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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, April 26, 2013 | 38 Squash was refuge for Naughton as youngster continued from p.35 squaring off against a 15-year-old in her first national final. "Being in the finals, I know what it's like," she said. "It was good to have a bit of an upper hand." Naughton began playing squash at the age of eight in her native England, tagging along with her parents, who both played the sport. She admits she didn't take to the sport right away, preferring soccer instead. That began to change when her family moved from South Yorkshire to Oakville. It was a difficult transition for a 10-year-old. "It's tough leaving all your friends behind and trying to make new ones, especially when you have a funny accent," she said. Teased at school at times, squash provided a bit of a refuge, where Naughton's ability to play the game mattered more than her calling a truck a lorry. She made friends through the sport and soon began to realize her abilities could take her far. It continues to reward her today. "It's nice to be able to travel and I've had so many good opportunities," she said. Naughton is still adapting to being a full-time squash player. She'll head to the Canadian Senior Nationals next week in Markham looking to improve upon last year's sixth-place finish. Beyond that, she hopes to represent Canada at the Junior Pan American Championships in June and the World Juniors in Poland in July. The event she's really looking forward to is still a couple of years down the road, though. Squash is not an Olympic sport -- it is one of seven, along with wrestling and baseball, vying for one spot on the Olympic schedule in 2020 -- but it is part of the Pan Am Games, which will be hosted by Toronto in 2015. "It's very exciting. I've talked to a few of the girls who went to Mexico for the last one (in 2011) and they said it was great," Naughton said. "Having home advantage and having a whole country on your side, it would be amazing." Until then, Naughton will be working toward becoming a little more invincible every day.