A sport with history- you must have heard this line before, which is associated explicitly with sport though numerous sports are centuries old but are still played across the globe; one such sport is soccer or football.
Squash sport was invented more than a half-century ago, but even before that, multiple civilizations played multiple sports using a ball. These civilizations include Mayans, Romans, Egyptians, Greeks, and Native Americans.
SIGNS OF SQUASH SPORT THOUSAND YEARS BACK
Around thousand years back, kids in France would slap the balls on the roofs and awnings of streets or in windows and door openings, and it was called the “game of the palm.” Those balls were mostly a patch of leather with dog hair, sawdust, moss, or sand sewn in their core.
Around six centuries later, Deutch invented another newer version by introducing a racquet and an indoor court; subsequently, it became a national sport for various European countries, with hundreds of courts in almost every big city. For example, during the beginning of the 17th century, there were more than 250 courts for this sport.
The Britishers called it Tennis, and at that time, the kind ordered to build Tennis courts in all of his palaces because he loved the game. The Britishers further advanced the sport and created a simplified version of Tennis called Racquet. The Racquet involved hitting a ball against the wall with a stretched tennis bat. With time the game became famous across Great Britain, and people of different age groups and professions started playing it.
The creation of squash sport was sparked at harrow school, a renowned public school outside London. Children used to play Racquet outside the campus building in Corner. Usually, the Corner would fill with a large number of students. That’s why some boys started using stone-walled yards, and with time, changes occurred to racquets, and squash sport came into being.
Squash sport was initially referred to as Harrow sport because it was only played at Harrow school at that time. So how did it spread across England?
When students graduated from Harrow, some started opening their courts in the birth towns where squash games were played, and that’s how it spread to other parts of England. One such name is Somerville Gibney and his brother Gerald who played a significant role in expanding squash sports to other parts of the country because they built a squash court in Lincoln.
HISTORY OF SQUASH IN THE US
The first squash court that appeared in the US was in 1884 in St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire. At the same time, Jay Conover was a racquet player and had a friend called Clark, a Harrow graduate. Clark had explained to Conover about an exciting game in Harrow, i.e., squash, and then he had built four squash courts in the open air next to a building with two racquet courts.
With time people were introduced to squash sport, and it started expanding across the country. Boston Athletic Association built a fives court that was used for squash. Similarly, the Philadelphia racquet club had a squash court where members would enjoy playing it.
Squash got deep roots in America when in 1904 United States Squash Racquets Association was founded, and proper rules and regulations were devised so players could follow them and play professionally. In this regard, USSRA set rules regarding the court measurements, scoring, squash racquets, and squash balls.
SQUASH SPORT GLOBAL APPEARANCE
Squash quickly became an international sport in the late 19th and early beginning of the 20th century, and Asia was among those continents where squash started spreading quickly. In 1898 first squash court was Chiengmai Gymkhana Club. Similarly, in 1901 a racquets court was converted into a squash court built in Peshawar in the sub-continent (now in Pakistan).
FINAL WORDS
Squash sport has roots in ancient times when multiple civilizations played this sport. The first continent where it became popular was Europe, but later on, it became famous in the US, where in 1904 they found squash sport governing body- USSR.
In Asia, this squash became known in the early 20th century, and the first two known squash courts were Cheingmei Gymkhana and Peshawar Sports Club. Today squash is an international sport where millions of fans across the globe watch it on TV.
Thank you for reading!