Eric C. Fast and Danielle Maur were awarded two of U.S. SQUASH’s National Awards during the U.S. SQUASH Assembly in Chicago, IL. Fast was honored with the U.S. SQUASH President’s Cup, the Association’s most prestigious citizenship award given annually to someone who has made substantial contributions to the game of squash. Maur was given the W. Stewart Brauns, Jr. Award for making substantial administrative contributions to the game of squash.
Fast’s service to the Association has been exemplary. Prior to serving on the Board, Fast contributed extensively to the Junior Development Endowment Fund started in 1996. Fast and a core group of squash parents initiated the role of “Director of Junior Development” which was started in 2000. In the 10-year period since then, participation in junior squash has increased 200%. On the Board, Fast chaired the Junior Development Campaign, U.S. SQUASH’s most successful campaign ever, raising more than $1.3 million for junior development and the endowment fund. Fast and his wife, Patti, were the lead donors of the campaign, and they are also Kingsley-Knox Founders Club members, having donated more than $50,000 to the Association’s Annual Fund within a five year period. In addition to serving on the Board since 2004, Fast served on two Standing Committees—the Finance, Audit and Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Governance Committee.
Maur, currently the National Squash & Racquetball Director at Life Time Fitness, is responsible for turning the focus of Life Time Fitness to the opportunities squash provides, helping them recognize the tremendous asset they have in nearly 150 squash courts nationally. Measured in courts, Life Time Fitness is the largest squash club in the world. Since 2008, when Maur created and took on the National Director role at Life Time, participation in squash has grown more than 80%, and an estimated 15,000 players take part in squash through Life Time under the instruction of more than 20 full and part time professionals. With more than 1.2 million members, Life Time has been able to promote squash broadly, and helped introduce nearly 3,000 people to squash in 2009 alone. Life Time is the “new face of squash” and Maur is certainly the face of Life Time to the squash community. Maur has been a fixture in the squash community for the past 13 years. Along with her husband Andre, she has run major professional and amateur events and led efforts to introduce squash to middle and high school players in Atlanta and across the country.
