From the beginning

From June 2020 until today, the steel court in Maspeth has been a magnet for professionals, squash tourists, and workers at Maspeth Welding in Queens. Hundreds of teaching, coaching, and touring pros, as well as thousands of travelling squash fanatics, have made appointments to come out and play.

Back in 2021, we asked our business friend at Intsel Steel to help support a new tournament experience on the steel court, and the Intsel Steel Outdoor Squash Pro Invitational was born. $5000 was the prize; winner takes all. Sixty-four teaching, coaching, and touring pros mixed it up with top women and men amateurs in one draw. All matches were self-scheduled according to deadlines, handicapped, and self-refereed until the finals. Men and women were in one draw. The prize was presented in cash at the finals. The winner, Nathan Lake (over Lyell Fuller), held up the heavy, arty tournament permanent trophy for the first time.

In 2022, the prize money increased to $20,000 for two separate draws - one for men and one for women - still a pro-am event. $5K to the winner of each draw. Timmy Brownell (over Jaymie Haycocks) and Ineta Mackevica (over Marina Stefanoni) won the cash. Matches were self-scheduled, with a bit of slippage into Fall for this summer tournament.

In 2023, the prize money doubled to $30K, again two draws, self-scheduled, $5K to the winners, with a bit more slippage of the schedule into the next year. Shajahan Khan defeated Timmy Brownell, and Alina Bushma defeated Marina Stefanoni (15-13 in the fifth) in their finals.

The self-scheduling was slow progressing for the 2024 Intsel Steel IV $35K, and finally completed in the spring and summer of 2025. Over the years, the professional tour scheduling, coaching, summer camps, and holiday breaks started to wreak havoc on self-scheduling. Alina Bushma defeated Laila Sedky, and Nathan Lake picked up his second Intsel Steel win and $5K cash prize.

Growing up, a change in format for Intsel 5

To celebrate 5 years of outdoor squash and the growth of the Intsel Steel Pro Invitational from $5K in 2021 to $40K in 2025, some changes were needed -

We changed the format from a summer of self-scheduling matches with increasing slippage to two rounds of play - qualifiers and main draws - for men and women. The qualifiers would be $3K, and the main draws would be $17K, with the winner getting $6K in cash, runner-up $3K.

Intsel Steel 5 was designed to honor and celebrate the players who've participated in our Intsel tournaments and other events over the past five years. And, to build the summer of squash festival, 3 more events were added to the calendar: The 1st Big Ball Squash57 $6K Challenge, The Maspeth Welding PSA $6K Women's Steel Court Championship, and the MaspethWelding PSA $6K Men's Steel Court Championship. 

With the Big Ball, Women's PSA, Intsel Qualifiers, Men's PSA, and the Intsel Main Draws, Maspeth Squash hosted over 90 professional matches on the steel court this summer from June through August. Looking back over the past five years, Maspeth Squash has hosted 21 professional tournaments and events, providing $200K in new prize mony and experiences for hundreds of professionals who've come out to play.

What we are learning about outdoor squash

We've seen many things at Maspeth over the past five years of outdoor squash, including a raccoon family living under the court. These are some things we've seen:

• pros show up from all over the world, on time

• pros breathe life into our sport culture, know what's best, and play best when they referee themselves.

• women pros are the best culture, social, caring, collaborative

• men pros argue too much

• pros need to network more professionally; there should be a teaching association

• pros are super personalities, super accessible

• pros need more help with billetting, need much higher pay for their art, what they do

This is a very unique sport, with high addiction/indulgence factors, a special inclusive/exclusive sport, with enormous growth potential, outside too, with steel walls.

Five Years of Intsel Steel Outdoor Squash

2021 – Intsel Steel I
($5K, Winner-Takes-All)

  • 64 pros + amateurs in one draw

  • Self-scheduled, handicapped, self-refereed

  • Champion: Nathan Lake over Lyell Fuller

2022 – Intsel Steel II
($20K, Two Draws)

  • Separate men’s & women’s pro-am events

  • Champion: Timmy Brownell over Jaymie Haycocks

  • Champion: Ineta Mackevica over Marina Stefanoni

2023 – Intsel Steel III
($30K, Two Draws)

  • Purse grows to $30K, extended into 2024

  • Champion: Shajahan Khan over Brownell

  • Champion: Alina Bushma over Stefanoni (15–13 in the 5th)

2024–25 – Intsel Steel IV
($35K, Two Draws)

  • Schedule stretched into 2025

  • Champion: Bushma over Laila Sedky

  • Champion: Lake wins second Intsel title

2025 – Intsel Steel V
($40K, Festival Format)

  • New qualifiers + main draw system

  • Part of Maspeth Summer Festival with 90+ matches

  • Men’s Champion: Brownell over Lake

  • Women’s Final: Fouts vs. Stefanoni, suspended in rain delay