It may be novel but The $35k Intsel Pro Invitational is a professional tournament. Players are invited to play the game.

Laila Sedky, 5.58 rated with a #236 PSA ranking, played #1 seed Lucy Beecroft, 6.18 ranked #20 on the PSA. The handicap: +1(Laila) -3 (Beecroft) with a Slide: After each game, the winner of that game stays the same, the loser gets +1. You can view their match here.

The outdoor court in Maspeth is made of steel and you have to literally drive through a welding yard to get to it. The location can prove a long journey, as it is deep in an industrial part of Queens, New York. If you’re not driving, the bus or train ride will have you walking a bit to complete the journey.

Are you traveling alone or with family members, or with a friend or two? The urban backyard feel of the court-side space is welcoming yet hard and can feel a bit tight for more than 4 or 5 people.

If you’ve arranged your match during the week, you’ll most likely hear the clanging and banging of large scale metallurgy and even some muffled music.

What’s the weather? Is it really hot? Or have you made it deep into the draw and find yourself playing in frigid temps?

Oh, and your match is most likely handicapped, with a slide.

Courtside is casual and intimately spaced.

The Intsel Steel Pro Outdoor Tournament, now in its fourth iteration, invites touring, coaching, teaching, and club pros to mix it up in separate draws of 32 men and 32 women. Intsel players schedule and referee their own matches. Handicaps are used to keep the matches as competitive as possible. They are scrupulously produced by John Beaman, who works to ensure the “as possible” part stays leveled up.

Lucy Beecroft, currently ranked #22 on the PSA Tour

Can this logistical challenge work for you?

It really does feel different to play here. The environment is a constant reminder of different; a wonderful anomaly. A simple yet insigthful reflection by Yassin Amir, a working squash professional participating in the draw, summed it up concisely, “It’s easy to find an excuse.” Interesting coming from him. Yassin comes prepared for the challenges and has taken advantage of the handicap, producing some upset wins. Last year, he took out US National Team member Spencer Lovejoy. In Spencer’s defense, he did take a train from Philly after having done a full training session with his teammates. I believe that scenario has convinced Spencer to plan out the scheduling with a bit more care if he wants to win here. Likewise, I would imagine that after a few years, participants are well aware of the challenges they’ll face competing on this open air court.

At the end of the day, this is a professional tournament. Professionals don’t always win, but there is an expectation that the professionalism part present itself. Players are rewarded just to show up with money, which accumulates the deeper into the draw they find themselves. There are no rankings points that can be used for any other purpose. But, again, it is a different situation. You can either be limited by the hurdles or grow through them. There is reward in overcoming the various challenges in this space.

The Beaman produced handicaps are occasionally questioned. If the numbers aren’t liked, there is always some tell. Granted, unfavorable numbers could present as an uncomfortable start to every game. This may be the biggest challenge this event presents for some players. Now imagine the discomfort when faced with an opponent who clearly plays well-above the applied handicap. And comes ready to play.

In this situation, I can only imagine how the whole vibe of the event may weigh on these accomplished players. Is this a real tournament? … In the sense of being a true professional contest? Or is it just an off-season tournament played on a one of a kind, outdoor court made of steel? A fun court? There are no wrong sentiment for this particular situation. But my guess is this vibe may start to play out when that door closes and they find themselves faced with a player who, not obviously so, turns out to be much better than their handicap.

This is an event that rewards, flexibility, durability and ingenuity. That is the crux for me. When it comes to the sport of squash, I’m a top down, view 10,000 foot view guy. That’s where my interest in squash begins, as casual as they come. I follow the PSA, know more or less who is in the Top 5 at any time and know the names of some greats. I confess to having a naturally measured sight when presented with promising players, who are professionally engaged in their racquet sport. I’m attracted to a particular list of qualities as a fan but more-so, as someone who has been up-close in the grind of touring. My deeper feelings about the sport of squash are framed mainly by my experience with touring athletes and my experience in this space. I’m mostly directing my questions towards those players who are establishing themselves with their competitive motivations professionally.

The 2023 Intsel Pro Invitational Final was actually played this summer, when Timmy Brownell and Shahajahan Khan were finally able to arrange their long-awaited match. Watch it here.

The true hope here is to see the highest possible level of squash played in this venue. That hope is tempered with an understanding of the challenges that come with competing here. It requires hours of engagement to entice enough professional players. We are very grateful to the players who commit to arranging their own matches and showing up to compete. We all know money talks and likewise, we all know it isn’t just about money. But there is money and it seems pretty fair to me, all things considered. knowing what Robert, Jeff and Vera do to facilitate this and hearing them and their friends watch these professionals during matches speaks to me about their desire here. They swim in their deep appreciation of the game. It’s the reason we record and upload matches on YouTube. Their combined passion for squash erected a court to play on and a unique space to watch it being played. It’s in front of enthusiasts like this; those who present a platform for exemplary competition, where I believe professionals turn their stories of progress into prosperity.

Is this an opportunity to game your professional growth?

What has become fun to watch, at least for me, is how the two players work through the self-reffing part. There is a distinctively casual feel as you watch professionals perform under these unique conditions. Players get no help when they look back for a call. They are just watched. Much of what I see dripping throughout the PSA Tour today involves players addressing referees. Here, we’re not refereeing or giving any indication of which way we think a stroke-let dispute should go. Competitors might get a quick “Work it out!” from Robert, nothing more. Any delay beyond a dozen-or-so seconds starts to feel particularly awkward.

What we get to uniquely see in this venue, are these professionals working their squash game. On this court. With this set up. Game for me in this context is a big word. Again, I follow squash from ten thousand feet. l know player names in the Top 5 and a few names of PSA legends. Most of what I know of college squash and the New York squash scene now comes from what I glean through this venue. Add the fact that squash is now an official olympic sport and I find myself fortunate to see players who will find themselves taking their game to Los Angeles in 2028.

My whole take on the game of squash is affected by how I follow it and observe the people who engage their sport in this space. Respectively, the squash-including lifestyles of Jeff, Robert and Vera, also have an affect on their impressions of who they are watching and the games they play here. We all bring our own spectacles. Your game, at least for me, is the impression of the professional squash player that you leave behind with us.

Is the Intsel Pro Invitational simply a novelty tournament or a true opportunity for growth to gain true experience and understanding of individual performance development? These comparatives may seem somewhat hyperbolic. Playing an outdoor tournament with distraction isn’t necessarily one or the other. But it could be. It could also land somewhere in-between. It is a tournament that would test any professional by asking, Can my game grow here, somehow?

Notable 2024 matches for me, in this context…

The Intsel: Your Game & Knowing Why You Show Up

It may be novel but The $35k Intsel Pro Invitational is a professional tournament. Players are invited to play the game.

NYC Parks, Squash And An Open Place