Squash star Greg Lobban's move from Scotland to represent Australia a challenge to identity

The soft burr of a Scottish accent is nothing new in Australian sport.

Harry Souttar and Cam Burgess are currently leading the defence for the Socceroos in the USA, extending a relationship that dates back a century to the earliest games of football played on these shores.

Then there's other sporting icons with Scottish roots, like Dawn Fraser, whose father was from Britain's northernmost reaches.

As of now, there is another, with Greg Lobban making the switch from Scotland to Australia.

Not that it was an easy decision to make.

"Playing with Scotland's kind of been my identity as a squash player for a long time, so that aspect of it was tough," the 33-year-old told ABC Sport from the Gold Coast.

"That's what I've struggled with most in the decision over the last sort of four months on tour, balancing that mentally.

"If I'm honest, I have struggled with processing that.

"But with the family reasons … I was always going to go down the path of citizenship eventually because we would be moving here after my squash career was finished.

"So in that aspect, it's not really been that tough.

"I feel like when I was kind of deliberating about the situation, it just came down to what's the better decision for me and my family, and that is playing for Australia and trying to qualify for the Olympics in '28."

Lobban was always going to move to Australia because his wife, Donna Lobban, née Urquhart, was born here.

Donna, a former Australian international player who won world team gold in 2010 and is a three-time Commonwealth Games medallist, and their young son, were obviously a key part of his decision.

As a couple, they have played against each other, in the quarter finals at the 2022 Games in Birmingham.

Fortunately they kept their competitive instincts on the court: "The only saving grace was that we were on opposite sides [of the court], so we didn't actually come into contact too often," Lobban said.

"But if we were on the same side, honestly, I think the marriage would have been over before it started."

Perhaps playing doubles together might be an option?

"We've probably joked about it throughout both of our careers, saying, 'Oh, why don't you just switch to Scotland or why don't you just switch to Australia and then we can maybe play doubles together' and stuff like that," Lobban said.

"Now it's happened and she's already retired. But who knows? Maybe she'll come out of retirement for that experience."

Lobban is ranked 28th in the world by the Professional Squash Association (PSA).

His nationality switch instantly makes him the top-ranked Australian player on tour, with Joseph White (78) and Dylan Molinaro (104) the only others in and around the top 100.

That is important — qualification for one of the 16 spots on offer at the Olympics is limited, with a couple of exceptions, to just one person per nation.

Qualifying is still going to be an enormous challenge, but Lobban says he feels that he can deliver a spot for Australia at the Games.

"The way I see it is, I feel like I'm trying to deliver an Olympic place for Squash Australia and I feel like I'm going to take on that responsibility to try and make that happen," he said.

"My fondest memories of playing squash in my career has always been representing my country.

"I feel like now, post my Scottish career, I feel like the highlights are going to come from representing Australia, whether that's at the Olympics or the Commonwealth Games or the World Team Championships."

Switching nationalities is nothing new. In an increasingly interconnected world, the very notion that someone should feel one thing for an individual nation is being increasingly blurred.

"I think that's what I've got to tell myself, it's not an uncommon thing for athletes to change nationalities," Lobban said.

"At the end of the day, people are doing what's best for them and their family and if sport is a pathway to do that, then I think good on everyone.

"I do feel it is a brave decision to do it, but in life, I think everyone's just trying to do what's best for them and their family."

Nevertheless, there have been critics of Lobban's decision.

"I find it very hard to ignore it, to be honest," Lobban said of some social media commentary from the inevitable keyboard warriors that were opposed to his move.

"I do see it and kind of get emotionally attached to it, to my detriment probably."

But he acknowledged that none of that negativity came from Scottish Squash, the governing body in charge of the game in Scotland.

"I can't thank Scottish Squash enough for the support that they gave me throughout my career," he said.

"And they've been terrific. Obviously they were losing their top-ranked player, but I respect them and they've respected me and the work that we put in together.

"They were sort of sad, I think, but understood my decision, and I think the closest people to me that took the time to understand why I was doing it did too.

"When people sort of delve into the whys and the emotion behind it, I think everyone sort of realises that, yeah, okay, I think I would have done the same."

As Scotland's football fans light up the World Cup with their tartan, singing and bagpipes, Lobban is aware of what he is losing by opting out of the Scotland set-up.

But wearing his Squash Australia polo for the first time during this interview, he is also cognisant of what he has gained.

"It feels a little bit more settled," he noted, speaking about wearing his new colours for the first time.

"I'll always have a bit of Scottish in me.

"I'll still support the Tartan Army and all the Scottish sport as well, but equally I'll be supporting the Socceroos and all the other Aussie teams that are competing in world sport.

"Now that I've come to Australia — I have been here every year for the last 15 years — but now feeling part of the Squash Australia team, being around the Squash Australia environment with the coaching staff and high performance managers and everything, I think now this is starting to feel a bit like feeling at home and I'm not this foreign person coming in.

"So I feel like it's going to be a bit of a process.

"But I think spending three months here in my off season and obviously planning to be here a lot more in the coming years, that's going to feel very comfortable for me."

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