APRIL SSRA UPDATE
FINAL FOUR - CRUNCH TIME
The atmosphere on and off the court as we returned to play this season has been refreshing, competitive and fun, not to mention sometimes intense during those close matches! We are now headed to the Final Four of Seattle Squash across all three divisions, with league play ending on April 11. Any makeup matches will be scheduled for April 18, or can be arranged by the team captains any time before then. Captains, please review and edit your match scores to ensure the bonus points are accurate (2 bonus points to the winning team; 1 bonus point for a full roster).
The semi-finals will be on April 25, with the finals will be May 2 at the SACDT, where there will be refreshments and all league players and spectators are invited to watch.
The end of season and awards party will be Saturday May 13 – stay tuned for the location and details, as well as the Seattle City Championships which we hope to bring back after 6 years. And for those of you who have worn out your now 3-year-old league t-shirts, hold on to your Febreze, because we will be distributing new league t-shirts in the next few weeks, using a new manufacturer and higher quality performance fabric from Nike.
We hope you all have enjoyed the season thus far and are looking forward to the playoffs and future Seattle Squash events. We would not be playing of course, without the dedication and effort of our volunteer board and league administrators, who schedule and manage all the matches behind the scenes. If you haven’t noticed, we now have a new Seattle Squash website and will soon be able to securely accept direct payments for tournaments, league and sponsors. We also want to thank the pros and managers at our local squash clubs who provide access for league on Tuesday nights and put up with a few extra dirty towels! They all deserve a round of applause – Columbia Athletic Club, Pro Club, Seattle Club Downtown, Seattle Club Northgate and the Washington Athletic Club. With 19 teams this season, we maxed out our court capacity at these four clubs and hope to resume match play at the Harbor Square Club, University of Washington and Bellevue Club next season.
Before we go, it wouldn’t be squash league without a controversy, confusion over the rules, or code of conduct violation raising its head on occasion. You may have even seen a discussion about the Code of Conduct in the recent US Squash email newsletter. We all want to have and enjoy a competitive match, one that ends with a win or loss that you can appreciate or accept. It should not always be up the referee, typically just another player like you, to have to make all the calls during a match. We each need to do our part, including the obvious, like taking a direct line to play your shot, fully clearing to allow your opponent to play and calling your own balls down, out or not up. Everyone should also take the online referee exam (ussquash.org) and be familiar with the US Squash Code of Conduct which comes down to the basics (no arguing or unsportsmanlike conduct). For even more training, as recently announced, we will be holding two upcoming referee clinics:
• Thursday 3/30/23 7:00 PM @ SAC-DT with Tatu
• Monday 4/3/23 6:30 PM @ SAC-NG with Bruce
Good luck to all teams for the end of season and playoffs. See you at the Finals!
Allan Bakalian, President
Seattle Squash
Seattle Squash League is back
The sound of squash balls reverberated through the Columbia Athletic Club Tuesday night, amidst rounds of cheers and applause as 24 players from 6 teams dueled against each other on an otherwise quiet evening in Kirkland. With 3 simultaneous matches on all 3 courts, it was nonstop action between teams from the host CAC, SACDT and Pro Cub competing in divisions 2 and 3.
After a nearly three-year hiatus, opening night of Seattle Squash league 2022-23 was a success with over almost 20 matches across divisions 2 and 3 taking place November 15 at the CAC, SACDT and SACNG. Next week teams from division one will start play at SACDT, and we will have access to two more courts at the WAC! The exuberance Tuesday night among players and even a few fans has been a long time coming, and it is great to see happy faces competing again for a league championship. Some notable comments overheard at the CAC and post-match beers at a local pub – “I’m so wound up after a league match, I can never fall asleep,” “it’s ok to crack a beer in here, right?!” “I feel like I used to after a big wrestling match – exhausted and anxious for my teammates,” and the inevitable “I should have practiced more man!” True, we all should have practiced more and there are no doubt more than a few muscles aching this first week - but what else would you rather do on Tuesday night in Seattle!
Pro Club Returns to League
Beginning January 2023, the Pro Club began hosting league matches again on Tuesday evenings. The first match in January featured “Clubless in Seattle” v “Juanita Bay Nix”, long time D3 rivals captained by Brandi Conforth and Allan Bakalian.
Clubless (no more!) is one of three Pro Club teams happy to be hosting home matches again at the Pro Club – special thanks to Shabana Khan and Debbie Bauer of the Pro Club for making this happen.
Washington State Open
Seattle Squash was proud to sponsor the Washington State Open in October 2022 in conjunction with the host Seattle Athletic Club. Although a little rusty, the competition was fierce in all divisions, including this close semi final in the Men’s Open Division between Chris Jung and Gustavo Gutierrez Gomez.
