From US Squash Great Squash

By Peter Lasusa, Board Chair

Everyone who loves the game of squash has, in all likelihood, been drawn more deeply into the game by experiencing very early on some “great squash” either as a player, or as a spectator. Great squash is what got us all here. We all know it when we see it. Great squash matches invariably feature very intense close competitive action combined with minimal play stoppages and very few contentious disputes.

To my mind experiencing great squash leads to an obvious sense of joy and fun all the way around for the players, the fans, and the officials. All present know they have been a part of something special. There is a consensus openly expressed: “That was great squash!”

Are elite players required for there to be great squash? While elite players can achieve almost magical levels of movement and excitement that can make for elite entertainment, I do not believe elite players are required for there to be “great squash.” Great squash exists at all levels of play. The common elements are (i) players who are evenly matched, (ii) a good faith attitude by the competitors towards the fundamental rules of the game, and (iii) attentive effective officiating.

Importance of a Positive Player Attitude from Elite to Amateur

As I thought about this topic, I vividly re-called former World No. 1 Peter Nicol playing in one of his many “great” matches during his career at the Tournament of Champions at Grand Central, asking for a “LET”, which was denied, and then exclaiming to the referee upon hearing the decision “…but I never ask for lets!” In the context of this column, I took an informal survey of Peter’s claim, and yes, it was confirmed. Peter (almost) never asked for a ‘let’.

Elite players and high level referees have an obligation to lead by example and most of them do. The grass roots also have an important bottom-up role to play, in particular by doing what we can to develop juniors who deeply respect the spirit GREAT SQUASH of the rules of our game and are trained to become diligent, competent referees.

Role of Officiating

At the amateur level, when it is time to officiate one has an obligation to take it seriously. Players must put their own participation aside before they sit down to officiate. Whether you have advanced to the next round, played your last match, or are participating in a dual team match, you are in the referee’s seat for “the game” and not for you or your team. If you do your job effectively, the odds of a “great match” go way up.

At the junior levels in particular, asking for a ‘LET’ should be clearly understood to be a risky proposition. In my observations, there is an ingrained feeling on the part of many juniors when they are officiating that awarding a ‘LET’ is fairer, but this is too often not the case. Given the nature of the rules regarding interference, in theory the odds of a decision of “NO LET” or “STROKE” on any given ‘LET’ request are much higher. The U.S. SQUASH website includes a link to the very important “Referee’s Line of Thinking for Rule 12 Flowchart.” I recommend this to all readers for regular periodic review. The main take away from the chart is that ‘yes lets’ should be rare, not routine!

There is a consensus within the leadership of U.S. SQUASH that the traditional practice of competitors officiating their own matches within many of the competitions we run is very positive for the game. In particular, this experience is a valuable one for juniors and has strong carry over to other aspects of life. This being said, the Association is also mindful that in many contexts, higher level officiating support is often needed and we continue to make this available in a number of contexts.

More “great squash” means more happy players and spectators having fun more of the time. More fun means more entertainment. I am confident a higher entertainment quotient will lead to more growth. So whenever you have the opportunity, do whatever you can to further “great squash” and discourage anything less.