33 Years of NY Squash

My first experience of NY squash was the finals of the Boodles Gin Open – Sharif Khan vs. Mike Desaulniers at the Uptown Racquet Club exhibition court in November of 1980 for my 12th birthday. I started playing tournaments in NY a month later. I lost to George Polsky at the Harvard Club in the 12-and-unders at the Ivy Club Classic. I loved NY squash. I played all the tournaments, followed all the pro players, and read the yearbook cover to cover, over and over.

My dream starting at age 12 was to be a pro squash player on the hardball tour. I didn’t know that softball even existed except as a different sport in a far away land.  But when I graduated college, there was no more hardball tour. It had basically disintegrated during my senior year.

I therefore set out to play on the pro “softball” tour, and tried to learn how to play this game while traveling and playing the best players in the world. I actually made it through the qualifiers in my second tournament in LA, but got trashed in the 1st round by the World #13.

I stationed myself in NY during this time – I trained, played practice matches, and played the local tournaments. But NY squash had changed dramatically. Everything had gone softball. Most of the hardball guys (those who couldn’t play good softball, couldn’t stay in good enough shape, or just didn’t like softball) retreated from the scene and started playing just hardball doubles or stopped playing altogether. A rift developed between the people who ran NY Squash and the private clubs and there was clear animosity. The league that was once vibrant, fell way off. A fraction of the previous tournament players entered tournaments. Long standing tournaments stopped being held. People stopped coming to watch tournaments because the softball game just wasn’t as exciting.

It was, looking back, a very depressing time for squash in NYC. There was a small group of us that were very serious about our squash and we really just kept on going despite what was happening to the NY squash scene. But it was hard not to notice that the number of excellent players entering NY squash tournaments was very small. It wasn’t hard to get to the finals. It wasn’t that way before.

I have thought a lot about how squash in NY declined, and how, in my mind, it has been making a slow but steady comeback over the last 10 or so years, and I have a couple of thoughts about the current state of squash in NY:

  1. NY Squash is currently in the best shape it has been in since the “rupture” in terms of tournament and league participation and attendance at NY Squash social events.  Every year it seems to get a little bit better.
  2. The league has rebounded significantly and now has over 800 players. In the top division the level of play is very high and good players can count on getting a good match each week.
  3. Junior and High School squash is bigger than it ever has been.
  4. Doubles has caught on and new players have joined the old, and both are playing tournaments and are playing in the relatively new but thriving doubles league.  The Century Doubles has become a major tournament on the NY calendar.
  5. StreetSquash and CitySquash are very much a part of NY Squash.  Many players give their time and money, and the two organizations are generous in allowing NY squash to have events at their facilities.  The CitySquash Bash and the StreetSquash Cup are two of the greatest events on the NY calendar.
  6. The Tournament of Champions week is the highlight of the year and very much is the anchor to the NY squash calendar.
  7. The wall between the Private Clubs and NY Squash is slowly coming down. While few private club players play in NY squash tournaments and several of the private clubs do not participate in the singles leagues, the doubles leagues have been an excellent bridge to getting them more involved.

My biggest concern is the dwindling number of commercial courts, and my hope is that the NY Squash organization will focus a large amount of their efforts on “selling” squash to existing and new sports clubs in the City.  The economics of commercial club squash are very challenging in Manhattan.  Real estate prices have gone through the roof in the last 20-30 years and sports clubs have a harder and harder time justifying keeping squash.  While private Clubs and some schools have steadily added courts over the past 15 years, the City desperately needs more commercial club squash courts if we are to continue to grow. If this isn’t figured out, the potential of NY Squash will be severely limited.

Squash in New York is nowhere near where it was in the roaring 80’s, but it has developed a solid foundation and is long past the life support years of the 90’s.  Many, many New Yorkers are devoted to the game and are determined to keep it growing. We have the players and we have the passion. We just need the courts.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.