MICHIGAN SQUASH PROGRESS REPORT

By now, most of you are aware of the major changes that have occurred with Michigan Squash over the past few months. If you are not, then below are some of the major changes listed:

·         New name. We were MSRA. We are now Michigan Squash.

·         New board members

·         New website. Go to http://www.michigansquash.org/

·         New logo

·         Once again realigned with US Squash

·         New travel league format

As a member of the board my opinion may be a little biased but nothing is perfect, it is still a work in progress and much work needs to be done. We have spent many hours in meetings overhauling just about every way the association operates. We believe we are heading in the right direction, prepared to make mistakes and correct them, and are always looking out for new ideas.

One of the ways we measure success is on how many members we have. Since we are realigned with US Squash, we now only count members who are US Squash registered. Before the change, we had approximately 90. At the time I am writing this, we have 147. That’s over a 50% increase in about 4 months. Naturally, we are pleased.

Nothing has undergone a transformation more that the travel league. I was rather skeptical whether the new system of playing on select Saturdays would attract enough teams to warrant a league at all, but to my surprise we have managed to put together seven teams in the 3.5 and another six in the 4.5 division. That’s 2 teams less than last year, but we are delighted to be able to run it. One of the positives to come out of this is the support from the major clubs in the area. Last season, BAC, DAC, Franklin and Windsor had 5 teams between them. This season they have 10. The biggest decrease is from the Life Time Fitness clubs, which was sort of to be expected with their very difficult (and inexplicable) guest policy and the fact that they cannot host any matches. They have 2 teams this season, hopefully something to build on for the future. We will see how the league format goes, I am sure we will run into little issues here and there and we will deal with as they come up, but our goal is to get players on courts. So far, it looks positive.

Another one of Michigan Squash’s goals is to increase participation in the state singles and doubles, skills and age, tournaments. The first of the season will be the Singles Age Tournament scheduled for November 17 – 21 at the DAC. Details will be coming shortly. If you think you would like to enter, there is no entry fee. However, you do need to be a registered US Squash member to play.

So please bear with us – we are doing what we can to improve and grow squash in the state. If you have any ideas / thoughts, do not hesitate to contact us. You can e-mail me or Michigan Squash directly at info@michigansquash.org. In the meantime, you can show your support by joining! Go to https://www.ussquash.com/functions/index.aspx?id=52 and for $80 a year, you will be doing squash in this state a great service.