US scouts looking to lure away top juniors

It’s a squash supermarket.

And for young New Zealand boys and girls, there’s lucrative, lifechanging scholarships on offer.

Seven coaches from American colleges are in Tauranga for the junior world squash championships, scouting young talent.

Former world No 1 John White is the Drexel University coach and already has Kiwi sisters Anna and Hayley Hughes in his team. He’s shopping for more, but i s a discerning buyer, saying squash ability alone isn’t enough. Grades have to be high, the person needs to show they can fit into a team. And he’s not interested in anyone who misbehaves on court.

“This is the supermarket,” he says of the two- week long tournament that includes an individual competition for men and women, followed by a women’s team event. “This is where you see how far up the top shelf they will be. They have to be good at squash, but here you see how they interact with the team, how they represent themselves and the attitude they have on the court.”

Big money is at play with a scholarship to Drexel worth US$ 70,000 ($ 94,000) a year covering tuition fees, food, accommodation, books and medical insurance. And even bigger money can come for those who take up coaching, with some wealthy families in the United States happy to build squash courts at home and then pay up to US$ 200,000 a year for private lessons for sons and daughters.

When White joined Drexel six years ago, the university didn’t have a squash programme and courts had to be built. He recruited a team from scratch and is proud to say the men’s and women’s teams are both ranked in the top 10 in an Ivy Leaguedominated competition.

Princeton and Harvard both have scouts in Tauranga, while Cornell’s recently retired coach, Mark Devoy, is at the courts named after his sister, Dame Susan Devoy.

New Zealand’s No 1 junior man Finn Trimble said Dame Susan’s son, Jamie Oakley, played a big part in him joining Dickinson College on a scholarship he'll take up next month.

“Jamie’s at George Washington and he’s a good mate of mine, so he gave me plenty of advice,” Trimble said.

He knows getting into an American college is potentially life- changing.

“I might turn pro after college, I haven’t decided yet, but I wanted to get something behind me,” Trimble said.

It’s a sentiment shared by Anna Hughes, who joined her sister at Drexel in January on a four- year scholarship, studying business.

“Squash has no money, so you can’t fall back on that, and Drexel is just amazing,” she said.