eye coordination can be taught with squash.

"If they get a taste for it, obviously we encourage them to go to courts or clubs where there are four walls, where their first experience would be positive - whereas you could take them straight into a court, but it's not always a positive experience the first time.

"It's quite a difficult sport unless you're introduced to it properly, just as riding a bike round the velodrome is almost impossible for the ordinary person - they fall off."

The Tyne Squash and Racketball Club in Haddington, East Lothian, has been using this philosophy and the Racketwall equipment to introduce the sport of squash to local schoolchildren.

In fact, club president Ron Pearman says the Wednesday afternoon sessions at Knox Academy in the early weeks of the school year can be full to overflowing.

"We've got 20 rackets and we quite often run out, and there are kids all over the place playing on any bit of wall they can find," he said.

"They play a modified version of the game, making up almost their own rules, which seems to go down well with the kids. It's aimed at the fun aspect of it rather than just purely coaching technique."

On Friday afternoons, younger children from King's Meadow Primary School also come to the clubhouse for an hour of enjoyment and a little bit of focussed tuition. In fact, some stars have even graduated to the Wednesday sessions at Knox Academy.

"They're still at the primary school but they're good enough now to take the first year, second year and third year secondary kids on as well, that's pleasing to see them progressing," Ron said.

John says he thinks his organisation's approach to raising awareness of squash is unique, and should be much more effective than more traditional strategies.

"We're trying to develop the core competencies away from the courts, whereas I think you'll find in most places the activity is based on a court. We're not aware of anybody else trying to do it this way, and really the purpose is to put a base into the pyramid. If the children are aware of the sport, then the parents are aware of the sport.

"At the moment our sport is only within a few courts, but if we can take it into 2000 primary schools and 400 secondary schools, it's quite a step up in awareness from 400 squash courts."

Children who want to take their squash a bit more seriously now have several options open to them, including the Big Shots League on Saturday mornings, where they can play a series of short, one-game matches against four or five different opponents, and a soon-to-be-revived schools competition that John has high hopes for.

"We're confident enough that in its turn will mean the clubs will start talking to the schools and the schools will start talking to the clubs, and so who knows what might happen?"