I was first exposed to squash by my grandfather at a YMCA on the north
side of Indianapolis. Despite the presence of these courts, and
many others in the downtown area, I found very few other kids who knew
of the game or wanted to learn. Then in college, I played at
Purdue in a large bank of a dozen hardball courts (more courts than
racquetball) and still had trouble finding people to play.
Fifteen years ago I moved to northern Indiana and quickly learned of
two convertible courts at a local college, and again, only found a
handful of players. So when the opportunity to become the “coach”
for the University of Notre Dame Squash Club fell into my lap, one of
the first things I set out to do was to increase the number of players
in the Midwest – particularly other college players. That was ten
years ago.
In 2004 the only recognized college squash teams in the Midwest were
Northwestern, Denison, Kenyon and the new club at Notre Dame. In
2014 there are recognized college teams at fourteen schools around the
region. I wish I could take credit for all of them, but I
can’t. Most of this growth has come about by former “junior”
players or international students from “squash-friendly” countries, who
were aware of the College Squash Association and who decided to start a
team on their campus. These student leaders then often found
other students who have an interest in racquet sports or just want to
be part of the “team” representing their school.
This explosion of interest is not limited to Midwest campuses.
Growth rate in the membership of the College Squash Association is
twice as fast for “club” programs as for “varsity” teams. In
fact, this disparity is creating issues (and some tension) that will be
the subject of a CSA conference this summer. I was saddened to
read the article recently submitted by Kenneth Wilhelm about the
decline of squash in other parts of the world. But I believe that
he is exactly right about how that can be turned around. If
squash can be growing outside of the Boston-NYC-Philly corridor in
places like Indiana, Iowa and Oklahoma, then surely it can grow
anywhere. But it needs local support and people to talk about it.
In fact, I have another idea that I think could help. I live near
an elementary school where I watch kids of all ages play on the
weekends. Many of them play baseball and football where there is no
field, so it got me thinking, “What if squash went back to its
roots? What if we made balls and racquets available to schools
and youth centers and gave them some general rules for squash that
could be played the way it started – against the side of a building or
in a courtyard? Imagine kids making chalk lines on the
pavement, marking the “wall” locations with jackets or
sticks. Or others playing against a garage door on a
driveway at home. Sure, it isn’t regulation and there are no
boasts, but you could certainly learn to hit rails, cross-courts, and
drops. In fact, think how good their volleys would be without a
back wall to count on. Chasing a loose ball shouldn’t be a
deterrent to the game. Every day, I watch dozens of people
playing tennis on local city courts without fences to the stop stray
balls.
I’m sure that others of you with more creative minds than mine can
think of additional (and better) ways that we can introduce people to
this sport we love. With even just a few ideas, imagine how much
growth we could see in the next ten years.
Geoff McCuenis the men's and women's squash coach at the University of Notre Dame.
What's On My Mindis a column by rotating writers. Contact DailySquashReport@gmail.com
