There are five chapters of our history
- The 70’s - Before John Lau arrives, was there really squash?
- The Growth Years - Growth of squash during the early years of NorCal
- The Momentum Years - Outgrowing the two court hovel and hiring a Teaching Pro
- The Transition Years - designing, building, and opening the new facility - with a doubles court!
- Realizing the Aspiration - Growing squash in the new building
It has been the cornerstone of my life - a half century in the making. The images and experiences remain seared in my mind’s eye: the thousands of hours playing a game that we all came to love: the wins, the losses, the foes that were vanquished, and still licking the wounds from the losses even to this day.
I’ve met plenty of characters along the way who have formed my rich panoramic vision of the game.
In the end though, the memories that I’m still able to dredge up in my mind are the ones of the members - the players with whom I spent the most time with. From the hardened accomplished player to the greenhorn beginner, each of them hold a place in my heart. Here are their stories.
Chapter One - The 70’s - before John Lau arrives, was there really squash?
All,
In the nascent years when I was a sophomore at Cal, the clubs with squash courts in the Bay Area began fielding league teams to compete in the recently inaugurated Northern California Squash Racquets Association (NorCal). The original four in the group were the Olympic Club, the Jewish Community Center (JCC), UC Berkeley, and the University Club. (there was a racquetball/squash court at UC Med) Each club had teams representing the four skill levels at the time: A, B, C, D. NorCal was the creation in 1968 by my coach at Cal, Dick Crawford.
During the scheduled season, every week, without fail, the 5 player league teams of each club would square off with one another twice a season - one home, one away.
At the time, the UClub had only two courts - two hardball courts with 4’ tall doors that one had to squooch through and trundle in. The two courts were poorly lit by spotty flood lights and as evening approached, the white walls and white floor became slippery with condensation which made for a perilous version of the game.
I recall one evening as if it were just yesterday. Our team from Cal was playing a league match against the UClub. It was 1972, the first year that BART was in operation, and the team together rode the spanking-new train from Berkeley to SF and ambled up Powell street to play the match.
The teams paired up. My adversary was UClub member, Steve Graves. The seventy year old Steve Graves. The balding Steve Graves. The stooped-over Steve Graves. The Steve Graves who was old enough to be my grandfather Steve Graves. The name Steve Graves still makes my head shake in wonder even to this day.
I was a strapping 19 year old self-styled stud very full of myself.
How difficult would this match be? I thought to myself, ”1/2 hour tops.”
Steve turned out to be an experienced player and I soon discovered he was also a remarkably savvy player whose game included many bewildering tricks that I had yet encountered - roll corners, mis-directions, and boasts shot off his wooden magical wand. What were these geometric shots? Game one to Steve as I was forever chasing after the ball, failing, and growing more and more frustrated.
OK….time for a change of tactics. Lets’s see if a 70 year old could handle the hard serve. (At the time, the ball was the Cragin-Simplex: the speediest version of the hardball. It wasn’t uncommon to use three balls during a match to account for breakage. Playing in a stuffy hot court, if the server struck it hard enough, the ball would travel from the front wall, carom off the back wall, and bounce just behind the service line; an ace!) I think during the second game I hit 5 outright aces and another 5 that were barely returnable. In the second game, Steve didn’t score more than 5 points.
So….game on! More hard serves were in store for Mr. Graves.
Tiring from the ongoing effort it took to hard serve throughout the game, and easing up a bit, Graves managed to take the third game with his shot-making.
I revert back to the hard serve....but hitting it harder, and hitting the serve directly at him. The hard service was having it's desired effect. Steve let me serve out the game with nary a response. He was letting me tire myself out. He was saving himself for the 5th game.
5th game!!!????
Steve still had enough left in the match. I was spent by the effort it took to hard serve and of chasing throughout the encounter. Match to Steve.
In the end, I scored more points overall, but he took took the contest 3-2.
Looking back, this story fully illustrates why I think hardball was a better game when asked which version of squash was better. Does anyone think that in the softball game, a 70+ year old player would ever be on the same court with a vigorous teenager, let alone competing with him? And winning? Not on your life!
John
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Floyd Svensson…….the constructor (to be continued)
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John,
I remember this vividly: at the squash courts at the Club (with the hardball courts) in the old locker room changing area where we were all chock-a-block, during a tournament of some sort I assume, someone asked Paul Pelosi (a fellow UClub member), who he thought would be elected the next Speaker of the House. Paul said, “Well, actually, I think it will be Nancy.” A historic moment!
Paul played regularly in those days though he was already having trouble with his knees. Bruce Hyman and I had a regular game. Bruce could trounce me in tennis, but we played evenly in squash until his feet and knees failed him. He was quite lame in his later years but was always of good cheer; never complained.
In spite of my efforts, he was turned down for membership in the Club - no doubt because he was too Jewish. I trust the Club is over that sort of thing nowadays.
My wife, Kathy, and I are dealing with the usual issues of age. In a recent game I stumbled and was plunging head first toward the sidewall. Austin Bennett, a young member of the Club, heedless of his own possible injury, dove down, deflecting and shielding me from the wall; no doubt saving me from serious injury. The spirit of squash!
John, you have always been a great inspiration (and I’m sure for Paul too now, recovering from that terrible assault). And, do you remember, was it Murray Smith who always played in ankle length white pants. All seems so near and yet so far ago. Where does time go?
Be well.
James Kirkham
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John:
I joined in the mid to late 90s; so women had recently been admitted, and at that time, we were playing softball on the existing narrow American hardball courts. In retrospect, I am sorry I didn't try hardball singles on the correct courts at that time, as I have enjoyed the game ever since on the rare occasions I have played.
My only memory, and sadly nothing juicy occurred, was that there was no proper court entry, and in order to gain access to play doubles, the women had to walk through the men's locker room corridor if I remember correctly. The common preceding exhortation was, "COVER UP......WOMEN COMING THROUGH!!" I wish I could relate some spicy stories involving something to do with that, but we were such a boring lot that nothing at all ever happened. (Well, I can relay stories that, from time to time, there were more than a few members who would not even bother to cover up for the players of the distaff side while dressing or undressing! - JL)
One of the happier memories I have, and this will be confirmed by the Portland and Vancouver crowd while playing in the Pacific Coast Doubles Championships, was arranging a sit-down dinner for all who wanted to come at the Cornell French Hotel and Jeanne d'Arc restaurant on Bush. It was a roaring success, even if we did drink more than the allotted wine ration!!
Peter Susskind
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Hi John,
Murray Smith is easily worth a separate article, capturing his influence on, and history of connection with, Bay Area squash. (Princeton squash team, Squash Commissioner at the Olympic Club, etc.)
I recall being partners and sharing a room with him in Santa Fe for a Kiva tournament.
He had lost sufficient flexibility to put his socks and shoes on by himself in the morning, but he still won the tournament with his shot making.
He was quite a guy.
Jack Bickel
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John
Peter Gaynor's son Bruce here. Starting from the late 60's, I, of course, have very fond memories playing at the University Club.
The names that come to mind during that time: Paul Pelosi, Herm Zwart, Dr. Richard Lanzerotti, Dan Heffernan, Alex Eichmann, and Gene Gillis. I was too young then and too old now to remember all of the members names.
But I do remember the period of the mid to late seventies; my high school years which was during the time of the massive remodel of the squash complex which included the construction of the 1st doubles court in Northern California - putting San Francisco on the map in the national squash scene.
After the grand construction, a great many gatherings were hosted, luring prominent national players to our neck of the woods. One player in particular who was invited was the great Hashim Khan.
Playing in an exhibition match against the best player in Northern California at the time, Tom Dashiell, I was lucky enough to be in attendance along with nearly 100 members and squash enthusiasts from the other clubs. Who could pass up the chance to see the greatest player of that period?
The date eludes me, but what a great evening. Both participants were so gracious. As always, Tom represented the club and himself well. As a warm-up before the featured match, I played against an up-and-coming star from Mexico City, Mario Sanchez. I got blown out
15-2 15-3 15-1.
On that note, the other guy at the age of 19, I could only imagine how Tom had felt that night. My personal highlights were winning the '79 NorCal and the '79 Pacific Coast Juniors Championships both held at the University Club.
Peter Gaynor, my father, two terms as NorCal President, were highlighted by the playing 1983 USSRA National Championships in San Francisco. The Sir Francis Drake Hotel on Powell Street was the host hotel of the tournament, which was also the venue of the great Saturday evening black tie celebration..... Could not tell you who any of the winners were but what a great weekend.....
Peter contributed and recruited so much on behalf of the Club and NorCal.
Bruce Gaynor
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John IS and has been a very influential person in my life. I am proud to call him my dear friend.
If you were in San Francisco and was at all interested in the game of Squash, you were bound to come in contact with John. The good fortune of meeting John in due time reveals itself to many as it pertained to squash, but in other instances as well.
Many, many years ago, I believed, as a young squash player at the University Club, that I was the greatest player the game had ever seen!
In my mind, I would be able to easily handle all of the Club's players -usually players twice my age, with relative case. John saw my over-inflated head almost every day. and he decided that I needed a little lesson in humility.
His method was unique - at least to me.
One day he came to me and asked if I would be available to help train another player who was bound for Seattle that year, to compete in the Nationals. I envisioned a young Cal player who needed help in understanding the game more fully and that I was exactly the person to provide that assistance. I said "Sure!" He said "Great! Be here tomorrow at noon and I will inform "Walter" that you will be happy to help him train and get ready for his tournament".
The next day, I eagerly arrived at 11:30 am to stretch and warm up a bit just on the outside chance that this "kid" had game. I was on court one when, at 11:55am, the door opened and what I saw was the LAST thing I cxpected to see. The gentleman who stood in the doorway was very distinguished and easily 70 years old.
He looked at me and asked “are you John Stewart?" "Yes Sir", I replied. "Hi John", he said. "I'm Walter Pettit. Thanks so much for meeting with me and helping me with my game." .
Now, I can tell you that my first thoughts were, "How could my Pro set me up with this old guy? Who does John think I am? Is this some kind of joke?" I was appalled to think that I was being tasked in playing with a septuagenarian." Doesn't John know who I think I am?"
Well, Walter went to the locker room and changed clothes for our match. Walter got on the court with me. I'm still fuming a bit, and we warmed up.
Incidentally, this was a long time ago and we were playing on the old style hardball singles court and we were playing with the hard "red white dot" ball. The time came where he was ready to play and he asked me to serve it up......
I DIDN'T WIN A SINGLE POINT until the middle of the second game and to this day it was one of the most humbling experiences of my life.
It wasn't until later that I found out that Walter was ranked #2 in the U.S. while he attended Princeton sometime in the '20's. The #1 player at that time was his contemporary back then, Jack Barnaby, from Harvard (with whom John arranged a lesson for me when Jack visited the UClub once...yet another grateful benefit of knowing the great John Lau).
It didn't take me long to recover from the initial shock.
For the next month, Walter and I met every day at Noon on Court 1 and during that time we became close friends and he was someone who would become very important to me later on. Together, we sparred and we worked on honing his game and improving mine in that month until he felt confident when it became time to play in the National Championships.
The preparation allowed Walter to win his division handily. He was awarded the Champion's trophy. To acknowledge my sparring with him, he had a smaller trophy made that was a replica of the one he had won. Once back in SF, he presented it to me. I still have the cherished trophy to this day.
The gesture alone was yet another lesson I would learn in grace and humility that John knew I would receive from this whole experience. John had a plan for me way back then and the way he executed that plan was for me to experience it for myself and thereby locking it in. Mission accomplished! I shall never forget this, as many of you know, as I have told this story many times over the years. It's impact on me was obviously profound and lasting.
This is just one story of the immeasurable influence of one man, hidden in a relatively unknown game we all love. Again, for those of us who have discovered our game, the name, John Lau, is known very well. And, it's known not only across the country but around the world.
I have played in many places with many international players who, when hearing I'm from San Francisco, without fail ask, “So you know John Lau!?"
And it is with immense pride that I am able to reply........ "Yes I do!"
John Stewart
John - I saw an opportunity to create a match made in squash heaven and I seized upon it. From one Jester to another - John
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Billy D. Marchese (2000)
Documentary following a team of environmentally conscious climbers on an expedition up Mount Everest in Spring 2000 to clean up the discarded rubbish and human
to be continued and ongoing…….
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