The University campus is diverse, with a wide scope of interests and ideals. Club sports is no different.
The club sports list, filled with everything from baseball to ultimate frisbee, soccer and archery, can now add squash to its already lengthy roster.
Carl Windrup, a first-year undergraduate student, has brought his passion for the game of squash all the way from Sweden.
Windrup began playing the game around the age of 16 after his father introduced him to the sport.
“I had a shoulder injury but still wanted to play a sport,” he said. “I wanted something physically challenging to play that was competitive.”
Squash is a racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small rubber ball. Since the early 1900s, squash has been played at colleges and universities in North America.
According to USsquash.com, the game is originally from France and has been a European sport for most of its history. After gaining popularity in the U.S., squash has just recently begun to take flight and gain popularity at the college level with the creation of the College Squash Association, or CSA, which has begun to nationalize the sport.
“The CSA is new and squash is just becoming popular on the West Coast, as opposed to Ivy League schools where they have been playing for a long time,” Windrup said.
The University does have a racquetball club, which is somewhat similar to squash, but has its differences, Windrup said.
“Racquetball is fast, while squash is a thinking game, there is much strategy involved,” Windrup said.
Windrup began his quest to create the squash club midway through last term, and it is now a fully registered, official club.
“The school didn’t have a club, and I wanted to still play, so I began the process,” Windrup said. “The club sports office was very helpful and responded quickly; they answered any questions at anytime.”
Because the club is just now being formed, it will not participate in an actual regular season this year. But Windrup hopes that as the club gains members and begins to practice, they will be a competitive contributor next year and play against Pac-10 schools and other schools on the West Coast.
Windrup’s major goal is to one day have the club compete in the national CSA tournament at Yale.
The club’s membership as of now is minimal, but Windrup, who is the official coordinator for the club, hopes interest will grow.
“The rosters in the future will be based on interest, but our goal is to be very good and we cannot get there without fresh blood,” Windrup said. “We welcome anyone interested no matter their skill or experience level. We have core group of experienced players to successfully teach beginners on how to play.”
Those interested in playing should go to the club sports office for Windrup’s contact information.
Practices for this term will be held Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on the squash court in the Student Recreation Center. There are no membership fees.
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