By Kevin Klipstein
Reading Squash Magazine, one could easily be left with the impression that U.S. SQUASH’s efforts focus primarily on our National Teams, National Championships and junior squash development. While these are important initiatives for the organization, we offer extensive support for many other programs and services as well, including our PLAY SQUASH program, tournament and league sanctioning, official rankings and a host of online services including “Find a Match” and other tools for players and organizers. Many of these services are focused on adult squash, and since adults make up 75% of our membership, we are continually looking for ways to enhance the adult squash player experience. This season we have several exciting new developments.
SKILL LEVEL CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Skill Level Championship Series will evolve according to the plans outlined in our 2006 Championships Task Force Report. Starting this season, players will need to qualify for the Skill Level Nationals via one of eight Regional Qualifiers. The U.S. SQUASH Skill Level Championships will truly be the “Championship of the Members,” and the new structure will enhance the prestige of the event. Having Regional Qualifiers actually increases the number of players participating in the Championships overall and makes the event more accessible to players of every region.
MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIPS
At the U.S. Masters Championships, for players 35 and older, we will encourage participation by offering two divisions per age group. Previously, only the Open division was available to win, attracting the absolute best to the draws, and in some cases current and former professionals. This has discouraged other good age group players from competing in what is known to be a fun season-ending tournament. The Masters allows players of the same age to compete and reconnect socially, often after many years, and should be more accessible. This year, we will offer an “A” division for each age group to encourage more players to compete, with all players starting in the same draw, but splitting into two separate divisions, Open and A, after the first round.
NATIONAL LEAGUES
U.S. SQUASH will host a new National Championship for the 2010-2011 season. The championship, titled the U.S. SQUASH National League Finals (NLF) will pit the best league teams in the country against each other to compete for the title of National Champions. Winners of sanctioned league divisions will be invited to participate in this inaugural event hosted at Harvard University in May. The recent announcement has already sparked extensive interest in starting new, or restarting, adult leagues in several markets.
PLAY SQUASH
PLAY SQUASH offers players an engaging way to enjoy squash at any skill level. It provides players the opportunity to compete on their schedule, and at a pace that suits them. PLAY SQUASH allows players to connect easily online using “Find a Match” simply by indicating your skill level, availability and where to play. The system finds players who match your criteria and facilitates direct communication via email.
Teaching pros or volunteer coordinators at U.S. SQUASH member clubs can use the online PLAY SQUASH software to organize Challenge Ladders and Box Leagues. The PLAY SQUASH software makes it easy for pros and coordinators to communicate with all the participants and coordinate activities using a centralized database of players from the club. Club rankings are also updated weekly online based on all matches that are played. To become a PLAY SQUASH volunteer coordinator for your club, email playsquash@ussquash.com.
ADULT RANKINGS
All of these programs help drive more accurate rankings by providing additional data on which to base them. We are continuing to pursue ways to improve the accuracy of adult rankings. These will be rolled out during the season, and may include introducing an updated ratings algorithm, and more basic steps such as allowing players who feel they are over or underrated to “reset” their rating once. Accurate rankings are critical to seedings and fair outcomes, and they will continue to be a focus of ours.
Finally, in an effort to keep adult players in the game longer (and introduce players to the game at a younger age), we will push the discussion regarding which ball to use officially for which age divisions. Currently, all junior and adult age divisions use the Dunlop PRO double yellow dot ball, however we anticipate revisiting this decision from the late 1990’s and will consider making the single dot ball official for some of the younger and older age divisions. We will also consider official scoring as an issue for the same age divisions. We anticipate that by introducing some of these new programs and improvements, we will drive more activity and strengthen adult squash, allowing us to address more aspirational programs such as television coverage and increasing the accessibility of the sport in the future.
