President’s Corner
Midseason 2023/2024 Season Update
With the ’23/’24 season fully underway we can look both backwards and forwards to check in on the state of squash in our district which I’m happy to report is continuing to rebound well from the pandemic interruption.
A total of 80 teams signed up for MA Squash leagues which included 11 in the Magruder summer league.
For perspective, participation the last three seasons was:
22/23: 60 teams – no summer league
21/22: 50 teams – no summer league
19/20: 103 teams – including 10 summer teams and 23 teams from clubs that have since closed
The race for the League Championship Cup is in full swing. This title (and actual cup to keep for a year) is awarded to the club that has the best overall results in league play during a season. In the running to dethrone the defending champs, Cambridge Athletic Club, are Newton Squash & Tennis, Union Boat Club, and SquashWest.
Come watch all the league finals and see which club will win the League Championship Cup on Thursday, March 28th at Havard’s Murr Center. Our second premier event will be the MA Squash Singles Championships all-finals night on Thursday, April 25th. These matches will be the culmination of 30 adult draws and – new for this year – 6 junior skill level draws. Last season’s Mass States had 550 entries (up from 471 the year before) and with registration open only a week there are over 300 entries already.
More good news: this year, four new options for the general public to play squash have opened:
1. LearnSquash Community Club in the SquashBusters facility
2. Boston Squash Academy in the NYSC Allston club
3. Summer Street Squash Club in the old Boston Racquet Club
4. SZKSquash in Northborough
Check out where these new clubs are and the locations of all squash facilities in the Boston metrowest region on this handy map.
Creating squash opportunities for public school students has been an important focus of MA Squash. There is now a new At Large position on the board dedicated to helping facilitate new teams and to guiding the seven school league. Brookline High School’s Steve Lantos has had an immediate impact and recently confirmed that Wellesley High School has been added as an eighth team to the Dual County Public School Squash League.Please contact Steve if you would like information about playing in the league or forming a school team.
Speaking of teams, Boston sent nine teams to the Howe Cup in Philly in November and came away as both B & D champions, as well as fielding the ‘A’ winner in a concurrent doubles tournament. The Howe Cup is the United States’ largest squash event for women and a highlight on the calendar, as is Boston’s annual Women’s Squash night which was held for the tenth time at Harvard’s Murr Center. This year’s event drew 75 participants, was the best attended in the country and is featured on US Squash’s website as an exemplar of a robust women’s squash community.
In fact, there are so many events during the squash season, both in our region and in the Northeast, that we’ve resurrected the MA Squash Calendar. We hope that seeing local adult and junior events, plus the national championships, doubles tournaments, college matches and professional streams all in one place will be helpful to our members. It will be updated frequently and can be viewed online as a google doc or as a pdf. Let me know if it’s useful.
And finally, I look forward to hearing from you. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with your ideas, feedback or suggestions about how MA Squash can serve you and the district better.
Susan Greene
President, MA Squash