Royal Glenora stringing together quite a field
Squash, as the old saying goes, is a colonial game.
The secret to success is letting the other guy do all the work.
Dry stabs at the sport’s British imperial roots aside, the type of talent that will be on display at the Royal Glenora Club for the Lexus of Edmonton Canadian Invitational, which runs from Wednesday through Saturday, is no joke.
The likes of Mexico’s Arturo Salazar, ranked No. 44 in the world; Colombia’s Miguel Angel Rodriguez, ranked 21st; Mexico’s Cesar Salazar, ranked 19th; and last but not least, Egypt’s Mohamed Abouelghar, ranked ninth, will be competing for their share of the $32,000 prize purse.
They will be taking on four other rising stars on the professional circuit in a crossover round robin with each match being held on the same court over the four days.
“These guys are just, like, some of the best athletes in the world,” said Royal Glenora head squash professional Pete Goodings, adding the pros will be playing alongside an amateur field participating in the 2018 Alberta Open Friday and Saturday, which is being cohosted by the Edmonton Squash Club. “It’s going to be a bit of a South American party.”
Not familiar with squash, you say? Not a problem.
Invented at a prestigious London boarding school in 1830 ... well, let’s skip today’s lesson and get straight to the butternuts and bolts of squash, shall we?
“They had a squash court on the Titanic, so it’s got a rich history. It’s played in over 198 countries in the world. Unfortunately, it’s not in the Olympics yet, but it’s in the Commonwealth Games,” said Goodings, who hails from England and served in the Royal Air Force before venturing into what’s become a 25-year coaching career. "Because some clubs are closing in some parts of the world, some people think the sport is dying. It’s only really not thriving when people don’t support the sport and get behind it. They think the Olympics is the Holy Grail of sport. Years ago, it used to be, but not so much now.
“When you factor in they’re talking about considering about putting (video) gaming into the Olympics, just as a sportsman, as a physical athlete, that really scares me because of the message it sends out.
“Squash has been voted by Forbes Magazine on many occasions as the healthiest sport in the world. So when you factor that in, I understand that the Olympics needs to be more wide ranging and inclusive, but we’ve been trying for longer than 20 years to get into the Olympics. There’s been a real focus on trying to push hard to get into the Olympics and there’s no real rhyme or reason for it.”
Besides, with the internet, full glass courts at all the big events and multiple camera angles, anyone can get their squash fix without having to wait for television programming to bring it to them.
But the key, Goodings said, is introducing squash to people at an early age.
“In September, I’ve started a school program aimed at grades 4, 5 and 6 field trips to the club,” said Goodings, who runs drills to familiarize youngsters with the equipment and courts. “We’ve seen about 800 to 1,000 kids already.”
On Wednesday and Thursday, those field-trippers have been invited back to see the elite level of the sport in action for free. Otherwise, general admission at the door is $100 for adults, $25 for children and you don’t have to be a Glenora member to attend. The best-offive matches run from 6-10 p.m., Wednesday to Friday, and 2-6 p.m. Saturday. Visit glenorasquash.com to see the livestream.