WHEN it comes to the Commonwealth Games, Laura Massaro has seen it, done it and worn the official England T-shirt.

This will be Massaro’s third tour of duty having represented Team England at Delhi and Glasgow, picking up three silver medals in the process.

The 34-year-old from Chorley has soaked up the experiences of taking part in the multi sport event - from the ‘wide eyed’ excitement of her first Games eight years ago to the national pride of a ‘home’ event of Glasgow.

And while she is looking forward to going for gold on the Gold Coast, Massaro intends to treat it like any other tournament.

“On paper it looks amazing, going to the Gold Coast to compete in the Commonwealth Games,” said Massaro who will again compete in the singles and doubles.

“But for us, it is just another squash tournament that you want to do well in, although it is a quite a different set up to what we would normally have.

“From an athlete’s point of view, you just try and treat it like any other tournament but then remember it is a multi-sport event and that brings a whole new thing to it.

“You are in a village and not in a hotel and you don’t compete in the same way as you would as if you were in a PSA tournament.

“You are heavily protected, you have accreditation everywhere you go and you don’t really mingle with members of the public and you don’t get to see friends and family.

“It is all an experience that needs to be handled so you try to learn from experiences from the past.”

Massaro admits this could be her last Commonwealth Games but she will not be savouring every moment in Australia - that happened in the last two Games.

“At Glasgow, although it was in Scotland, it felt like a home Games because we had so much support and that was a great experience,” said Massaro who lives in Hoghton.

“But in terms of soaking it all up, I was more like that at the first one.

“In Delhi it was like eyes wide open, it was like ‘wow’ everything was new, everything was fresh. You try to take everything in and learn from it.”

Despite all of those experiences, there will be something new for Massaro in Australia when she steps out on court with Sarah-Jane Perry in the doubles.

Massaro paired up with Jenny Duncalf four years ago to win silver but this time around, Perry will be her partner.

And she is hoping the failings at last year’s World Doubles - where they lost in the quarter finals - could work to their advantage.

“Myself and SJ weren’t that great so I imagine we might be seeded fairly low so we kind of see that as not having a lot of pressure on our shoulders,” added Massaro.

“We’ll just go on and play with a little bit of freedom and just think, what will be, will be. It will be a nice situation to be in.”

Duncalf teams up with Alison Waters, who she partnered to the runners-up spot at the World Doubles and Massaro believes they are the best pairings.

“We had a load of doubles practice sessions throughout the summer and mixed things up and see who we gel with,” said Massaro, who turned down the chance to play mixed doubles as well.

“On paper, SJ and myself were the highest two England players and we played quite well together through the summer.

“Alison and Jenny are very good friends and very close and have been ever since they won the World Juniors.

“Myself and Alison were probably not going to be together because Alison is a very good forehand player and I played on the forehand when I played with Jenny.

“So they were always likely to be the team.”