|
|
|
|
| |
By Charles P. Baker, III
Ask the average squash player about the state of hardball singles in the US, and he will say that is probably just a few septuagenarians swatting a red pellet in the basement of some long forgotten club.
This is far from the truth. Hardball squash singles took a hit when softball arrived 10 years ago, but it still lives and indeed has a future. It fills a niche left vacant by softball. For veteran players it affords a chance to still play at a high level without the extraordinary conditioning demands of softball, which a busy work schedule will not allow. Hardball greatly expands the pool of possible partners, allowing a 35 year-old to play a 60 year-old, an age difference unthinkable in softball. The veteran player is a huge population group, which still has a keen desire to compete. Hardball doubles fills some of this need but courts are not available in many areas. Softball is too physically demanding for the average working (or retired) stiff.
Enough for theory. How about some statistics? There are new hardball courts being built. This year the Pentagon Athletic Center in Washington, D.C. is building one new hardball court, along with three new softball courts. In 2002-03 there are eight regular-season hardball tournaments: the Cardinal in Arlington, VA; the Sleepy Hollow in New York; the William White in Haverford, PA; the Milt Russ in New York; the Atlantic Coast Championships in Atlantic City; the Eastern States in New York; the Woodruff-Nee in Washington, D.C.; and the Baltimore Invitationals. In February at Merion Cricket Club we will hold the 92nd annual USSRA hardball national singles. Last year we had 76 players at the nationals.
League squash is also an option. Northern New Jersey has a hardball squash league of about 50 players. In Philadelphia Merion’s in-house league of 24 players has been so successful that in January 2003 the Philadelphia Squash Racquets Association started a city-wide league with more than 30 players.
In the future softball will remain the game of the children, the colleges and the teaching pros. Hardball will build up as the game for older players. It can be played on both the North American and International court. We do still have thousands of hardball courts in the US. Let’s use them to play the great game of hardball.
Charlie Baker is the chairman of the USSRA’s hardball committee.
By Gordon Anderson
Yes, hardball on the narrow court is dying. Hardball-sized squash courts are being replaced by the softball court. Junior players who are being raised in softball are increasing while players over 50 who were brought up in hardball are on the decline. Overall the transition has been very positive for US squash and we’re proving that the US can field world class teams.
But please do not forget that the hardball game, played for over a century in the US, Canada and Mexico, was one of the most exciting games to play and watch. It should still be enjoyed today. I am not going to tell you to switch back. But how about hardball in a softball court? In 1981 I wrote an article for Canada Racquets magazine on the future of hardball singles. The points I made back then still hold true for squash today in the US. I want you to think about introducing the hardball on the softball court in the older age categories. Only a few healthy men and women in their elder years are able to continue playing competitive softball game. Introducing a faster ball that dies in the corners will enable them to continue enjoying squash.
Don’t toss out an exciting, venerable tradition of hardball just because we are building beautiful softball facilities. A great example is the Atlantic Coast Championships in Atlantic City. The ACC was founded in 1930. Last year they moved the tournament to the Shore Racquet Club a few miles south in Somers Point and played hardball on softball courts. The players loved it.
Squashers of my generation will remember the Mennen Cup. This professional event in Toronto featured the top players from eight countries. Over the years it graduated from an 18 and 1/2-foot court to a 20-foot court to a 21-foot court, all while playing with the 70+ hardball. The gallery was sold out each night to see the likes of Jahangir Khan, Mike Desaulniers, Geoff Hunt and Sharif Khan. With the extra space and the zipping ball, it was a great format and the play was fantastic.
In the spirit of open mindedness and creative marketing, consider hosting an exhibition in your club with pros playing hardball on the wide court. You’ll see a faster, more exciting match, and it could very well be a beginning of a fun club event for members of all ages, particularly old guys like me.
Gordon Anderson is the president of Anderson Courts and Sports Surfaces
By Mark Talbott
While I have fond memories of the exciting hardball matches that I had with Sharif, Michael Desaulniers, Ned Edwards, Tom Page and Marcos Mendez to name a few, I am supportive of the switch from hardball singles to softball singles in this country.
There are certain elements to the hardball game that I miss: the speed, reaction, and variety of shots. I definitely miss being able to throw in the quick double boast or reverse corner. I feel very fortunate to have played hardball at the top level and experienced the hardball tour at its peak. The excitement of those matches was something special.
For the general public though, the hardball was too difficult to pick up. Softball is a better participant sport. The speed of the ball is much more conducive for rallies. It is a lot easier for the kids and everyone else to pick up. Not to mention that it is good to be in tune with the rest of the world. It was weird playing softball in the world championships after playing hardball all year on the WPSA tour.
Softball was a game that I first experienced in South Africa in 1979. I was 19 years old and I had never seen a wide court in the US. Playing there and then again in Toronto in 1980 with New Zealander Murray Lilley (He was ranked in the top 10 in softball at the time) helped me throughout my hardball career.
As I watched the four hundred juniors from all over the world competing at Yale in the 2002 Junior Olympics, I know that we made the right move switching over to softball. These kids are having tremendous rallies that would not have occurred if they were using a hardball. Still, there is that side of me that would have enjoyed watching Jonathon Power flick in a reverse double boast after he had faked a Philadelphia shot.
Mark Talbott is the Yale women’s coach.
|
| |
|
|
|
Feb 2008
(click for contents)
|
