The running of the 5th annual SquashBusters Derby took place on Saturday May 7th in Boston and featured a stable of the world’s best pros including Amr Shabana, Peter Nicol, John White, Alister Walker, Adrian Grant, Shahid Zaman Khan, Richard Chin and Dan Sharplin. The 2011 Derby celebrated SquashBusters’ 15th anniversary of providing Boston’s less advantaged youth with after-school squash instruction, academic support and community service. The Derby takes place at the SquashBusters facility on the campus of Northeastern University and is a day-long team squash competition ending with a final match and gala cocktail party. When the race was run, the amateur ponies, SquashBusters jockeys, thorough-bred pros and more than 175 festive guests raised a record-setting $460,000+ to support SquashBusters annual operating budget.
With long-standing names and affiliations, teams like True Blue (captained by Margot Kearney and encouraged by perennial Derby participant Ming Tsai), Cross Courter (captained by Simba Muwhati and filled out by club members from Cross Courts in Natick, MA), the University Club-centric Salubrious (captained by Pat Malloy with support from Zurich-based John and Jeannie Blasberg), Nick of Time (captained by Mike McElroy and Scott Kennedy and featuring Union Boat Club studs) and Lucky Strike (Tim Conway’s annual UClub-skewed franchise), all made outstanding runs on the fundraising side. However, when the matches were done and scores tallied it was Wallbanger, captained by Charlie Humber and John Smith and led by John White, edging out Derby Worthy, assembled by non-playing captain Jonathan Hyett and led by Alister Walker, for top spot in the Dearborn Middle School Pool, while Marblehead YMCA-based newcomer Eyk’s Knights, captained by Ian Walker and Ralph James and led by Amr Shabana, dominated the Timilty Middle School Pool.
After the showing on a big screen of the actual Kentucky Derby, the evening’s 15th anniversary program featured special awards for four longstanding partners of SquashBusters. Board Chairman Lenny Bernheimer recognized fellow Board member and Derby fundraising standout Sandy Tierney representing McCall of McCall & Almy. SquashBusters founder Greg Zaff recognized the continued contributions of friend, ex-college foe and celebrity chef Ming Tsai and Peter Roby, Athletic Director of Northeastern University, for the university’s vision and dedication to provide space and services for the Badger-Rosen center on their campus and embrace SquashBusters as part of the school’s commitment to Boston’s underserved population. SquashBusters Executive Director Teresa Soares-Pena made special awards to Valeria Lowe-Barehmi, Principal of the Timilty School for their 15-year partnership.
With the awards out of the way, it was time for the two finalists to take the stage in front of a packed crowd. “Lets” were available for purchase and four handicaps, representing the four seasons, were auctioned: a spring dress, summer snorkeling equipment, fall football gear and a winter ski outfit. Alas, supporters of the two-time defending champion, Wallbanger, managed to acquire all four handicaps and saddle them on Eyk’s Knights players. Wallbanger also had higher draft picks for the SquashBusters students on its team, having raised more funds than Eyk’s Knights. The SquashBusters students took the stage first and, true to their seedings, Wallbanger prevailed with Yuleissy Ramirez defeating Savannah Bell and Diego Gonzalez overcoming Humzah Mahmood. In the D slot, Wallbanger Jay Bride dispatched Eyk’s Knight Edward Honos with ease. The Knights notched their first win in the C slot when Kirt Poss overpowered Phoebe Anderson. With the score at 3-1 in favor of Wallbanger, and the Knights having to play the remaining four matches saddled with handicaps, the improbable three-peat was well within sight. Indeed, Wallbanger prevailed in the next three matches, with Nabil Uddin defeating Ian Walker and Charlie Humber defeating Bijoo George in the two B slots, and Greg Crane defeating Doug Lifford in the A spot. With the victory secured, the highlight of the evening nevertheless was in Eyk’s Knights’ favor, with Jockey Amr Shabana defeating John White in a thrilling tie-breaker, despite being saddled with a handicap!
The Derby was Co-Chaired by Amrit Kanwal, who stood down from his annual leadership of powerhouse Wallbanger to focus on the very successful fundraising side of the 2011 event, and all-around squash guy John Nimick who quipped during the evening’s remarks, “Any time Amrit asks you to co-chair something, just say yes. It’s the easiest job you’ll ever have. Amrit’s efforts this year have taken the Derby to a whole new level.”
