SUMMER-IZING THE LEAGUES

 2023 Summer Leagues Breakdown

Summer Leagues can be broken down into two distinct categories: Pre-Independence Day and Post-Independence Day. The Pre category is the “oh-my-God-I-can’t-get-enough-of-this-squash-thing” as players climb all over themselves to get on court not quite registering that the summer has started and they should be spending most of that time outside pretending they know everything about golf, sailing, barbequing, up-northing. The Post category is the “oh-my-God-stop-emailing-me-about-this-squash-thing” as players climb all over themselves to prove they know everything golf, sailing, barbequing, up-northing. 

There is a dramatic drop-off in participation after July 4. That shouldn’t surprise anybody. After all, it’s vacation time for most and who doesn’t want to spend exorbitant amounts of money on very short seasonal activities that we aren’t very good at, frustrate ourselves with, swear never to do it again and wholeheartedly forget that oath 12 months later? Nothing excites a Michigander more than sunny skies, warmer weather, an outdoor concert, using your hand to show where up-north you spend your weekends, and discussing with your mates which amazing golf course you recently had your last terrible round but still enjoyed every minute of it.

The other awesome activities are the singles and doubles squash leagues. Record registrations for both is a great sign although signing up to play is one thing, actually getting on court and playing is another. The summer stats are pretty good, but with how many players we had, it could have been a smidgeon bit better.

Doubles League first. A 10-week season, with 65 registrations overall, and we could arrange 10 matches every week spread over 4 days and 4 divisions. As usual, sub requests increase, especially in the latter weeks.

•        100 matches were scheduled for the season. Six matches were not played because subs could not be found. So, 94% completion. For the summer, can’t be terribly upset with that.
•          We didn’t have any no-call-no-shows. We did get numerous last minute cancellations, however, but somehow a replacement was always found.
•          MONDAY A LEAGUE: By far, this level was the most reluctant to sub. Four of the 30 scheduled matches were not played. Only 5 matches did not require any subs at all. A sub was required 41% of the time – that’s crazy high. In week eight, 8 of the 12 scheduled players requested a sub, which apparently was too many as all 3 matches were cancelled that day. Six of the 26 matches that were played went to 5 games; 12 of them were 3-1. Interestingly, only 1 of the 6pm matches ended up 3-0. Shail Arora played the most matches by quite a margin, and consequently ended up with the most points.  He also had the best average of the players that reached the 5-match minimum.
•          TUESDAY B LEAGUE: All 30 matches were completed. Nine matches did not need any subs. Strangely, the 6pm time slot needed the least number of subs – 5 of the 10 matches didn’t need any. Overall, subs were required 27.5% of the time, significantly better than the Monday group and way easier to find. Players were climbing over themselves to step in. Only 7 of the 30 matches ended up with a 3-0 score, another nine went to 5, the other 14 were 3-1.  Paul Fershée ended up with the most points in the group – he also played the greatest number of matches. Spencer Roed ended up with the best average.
•          WEDNESDAY C LEAGUE: Once again, all scheduled matches were completed. 20/20. Seven of those matches didn’t need any subs, in fact we only needed 3 subs total in the first 4 weeks. Overall, subs were needed just 22.5% of the time. 72% of those subs were needed in the second half of the season. They were easy to find. Five of the matches were 3-2, eight were 3-1, the remaining seven were 3-0. Newcomers to the league took the honors: Joel Radu scored the most points and Jesus Madrigal, the best average.
•          THURSDAY OPEN LEAGUE: This level was similar to the Monday league in regards to commitment and finding subs. Only 2 matches didn’t need any subs and 2 of the 20 scheduled matches were not played at all - both were the 6am time slot. Every one of the 6am matches needed at least 1 sub. Overall, 50% of the matches needed at least 2 subs, and subs were needed 37.5% of the time, not as high as the Monday league, but not good either. Six of the 18 matches that were played were 3-0, seven were 3-1, five were 3-2. Tome Howe played the most matches (61% of them!) and consequently had the most points. Only 7 players qualified for the best average (minimum 5 matches) – JC Tibbitts squeaked out the win there.

For the singles league, we had a fantastic sign-up with 128 players! Numerous new faces, some of whom I hadn’t even met. We were able to create 2 more teams. The numbers as you will see are very good, but with 21 more players than last year, I was expecting a little more. As usual, there are always a couple of teams that blow the competition out of the water, and a couple of teams that forgot they entered.

•       A total of 756 matches were recorded. That’s a good number, but it’s 40 short of the record set last year. I’m disappointed somewhat with that considering we had 21 more players registered.
•          The most matches played in any one week was 96. That is a record! It was the 5^th week of the season which would have made it around mid-June.
•          Least amount of matches was the final week with just 13. No surprise there considering it was a short week of only 4 days and since I was on vacation the week prior to that, no email update was sent out.
•          Dazed and Confused played the most matches overall with 222 – or, incredibly, 30% of the total. They played more than 20 matches in a week 4 times. They managed to complete a full round to receive the extra 10 points bonus and were only 4 matches short to complete a second round as well.
•          Lowest team total was Eat My Short Shorts with 11. They didn’t play any matches at all in the final 5 weeks. Cirque de Sore Legs weren’t much better – they played 12 matches.
•          Two other teams played over 100 matches: Your Pace or Mine and Drilling Me Softly. Between the top 3 teams, they played 62% of all matches.
•          There was only 1 week where all 12 teams played at least 1 match.
•          The most matches played in one week was 28 by Your Pace or Mine in week 5.
•          14 players didn’t play any matches at all. Seriously, this should be zero.
•          Biggest point getter was Devon Caldwell – Dazed and Confused - with 317. Seventeen other players reached triple digits. Only one of them reached 200 – Nick Adams, also from Dazed and Confused.
•          The lowest point getter on Dazed and Confused would have come first on 5 other teams.
•          Andrew Miller and Matt Buslepp from Young and the Breathless played 22 times. They split 11-11. Only 2 or those results were 3-0. In fact, for their total history on Sporty HQ, they have 56 results – Andrew has won 33 of them, and overall, only 6 of them were 3-0. Pretty impressive.

A fairly successful summer league in the books, and already we have good registrations coming into September with 113 ready to get at it in the box ladders. Plenty of activity coming up, so now is the time to dust of the racquet and shoes, get yourself back to the courts, and see just how much fitness you have lost over the past 4 months.