Janet Paulsen, the General Manager at the Green Spring Racquet Club in Lutherville, Maryland, looked at the eight sparingly used racquetball courts at her club and saw an opportunity. Knowing that racquetball’s decline was coinciding with the rise in popularity of squash in their area of the state, she reached out to David Carr of McWil Courtwall, to explore the possibility of converting two of the courts for squash play. With David’s encouragement, combined with thorough market research and the help of grant money from U.S. SQUASH, she was willing to take a chance, and instead of only changing two, she decided Green Spring would convert six of the eight courts. (One of the remaining racquetball courts is actually being used for Sony Wii activities).
Paulsen notes “This area of Maryland is a private school mecca, so I saw there was plenty of opportunity, especially at the junior level, to get the kids actively involved in squash. Many of the private schools have squash programs, and all have tennis. Getting the juniors who play tennis to crossover and try a new racquet sport is our goal, and having six courts available gives us the opportunity to give players exposure to squash.
Paulsen does worry about the stigma attached to playing on “converted” courts, which are narrower, 20 feet as opposed to 21 feet, but was assured by U.S. SQUASH that tournaments can be sanctioned for play on those courts.
Coming from a tennis background, and recognizing that hiring a teaching pro was essential to get the squash program started, Janet hired Lucky Odeh, who, along with Katie O’Neill and Vaughan Schmidt are integral in creating interest and increasing squash activity at the club.
With 14 tennis courts, Janet’s vision is for Green Spring to have a complete rackets feel, and, with a café on site, for the squash to be an integral part of the clubs social aspect. To that end, the club has pursued women’s leagues aggressively, an idea borrowed from her successful experience with tennis. While there has been some initial reluctance by tennis players to cross over to squash, Janet found that exposing them to the game with pro exhibitions, squash pro vs. tennis pro matches and even a battle of the racquet pros night has led to many players re-discovering squash, re-kindling an interest many had earlier in life, while also “squashing” the myth that their tennis stroke would be adversely affected bynoting that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are active squash players. To that end, Green Springs will host a very unique junior camp this summer, with tennis pro, former Duke University star Joey Atas, and Odeh combining tennis and squash for three weeks in July.
When you take into account all the positive signs, from David Carr’s forward thinking, to Green Spring’s willingness to take a chance on squash, to the innovative programming for juniors, middle schools and women, to targeting tennis players, and the support from U.S. SQUASH, the Green Spring initiative is truly inspirational and an effort that one hopes will be duplicated across the country.
