Squash was certainly being played in Canada

before 1882, as it was then that James P

Conover, the Headmaster of St. Paul's School in

Concord, New Hampshire, USA, saw it being

played in Montreal. He thought it would be a

perfect sport for his boys and wrote in the

November 1882 edition of the school magazine

"It is the universal experience, that for

health and for the highest perfection in the

game, the average boy or man should play but

one rubber a day." He went on to describe the

new Squash complex and its 21 feet wide courts

and compare the game favorably with Rackets.

"This building will cover an area of fifty feet

by sixty, and will have a height of about

seventy feet from the ground to the eaves. The

ball used in such courts is about the size of a

walnut, of rubber, and hollow, with a hole in

it to prevent breaking. The so-called

"squash-ball court" recommended itself to the

club for many reasons; such courts are largely

used in English public schools; cost of

construction is much less; fewer racquet bats

are broken and fewer balls destroyed; fewer

heads are cracked and fewer knees and elbows

barked; the danger from being hit by the ball

(quite an item among young players) is

canceled; and for all intents and purposes the

game is the same and produces just as good

players."

Although the International, or "soft," ball was

harder and bouncier than it is now it was not

ideally suited to the cold courts in Concord

where the temperature was often below freezing

point during play. A harder rubber ball was

developed and found to be more suited to

slightly narrower courts, leading to the 18.5

feet court, 19 feet court and other

experimental widths. It was not until 1924 that

the court specifications were codified, at

which time it was decided to standardize on the

18.5 feet width and a 17 inch ' tin' rather

than the 19 inch variety used for the soft

ball. By 1929 official court plans were being

sold by the USSRA and the hardball game was

brought into controlled growth.

The United States Squash Racquets Association

was founded in 1907 and it was in that year

also that the first recognized National

Championship for Squash in any country was held

with John A Miskey of Philadelphia winning the

American title, a feat he repeated in 1908 and

1910. After Miskey the National title was won

six times by Stanley W Pearson, also from

Philadelphia, between 1915 and 1923, with his

son Stanley Junior continuing the tradition by

taking it in 1948. Other great national players

from Philadelphia included Charles M P Brinton

(1941/42/46/47) and G Diehl Mateer Jr

(1954/56/61) with Henri R Salaun from Boston

winning four times between 1995 and 1961.

Victor Niederhoffer (New York) dominated the

1970s with 5 victories, Kenton Jernigan

(Newport, Rhode Island) recorded three titles

in the 1980s and Mexican Hector Barragan won

five consecutive titles from 1990 to 1994.

In the early days most of the Women's National

titles were won by players from Boston,

Philadelphia or Wilmington, interspersed by the

occasional English tourist winner, such as

Susan Noel (1933), Margot Lumb (1935) and the

great Janet Morgan (1949 & 1955). Margaret Howe

of Boston won three times between 1929 and

1934, while two Philadelphians, Anne Page and

Cecile Bowes won four times each between 1936

and 1948. Thereafter one player or another

dominated the scene for several years; Betty

(Howe) Constable from Philadelphia winning four

titles (1956-1959), Margaret Varner

(Wilmington) four (1960-1963), Gretchen

Spruance (Wilmington) five (1973-1978) with the

1980s totally dominated by Alicia McConnell

(Brooklyn) with seven titles (1982-1988) and

Demer Holleran from Hanover NH taking over in

1989 to remain undefeated for seven years until

1995.

With the establishment of a Professional Tour,

to which clubs were encouraged to send their

teaching pro., a list of world famous names

acquired U.S. titles from the mid-fifties -

Hashim Khan (4 wins), Mahmoud Kerim (4),

Mohibullah Khan (5), Sharif Khan (9), Mark

Talbott (5), Jahangir Khan (2) and Jansher Khan

(3).

Squash played with a hard ball on an 18.5 feet

wide court was the only form of the sport

played in the USA until the mid-1980s, but then

growing exposure to the "International" game

resulted in some 21 feet wide courts being

built and the international, "soft," ball being

used on both the wide and narrow courts.

Additionally, the USSRA recognized a 20 feet

width as being acceptable for International

play, this width being derived from the

increasing trend to convert Racquetball courts

to Squash use. In an incredibly short period of

time in the early 1990s Squash in the USA

changed from being overwhelmingly "hardball" to

predominantly "softball," with the only

available monitor of the trend, ball sales,

indicating that by 1996 around 80% of all play

was International. Quite why this change

happened, and why so quickly, is still being

debated but there is little doubt that a new

generation of players is now experiencing the

love affair with international squash which

happened in all other nations and finding it

preferable to the higher racket skills demanded

by the hardball game.

The North American player was also the first to

appreciate the virtues of Doubles Squash, with

the hardball being used on a court measuring 45

feet long by 25 feet wide. The first National

Doubles Championships were held in 1933 and

hardball Doubles continues to thrive even

though the singles version now holds only a

minority of play.

-- by Ted Wallbutton

History / Equipment / Glossary / Rules

Back