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Correction
| Last week Squash Ezine made note of the Forbes list of America's top colleges. We inadvertently did not include #21 Washington and Lee University.
Please accept our apology for the mistake.
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Godfather of Referees on Mulhouse Melee
|  The Men's World Team Championships Gaultier/Matthew match has inspired a global debate on whether or not the match should have been allowed to continue.
First, Squash Ezine broke the story here on June 19. Then World Squash Referee Assessor Chris Sinclair (Australia) defended the decision here. Last week French referee Nicolas Barbeau, who was on site for the melee, wrote us with a very different account here.
And this week, the Godfather of them all put pen to paper to address the debate.
World Squash Federation (WSF) Referees Committee Director and WSF Rules Commission Director Rod Symington's (Canada) complete letter is below.
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There is no point in speculating about what various people were thinking during the match: we just don't know. The Referee applies the Rules and makes decisions and play goes on.
With respect to the incident in game 5, the Referee decided that Gaultier had suffered a cramp. The Rules state that a cramp is not an injury: the player must play on immediately or concede the game. Gaultier did not play on immediately, so the Referee awarded the game (and thus the match) to Matthew. This was the correct decision.
At this point Matthew showed excellent sportsmanship and asked the Referee to permit Gaultier to continue: Matthew clearly did not wish to win the match on a technicality, but wanted a result based on a fair outcome through competitive play. This was very praiseworthy.
The Referee acceded to Matthew's request, and the match was played to its conclusion. In this case also, the Referee's decision was correct: it was in the best interest of squash and of sport in general. (If anyone from the IOC had, indeed, been present, they would no doubt have been impressed by such sportsmanship and common sense.)
The Senior Assessor observing the match, Chris Sinclair, agreed with the Referee's actions, and so do I. There is a very sound unwritten Rule of Squash:: Common Sense and Fairness. It was applied in this case.
Rod Symington
Director - WSF Referees' Committee
Director - WSF Rules Commission
To add your voice to the debate on Squash Ezine's blog, please click here.
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Uplifting Promo Backing Squash's Bid
|  Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and squash players from Penang put together this uplifting video promoting squash's Olympic bid.
To see the video, please click here.
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Abs-olutely Amanda
|  Amanda Sobhy is the most dominant player in women's college squash. This week she posted online:
"The worst is ruining a good training session with a dessert that may seem good for 5 minutes, but make you feel like crap after.
"So I chose to fuel my body with a yummy salad filled with protein and healthy fats!
"Abs are made in the kitchen, so eating proper nutrition is key!
"It's never too late to get the body you have always wanted!" - Amanda Sobhy
Email her at SobhySports93@aim.com for details on the nutrition program!
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Is It Better to Walk or Run?
|  Walking and running are the most popular physical activities for American adults. But whether one is preferable to the other in terms of improving health has long been debated. Now a variety of new studies that pitted running directly against walking are providing some answers.
Their conclusion? It depends almost completely on what you are hoping to accomplish.
To read the NY Times blog article, please click here.
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Nicol David as You've Never Seen Her
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August Man bills itself as Malaysia's Definitive Men's Journal. And this month, a stunning Nicol David stands alone on the cover.
To see August Man's Facebook pages, please click here.
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Yale Women Get Stronger
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 Entering his 31st year at Yale, Dave Talbott is still fighting hard for championships. Captain Lilly Fast and five other seniors are positioned to try and win their second Ivy and National Championship. And they will welcome three elite recruits, Shiyuan Mao (Singapore), Madeline Tomlinson (UK), and Jenny Scherl (U.S.). To see the Yale Bull Dogs article on the women's squash team, please click here. |
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BU Squash
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 Boston University has a club squash team that is pushing to be varsity. And their end of season ranking of 35 in the nation, up from 49 the prior year, shows they mean business. To see a re-print of BU Today's article on the team, please click here. |
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Squash v. Racquetball
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 Although Restrung Mag is focused on racquetball, the editor is a regular reader of Squash Ezine. So when he saw Dr. Ferez Nallaseth's piece last week highlighting squash as the best of all racquet sports for fitness, it sparked his interest. So he and Ferez had some back and forth on email, and Restrung Mag wrote about it on their blog. To see RestrungMag's blog articles, please click here. |
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Jesse Pacheco: An American Success Story
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 Ten years ago, a girl from the Bronx named Jessie Pacheco got her start in squash at CitySquash. She went on to win a New England Interscholastic Title while at St. George's School in Rhode Island, where she had earned a full scholarship. This past spring she received All-American honors from the College Squash Association. And this coming fall she will be a senior co-captain at Cornell University on the nation's 6th ranked team. To see Jesse's page on Cornell's team website, please click here. |
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Last Week's Question
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61% of respondents said Americans should not expect more diversity on the U.S. Junior Squash Teams.
Among several comments on last week's question, the two below are representative of the discussion.
1) Americans should expect to see the best junior players in the United States, regardless of race/religion/etc.
2) The main reason that there is no diversity is the high price of squash. Families pay upwards of $30-50K per child to train them to be top players. In tennis, USTA provides free coaching in several training centers to top players. Kids do homeschooling from the center and receive free coaching. There is no model like this for squash. While kids do receive squash instruction at the local programs (squash haven, squash busters, etc) this is not the same as what the top squash players are receiving with individual instruction from world famous coaches.
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Question of the Week
| It's 9-9 in game 5 of the semi-finals of a tournament.
You think you hit your shot on the second bounce.
Would you call your ball "NOT UP" or wait for the referee to do so?
To cast your vote, please click here.
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World Games Results
|  The first World Games were held in Santa Clara, California (USA) in 1981. After a 2000 Memorandum of Understanding, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) pledged to maintain its cooperation with the World Games Association (IWGA), to provide expertise and to help in the promotion of IWGA activities within the Olympic Movement.
The 2013 Games were hosted in Cali, Colombia.
Nicol David (Malaysia) took home the women's squash gold medal. Gregory Gaultier (France) took home the men's squash gold medal.
To see Squash UK's coverage, please click here.
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PSA Taps Garner to Boost European Tour
|  Professional Squash Association has hired former WSA executive and long-time BSPA tour manager Tim Garner to boost their European squash circuit.
To see PSA's announcement, please click here.
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US Squash Literally Wants It Yesterday
| "I want it yesterday," used to be a joke about the fast pace of business in New York City. Not any more.
 On August 6, US Squash announced that juniors needed to have completed their referee course by August 5, in order to maintain a national ranking.
To emphasize the point, the rankings were being recalculated on August 6.
To see US Squash's press release, please click here.
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Next-Level Training with Ryan
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Celebrity squash conditioning trainer Ryan McKenzie writes: If you're looking to take your workouts and mental game to the next level add this:
Between every circuit/drill/set of route or sprints, find 10 consecutive numbers on the grid. Your rest turns into mental toughness training and also improves your tracking ability.
Start at 00 and work all the way to 99.
To see Ryan's facebook page, please click here.
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Develop Explosive Lateral Movement
|  The explosive movement required of a squash player is similar to that of a MLB third baseman.
In this video Arizona Diamondbacks 3rd baseman Ryan Roberts discusses how he builds explosive movements and protects against injury.
To see Ryan's video, please click here.
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TRUTH & Rumors
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 Congrats to Dominic Hughes and the Berwyn Squash Club, which is celebrating 40 years of coaching squash the right way. - Columbia University's men's squash team will get a little stronger this year when top Indian junior Rishi Tandon and former Canadian Junior champ Joshua Sekhar join an already strong squad.
- On the women's team Maya Patel (PA) and Colette Sultana (Malta) will strengthen a team that finished 11th in the nation last season.
- Squash writer Peter Heywood (Squash Life Blog) recently became a Fellow at The Royal Institution of Great Britain.
- Nicol David, who will celebrate her 30th birthday this month, has now been the #1 ranked female squash player for a full 7 years.
- After being accepted into the 2016 Olympic Games, Rugby Sevens will not be featured in the 2017 World Games. Sports don't do both.
- The World Games, which operates under the patronage of the IOC, could be seen as a "proving ground" for future Olympic Sports, since Rugby Sevens and Triathlon both followed that route to the Olympics, and squash is hoping to follow them.
- Of note, when IOC officials asked PSA President James Willstrop if squash's best players would actually show up to compete in the Olympics, he was incredulous. (Here's the article).
- Knowing the IOC's concern about participation, why didn't Willstrop and most of the world's best squash players follow Nicol David and Greg Gaultier's example and compete last week in the 2013 World Games? Hope the IOC doesn't notice.
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More Squash News
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Squash UK: Squashercise Courts Females
Fitness Blogger: Retired Pro Football Player: Real Men Play Squash
Statistic Brain: American Colleges Ranked by Endowmnet
Squash 365: World Junior Rankings
DSR: Squash Pro Opening at Seattle Athletic Club
DSR: California Deprived Juniors by Bob Hanscom
India.com: Squash Star Teaching Lessons to Supplement Income
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Tell a Friend
| Your friends can receive their own copy of the Squash Ezine by visiting SquashEzine.com.
 
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Squash Camps |
To list your squash camp, please contact glmorque@aol.com. |
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