Lucy MooreEditor’s Note: In the original article that ran on Sept. 8, 2006, the individuals in the photographs were misidentified as playing squash. They were playing racquet ball. Updated captions reflect this correction.
Matt Aibel’s reason for trying out for his prep school’s squash team was simple.
“I knew I wasn’t going to make the basketball team,” he said.
Aibel had picked up the game only a year before, but soon fell in love with the sport. He stayed on the squash team for his three years at the Milton Academy near Boston.
Now a sophomore at Washington University, he plays on the courts at the Athletic Center about four times a week.
Aibel is part of a legion of students at Washington University who play squash, a game in which players use a tall, narrow racquet to whack a ball in a court enclosed by walls. The game is a cousin of racquetball.
Just how many students play is unclear. Andrew Kock, the athletic department’s assistant manager of facilities, said his department doesn’t keep track of how many reservations are made on the courts. Even if those numbers were available, they still wouldn’t account for the number of students who play without making a reservation.
It’s also unclear how many Americans play squash. The United States Squash Racquets Association, the governing body for the sport, said it has no way to track the number of recreational players.
But U.S. Squash has evidence to suggest the game is growing. It said court construction has increased by 10 percent in the past two years. During that same time, the number of juniors playing competitively has skyrocketed 300 percent.
Kevin Koipstein, the president of U.S. Squash, said the growth of the sport has been spurred by a change in how Americans play the game.
Up until the mid-1990s, most players in the U.S. used a hard ball that was slow and didn’t have much bounce.
Internationally, players used a ball with more spring and played on courts that were bigger.
About 10 years ago, many health clubs realized that an international squash court is about a foot wider than a standard racquetball court, making them inexpensive to convert.
“All you have to do is just move the back wall forward, add a tin” – a barrier at the bottom of the front wall – “and paint some lines,” said Koipstein.
As more courts are being constructed, squash is slowly evolving from a sport of the rich to a game everyone can enjoy.
And one program, Urban Squash, has tried to bring the game to inner city kids.
After graduating from the Milton Academy in 2004, Aibel took a year off to work for the organization. He taught kids the sport in the Bronx and in Boston.
After listening to his experiences, it is easy to understand why squash is so appealing – not just for the kids, but for people from all walks of life.
“It’s a gentlemen’s game, it’s all about sportsmanship,” Aibel said. “If you block somebody from hitting the ball, you call a let.”
“I’ve seen thugs end up turning into good kids,” he added.
Squash also provides a great workout. In fact, Forbes Magazine named squash its “healthiest sport.”
“30 minutes on the squash court provides an impressive cardio respiratory workout,” the magazine wrote. “Extended rallies and almost constant running builds muscular strength and endurance in the lower body, while lunges, twists and turns increase flexibility in the back and abdomen.”
But you don’t have to be an athlete to succeed.
“It’s the type of game people can grow into,” Aibel said.
Aible would like to see Urban Squash expand to St. Louis.
The University has two squash courts at its gym. Both are designed for hardball squash, but most users play in the international style on them.
Jon Wolff, a junior who started playing 18 months ago, says he prefers to play at a local racquet club where international courts are available.
“If Wash. U. had international courts, I’d be playing at Wash U.,” he said.
Wolff and Aibel both expressed hope that the University would add more courts or convert the existing ones.
Wolff has another hope.
“I really want to get a squash club together,” he said. “I know a coach that’s willing and able. So if anything else is interested, let me know.”