New Mexico Squash Racquets Association 
[Prev|Home] Webified 01/27/00 by Dick Silbar (silbar@whistlesoft.com)
New Mexico Squash Racquets Association As part of a truth in communications survey please let me (Walter Burke) know if you:
1) Picked up this newsletter by email and downloaded
the MS Word version
2) Read this from the body text of your
email
3) Only read paper mail
4) Don't read any mail
5) Never intend to read the cutting edge
squash journalism found only in the informative and edgy NMSRA "Tell-Tale"
NMSRA Goes National
The NMSRA is on a select list of editorial contributors to the only US published Squash magazine and official USSRA publication "Squash Magazine". You may have noticed NM news in the Regional Department. Just trying to let the rest of the world know that the squash grows in the desert alongside the cactus blooms.
People and Happenings
Recognition goes out to squashers who have become new parents………John MacCuish and wife Nora are the proud parents of Megan (can't remember the birth date). We first got a glimpse of Megan at the "Not the Vegetable" held last October. Also attending her first tournament was Chloe (10-3-00), daughter of Martin and Lynn Casdagli. Randy and Julie Kahn have yet to bring Ian (5-1-01) to a tourney.
Family seems the best way to get a squasher going.
There are some great players who can attribute their first trip to the courts to their fathers and mothers. Here in New Mexico…..Patriarch of the Matthews clan Dave, son Tom, Tom's wife Pam and grandson Jake, Ron Paynter and son Charlie, Tom Spier and son Chris, Dave Zlotnick and son Jeff, Dave Riley and daughter Hunter, Ed Anlian and grand daughter Kendal, George Abrams and son Tom, Mike Duty and son Dustin, Chris Bauman and daughter Alice, Sean Gallagher and twin terror sons Ryan and Quinn. Bud Burke was coached at Wesleyan in the 40's by the father of Walter Burke's coach at Bowdoin in the 70's and Walter has taught his own son Jeremy. Junior Chris Smith's Dad also played at Wesleyan. I've probably left people out who can trace a squash heritage, but don’t do the same. It’s a great game, introduce some one to Squash.
At the recent Kiva Classics I met Ed Hobler who is 84. Ed picked up the game at 41 and has been the National Champion in each of his age groups from 65 on. He lost to Mark Bolsterli who just entered the 70+ age group. Also playing was Frank Wolak who has been a constant supporter of NM Squash. This is a life long game, get someone interested. (ed. note, the redundancy of this comment is permitted because of the urgent need to get others interested in Squash which is a great game without a large following. Get someone interested so we can have bigger tournaments in New Mexico!)
Has everyone met Ayman Karim? When I first heard from Ayman last summer. He introduced himself as an UNM graduate student from Egypt and "Where are the tournaments?" I figured he must be serious. When we later met he said he had not had a good game since he moved here. Louis Vogel and Randy Kahn had gotten a couple of points. My fate was the same, so was Martin Casdagli's. In an exhibition match with Guy Cowen, Guy didn't do much better. (To Guy's credit it must be mentioned that Guy was just 4 weeks out of knee surgery, had flown in from Houston, and given 4 hours of lessons that day.) Ayman played on the Egyptian National Junior Team at the #4 spot and gave up a career in professional squash to become a Chemical Engineer.
Squash in Egypt is very popular. Ahmed Barada's visage was on a postage stamp. The President of Egypt has a court in his basement. The "Al Ahram" boasts the most beautiful tournament location on the PSA tour. The portable PSA court is set up outside, and in front of the Pyramids of Giza. Games are played at night with the pyramids lit in the background and attended by thousands.
Ayman is often busy with school but is available to give lessons at Midtown and can be persuaded to come to Santa Fe. Call him at 505-255-2834.
Reports from the field:
Dick Silbar went to the Nationals in Seattle, March '01. Here is his (belated) report…
Someone squealed to Walter the Pres that I had participated in the National Doubles held in Portland in March. I think it was Mark (the Rat) Bolsterli. So Walter asked me (instead of Mark, who also participated) to write up a report on this tournament for the Tell Tale.
Well, since my partner and I were knocked out in the first round, and I didn't stick around much after we lost our one consolation match, I don't really know enough about what went on in the tournament itself to give you much of a report. Let me refer you to the forthcoming Squash Magazine article about it, if you are truly interested in the squash doubles scene. Instead, I'll fill in with a bit of a travelogue about my recent squash adventures on the road.
It turned out that, this year, the National Singles was held in Seattle the weekend of March 15-18. What was nice about that is that it coincided with a meeting of the American Physical Society, also in Seattle the week of March 12-16. And, I had a paper I could present at that meeting, so part of the trip could be considered as business. And a friend – Mike Hawrylycz, who some of you will recall was once Secretary of the NMSRA – with whom Maggie and I could camp out, (Mike is now married to a beautiful lady named Amy.) So it became obvious that I simply had to participate in the National Singles.
Ah, but it also turned out that the National Doubles was also being held in Portland the next weekend, March 22-25. So I got in contact with my California doubles partner, Hank Palmer, who is even more of a squash gullible than I am (I think). I proposed to make it a trip where we'd play in both tournaments, in the 60's brackets. Hank agreed, of course.
It was then I discovered – to my amazement – that there are NO squash doubles courts in Seattle! Hank and I had not seen the inside of a doubles court for several weeks. My original thought was that we would find one there in Seattle and get in a few practice matches before we drove down to Portland. Ah, but there is a way out of this quandary! I remembered all the Vancouver doubles players who regularly come down to the Kiva Club Classic in December. A brief search on the Web for e-mail addresses and a query about the possibility of coming up to Vancouver after Seattle followed. The return e-mails contained a very cordial invitation to come up for a few days, and they would gladly teach us a few things about the doubles game.
So, it became a two-week trip with an up-and-down drive from Seattle to Vancouver to Portland and back to Seattle. It rained most of the time we were there, of course. And I had a bad virus cold for all of this time. But it was a great trip, lots of fun, and with cordial companions!
Now for the Singles Report part of this report. I'm pretty sure I was the only New Mexican entered in the National Singles. I won my first match against an overweight local, and then lost 0-3 to the eventual champ (Paul Marley from Vancouver). At this point I assumed I was out of the tourney, but Marley kindly pointed out that, since he had a bye, the loser of our match fell into the consolations. I easily won the next round in the consolations against another local (underweight). That put me into the quarterfinals (of the consies), and who was the next opponent but my doubles partner, Hank Palmer! With Gulmast Khan as referee, I was up 2-0 in games, but then Hank came roaring back. I won that match by one point in the fifth game. OK, into the semi-finals (still consies!) against Lewis Holmes of Massachusetts. I lost 9-6 in the fifth game, and I suspect that Lewis had no trouble at all in dispatching the winner of the other semis. But, I wasn't there, because Hank and Maggie and I were on the road, in the rain, to Vancouver.
Our hosts in North Vancouver were Martin Kaffka and Mike Jackson. (That's the Vancouver Mike Jackson, not my erstwhile doubles partner, Mike Jackson from Chamita/Espanola.) They arranged a series of about five or six matches for us to play in the period of two-and-a-half days. I should remark that not all the people we played were men. Some of the women players there are pretty sharp, especially Sue Kaffka! I should also mention that the Hollyburn Country Club not only has one doubles and four singles courts, but three curling rinks and a hockey rink, but no golf course! In all, a most gracious set of hosts, topped off by a banquet at a Chinese restaurant.
We drove down to Portland on Wednesday, and got in one further practice match before the doubles tournament. The main events were held at the Multnomah Club. This time there were two other New Mexicans in the draw – Mark Bolsterli and Charlie Perkins. None of us did all that well, but in Mark and Charlie's case it was because Charlie was checked into a hospital to undergo a battery of tests to see why he had suddenly lost his hearing. I understand that it wasn't clear just what the problem was, but Charlie has since gotten most of his hearing back.
On to the Doubles Report, particularized to Hank and me, Our first match was against two gentlemen from Minnesota. We won the second and third games, lost the fourth BIG TIME, and then also lost the fifth, not so big time. (I find it amazing how well I can completely blow a fourth game.) The consolation match the next day was at Reed College, and after we arrived we learned that our opponents defaulted. That put us into the 60's consolation final. As a "consolation" for not having a match that day, we were able to pick up a bunch of games with a pair of hotshot twenty-somethings. That only worked because we played old fogie and kid on each side. The next day, before our match, I had a chance to watch some great women's doubles, Demer Holleran and Alicia McConnell against Berkeley Belknap and Phoebe Trubowitz. Our finals match, at Portland State University, was against a very experienced team from Rochester (Rennie Bowers and Alan Ziegler). We lost 3-1.
This was the 5th year for the Not The Vegetable, played at the courts known for the infamous "El Gancho Nick (corner)"
There was a full draw in the 5.5's. The eight players were split into 2 round robins of 4 each, winner of each group played for first place. Grant Robinson and Martin Casdagli battled for the title in 5 games. After the first 2 games it looked as if Martin's style and touch would take the day. However, Grant's persistent retrievals and length proved too much for Martin who had played 5 tough games earlier in the day with Andy Joseph. The 3.5's were a three man round robin with the deciding game between John MacCuish and Dick Silbar a revival of a long standing rivalry. John won in 5. The 2.5's were a 3 man round robin as well, contested by an all junior field and won by Jeremy Burke.
To: Kiva Members
Re: The Kiva Classic Squash Tournament - 2001
This year's tournament was the eleventh in the series of the Kiva Classic formatted
for Veteran (over 40) Age Groups. This year we had 90 entries from 18 states
playing in 12 divisions (7 Doubles and 5 Singles divisions). Our tournament
has gained national recognition for the high caliber of the players. This year
we had 31 players who have had national ranking by the USSRA.
Kiva members had a good year. We had winners in three divisions and runner-ups
in four divisions.
Most outstanding was the 40+ Doubles team of Tom Matthews and Chris Spier. They
defeated the seconded seeded team of Charlie Khan and Clark Amos (St. Louis)
by 3 - 0 in the semifinals and then took out the top seed - Alan Dille and Tom
Castle (Denver) by 3-0. The only game they lost was in the quarterfinal match
(3-1) against the pick up team of Kiva's Greg Schackel and Addison Lanier (Cincinnati).
Also impressive was the 65+ Doubles team of Jim Alley and David Matthews. They
beat (3-1) the nationally ranked second seed team of Shaw and Spelke (Boston)
in the quarterfinals. Then defeated by 3-0 the team of K. Barker (Portland)
and Smiley (Boulder) in the semifinals. In the finals they knocked out the #1
seed Helfeld and Glover (San Francisco) by 3-2.
Our 70+ Singles had a strong eight man draw that included the Kiva's (out of
town member) Ross Brown who is the USSRA ranked #1 for 2001. But Mark Bolsterli
prevailed to win it all this year. He beat Ed Hobler (Chicago) in the quarters,
then Tom O'Rourke (Denver) in the semis (3-0) and had a 3-0 win over Paul Fisher
(Lafayette, CA) in the finals
Maybe the most surprising was the two wins by John Wentworth and Jim Mayer in
the 55+ Doubles to get to the finals. They defeated a very solid Colorado team
of Biggs & Castleman in the quarters. The big upset was in the semis against
the number two USSRA ranked team of Taylor Quick (Denver) and Dick Rice (Rochester
NY) - by 3-0! They lost in the finals to Driscoll & Tramutt (Denver) who
seem to have taken home trophies for the last ten years. Our other 55+ team
of David Dodge & CT Herman also made to the semi's- defeating the Denver
team of Cleary and Thurmond.
Not surprising was the play by Gerry Peters & Ifan Evans in the 50+Dubs.
They beat the Colorado team of Luftig & Castleman in the quarters (3-0)
then beat the second seed San Francisco team of Schmidt & Gibbons (3-0)
in the semis. Then lost to the perennial winners, the Denver team of Bush &
McWilliams in the finals.
Ed Lockhart and Mark Bolsterli had a good run at the 70+ Dubs. In the quarters
they beat O'Rourke (Denver) and Berry (New Vernon, NJ). In the semis they knocked
out the team of Boyko (Boston) and Pilsworth (Montreal). Don Boyko - who has
won the Kiva tournament several times - is currently ranked #1 in 70+ Doubles.
But our guys lost to the San Francisco team of Helfeld and Fisher in the finals.
The Iron Man award goes to Tom Matthews who played six tough matches - three
of them to get to the finals of the 40+ Singles. We had four Kiva members in
the 40+ Singles - all played well.
All told, we had 22 Kiva members playing this year. Fourteen of them got to
the semis or the finals. Our guys can play.
Special thanks to the Nambe Mills guys for sponsoring (for the umpteenth time)
the handsome awards. And to Bud Kelly for hosting our Thursday night reception.
This years' Saturday night party - at the Hahn Ross Gallery on Canyon Road -
was enjoyed by all. These, and the Friday night reception at the club, were
nicely catered by Walter Burke's folks.
And extra special thanks to John Amos - tournament chairman - and his many volunteers.
Holding a tournament like the Kiva Classic takes a lot of time and effort -
before, during, and after. It's worth it all - it was another very good tournament.
VIDEOS FOR FREE LOAN TO MEMBERS
As a benefit of NMSRA membership we are building a library of training and competition video tapes to loan to members at no cost, or postage only. Squash tapes are expensive, costing from $30 for individual tapes up to $150 for sets. The NMSRA already has a set of instructional tapes, "Power Squash", featuring World Champion Jonathon Power, is coach Mike Way and training partner Graham Ryding. New this fall is a set of tournament tapes from the '00 Tournament of Champions. This 4 tape set features Peter Nichol and two handed Peter Marshal, Nichol and Martin Heath, Anthony Hill and Jon Power and the Heath / Power final. Call Walter at 450-5675 to set up a time to borrow any of these tapes.
MEMBERSHIP
Membership is holding steady at 35-38 members. This is up from a low of 20 and down from the early '90's high of 80. We collect $35 for dues and pass along $25 of that to the USSRA. The $10 that stays in NM is resting in our checking account with a balance of about $1400. We have very few expenses since there is little activity to support. If you have any suggestions as to how to use this money to support squash in NM get in touch with Walter.
LEAGUES?
Tournaments have had low turn (with the exception of the Kiva Classic) in the past several years. USSRA President Kevin Jernigan suggests that the general aging of the squash population in the US makes it difficult for players to devote a weekend to a tournament. Many players are middle aged with families and obligations that need to be attended to. Perhaps starting up leagues (as was done in the '80's) with more flexible playing schedules would be more convenient for everyone. Any suggestions? Call Walter 450-5675.
ITINERENT COACH GUY COWEN
If you are interested in coaching and can't get to Ayman, Guy Cowen will be
returning to NM in April to give lessons at El Gancho and the Kiva Club. Contact
Walter to set up private, semi-private or group clinics.
NMSRA CONTACTS
Walter Burke, 505-450-5675, hrssqsh@aol.com.
Sean Gallagher, 505-466-3743.
Rick Rennie 505-344-2605,
Doug Campbell 505-878-9456.
NMSRA, PO Box 914 Santa Fe, NM 87504.