Real Life Racquet Xing.
If you’re reading this, you probably know about the RacquetX conference in Miami. You may also know Squash was beautifully represented this year, with a glass court.
“RacquetX made one thing crystal clear: racket sports are booming. It’s a great time to be involved. But if squash is going to thrive, not just survive, we’ve got some lessons to take on board – and fast.” This is the very first sentence from a blog post on SquashLevels.com - What Can Squash Learn From Racquet X? SquashLevels, if I had to elevator pitch it, is a data driven squash improvement app that utilizes interest in performance gains to track personal match statistics and link groups together to facilitate positive gains toward competitively inspired goals. Basically a statical tracking tool. But I’d quickly add, “But what do I know?”
Also another quote from that same article, “Interestingly, USA Racquetball was at RacquetX – though there’s no doubt it’s a sport in decline. This is a moment for Squash 57 to step forward with purpose. Rather than sitting in the shadows, it should be part of the conversation. There’s real opportunity for both versions of the game to work more closely, to support each other and create a stronger entry pathway into squash more broadly.”
Was Squash 57 exhibited on the big glass court at RacquetX? I don’t know. However, I do know that this version of squash is far from a new thing. A recent Squash Player Magazine article demonstrates this. Squash 57 has been a part of the introduction and growth talk for squash for well over a decade. During this time, where were all those new Padel and pickleball enthusiasts residing before these trending, flashy growth models?
What kind of growth is most important to attend to? Where do you find it?
On June 14th, we’re hosting the Maspeth Steel Big Ball Squash 57 6K Invitational. Our tournaments to date have literally had players from all over the globe. For our Big Ball event, we have invited racquetball, paddleball and handball professionals who have never played Squash 57. Everyone in the group is experienced at participating at a high-level in their respective racquet and paddle sports events, many with international experience. Most of the competitors are from the New York City Tri-state area, and all with only one or two degrees of separation between them. They are all very familiar with how these sports play out in the parks and venues in NYC. I will admit, our outreach for this event was hyperlocal.
Handball, paddleball and racquetball have rich and intertwining histories. Likewise, so do these three sports as they relate to how they exist together and separately within New York City. And today, with all this talk of people rushing to the varying bubbles of pickleball and Padel, these three sports have interestingly found was to pull together in a sort-of resurgence of unity. For almost four decades in my memory, handball, paddleball and racquetball, though coexisting in the same spaces, rarely incorporated their energies as they do in the parks today. Sure, there was knowledge, and local camaraderie, but that’s something different. Despite the propaganda, not everyone will transition to pickleball, and even less will transition to Padel. (Padel is dealing with it’s own trickle-down growth problems.) Today, early in the mornings, you’ll find former, seasoned handball players enthusiastically engaged in practicing paddleball, getting better and growing in numbers. Many more events are being produced for identified skill levels as well as a rise in enthusiasm to enrich kids with the game. Each event filled with swaths of the New York One Wall community showing up with a helping hand and vocal fireworks.
Nothing demonstrates this than this event that just took place this weekend. One of the participants in our Big Ball event hosted a Women’s B Paddleball tournament in the Bronx. Promoted as “Women’s Rising Stars B Tournament”, the event, much like most of the smaller events frequently put together for the weekends, was inspired by the new players bringing new energy into the space. Below is the live feed. These weekends are always supplied with a couple-three live feeds from the faithful. For this event, one was produced by Ten’s Finest, a live feed YouTuber exclusively dedicated to the handball scene here in NYC. Their feeds, complete with instantly scoreboard and precisely edited instant-replay through a smartphone, have a worldwide following. Much like many of the the participants in our Squash 57 invitational, they have experience doing their thing internationally.
I’m confident we’ll have a ton of fun getting new impressions of the game and if we are lucky, we’ll have some thoughts on how this version relates to Squash in this context. I‘m confident we will have extremely competitive matches featuring professional athletes who frequent Juniper Valley Park, a paddleball and handball landmark, less than ten minutes from the steel court. It makes me even more curious about how this event hits. I have a feeling people are playing more racquet and paddle sports. It may be sparked by the trends, but not everyone runs with trends. Resurgence is not just somewhere, it’s everywhere.
