No cause for Optimism

 All

I am of the mind that I was attracted to the game of squash and stayed with it as a result of playing the game during the Golden Age of Hardball Squash.

I recently read the following from my friend and fellow Jester, Guy Cipriano.  I have a similar take.

John

******

August 18, 2020

Very interesting article by Mr. Alvarez. He is passionate about squash and wants to promote and grow  the game in North America. Bravo!

However I don’t see cause for optimism. In 1978 when I came to NYC there  ten  commercial clubs:

Manhattan ( which also had a doubles court,) Fifth Avenue, Uptown, Broad Street, Lincoln, First Avenue, Doral, Park Avenue, Park Place, Vertical- all were active and vibrant.

The Seventh Regiment Armory  also had two courts and anybody could join and play, plus the West Side YMCA had two courts.

Today  those clubs are all gone. To my knowledge there is one commercial  club in Manhattan on 38th Street. It has four courts.

The space  became far more valuable to landlords  for office and other uses so the courts were demolished. Those economics are  not going to change.

In 1982 Boodles British Gin sponsored a tournament with multiple flights in every division for both men and women.

There were 600 participants. Matches were played at every commercial club and some private clubs, too.

Today it would be a challenge to  get a draw of 16 for a weekend tournament in Manhattan.

In the 1980s there was a top  flight A class  invitational tournament  virtually  every weekend in the Northeast.

Today the only events surviving are the William White at Merion CC and the Gold Racquets at Rockaway HC and their most popular events are doubles.

The leagues were a hotbed of competition  in Classes A to E. The NY Times published the standings every Sunday. League teams were five players.

Today the leagues are on life support, and they are only three players per team.

From 1923 until  1993 the Tri-City Lockett-Ketcham Cup was contested by NY, Boston and Philadelphia in A, B and C flights for  singles, plus a three team  doubles competition.

When an initiative was put forth  in 2015 to re-start the event Boston and Philadelphia expressed zero interest.

The National Championships used to be held on President’s Day weekend. There were men’s and women’s flights plus age group flights every five years.

There was also a five man team competition between cities and universities which always had a draw of 16 and usually closer to 32. That “ Gathering of The Clan” would number over 500.

Today those events are a shadow of what they once were.

American  squash has become an inverted pyramid where most of the  participation and growth is in the junior ranks.

Some of the best junior players carry on playing  in college, but most simply disappear.

The customers (aka players) are the kids, yet all the costs are borne by their parents.

That’s unhealthy and ultimately unsustainable.

US Squash derives approximately 60% of its income from junior tournament sanctioning fees.  

Now colleges have been dropping varsity programs: Brown, Stanford, and George Washington will now field club teams.

What will happen when parents realize that  contrary to the 2007 NY Times article,  playing junior squash is not a special  pathway for little Johnny and Joanie into an elite college: that academic excellence is the  path, and ultimately the only logical reason to go to college? That answer is self-evident - a decline in junior squash in every way.

I applaud Mr. Alvarez for keeping the commercial  flame burning  in Toronto.

But for the past 28 years, since the universal  adoption of the softball game, adult squash in the USA has been circling the drain with increasing angular acceleration.  I wouldn’t invest capital in a declining industry any more than I’d invest in a buggy-whip factory.

Guy Cipriano