North American Open Preview From San Francisco

The USL is proud to be a Founding Sponsor of this year's North American Open.

Below is a tournament preview from the Tournament Director, Mark Allen

Our 2007 P.S.A. North American Open tournament looks like being the most exciting yet. Favorite will undoubtedly be current world #9, John White. The hard hitting, 6’ 1” Australian, who plays under the Scottish flag, will be the player that everyone is trying to beat. John has had an incredible career so far, which includes reaching the final of both The British Open and World Open in 2002, and a brief spell as World #1 in March 2004.

Seeded two and in the bottom half of the draw will be London born, left-hander, Adrian Grant. Adrian is 26 years old and has been one of England's most industrious performers on the PSA Tour over the last few year. After a very distinguished junior career, in 2004 Grant was selected to make his senior team debut for England in the European Championships in France, where he became the first black squash player ever to represent England. The left-hander has a smooth style and a very relaxed demaenour on court that always makes him a joy to watch.

If the tournament plays out to the seeding, then Grant will match up against World #19 Mohd Iskander of Malaysia in the second of our semi-final matches. The two players are separated by just four places on the world rankings, and have met 6 times in P.S.A. competition with Grant ahead 4-2; three of the matches have gone all the way to a deciding 5th game. if they both make it, their semi-final match scheduled for Friday evening, is one not to be missed.

Shahier Razik will be our #4 seed. Shahier was a finalist in our 2004 event, and champion in 2005. His game of attrition is well suited to the Bay Club’s slow ASB courts and he will get plenty of support from our local, and vocal, crowd. I am very pleased to welcome Shahier back again and I thank him for supporting our event every year since it’s inauguration.

Liam Kenny, Eric Galvez, and Shawn Delierre; three of our four predicted quarter finalists, are returning visitors too. Eric is one of the fastest and most dynamic players on the tour, and he has played a couple of great matches here at the club. His quarter final loss to Alex Gough in 2005 was one of the best matches of the tournament. Eric’s first round match up versus Miguel Angel Rodriguez of Columbia is full of fierce latin American rivalry. Columbia and Mexico are the top two nations in South & Central America, and Galvez and Rodriguez are their countries number one players.

Once again we have a strong presence of up and coming younger players in the draw, the highest ranked being Chris Simpson of England. Chris made his breakthrough on the P.S.A. tour in November 2006 when he beat world top 20 ranked player, Graham Ryding, in the Merritt Properties Open held in Baltimore. He will be hoping for another giant killing if he makes it through to Thursday’s quarter final matches. In Wednesday’s first round matches Chris will play our only U.S. player in the draw, wild card entry, Ryan Donnegan. Win or lose the valuable P.S.A. ranking points that Ryan will collect in this tournament will add a significant boost to his current ranking of 135, and a first round win would push him up into a career high ranking inside the top 100.

Egyption squash is on an incredible high right now. with 5 players ranked in the world’s top 20, including world #1 Amr Shabana, and world #3 Ramy Ashour. Egyption born, Princeton graduate and the only ever four time winner of the College Squash Association’s Individual Championships, Yasser El Halaby, will be up against Shahier in his first match. Yasser graduated from Princeton less than a year ago, but has already climbed his way to a career high of 62 in the P.S.A. rankings. and everyone is expecting him to rise a lot higher. Our second Egyption player, Omar Elborolossy is a very experienced player that has been competing on the P.S.A. tour for 13 years. Omar reached a career high of 14 in the world in June 2001, and was a member of the first ever Egyption team to win the world team championships in 1999. Those watching our first round matches at Bay Club Marin will see Omar taking on Mohd Iskander on Wednesday May 23 at 6:00pm.

The depth of talent in this years tournament is very impressive; however few people will be betting against the hard hitting, #1 seed, John White to lift the North American Open trophy on Saturday May 26.

For daily updates from the touranment, please visit our website at http://www.unitedsquashleague.com.

North American Open

United Squash League becomes Founding Sponsor for North American Open.

The PSA tournament will be held from Monday May 21st through Saturday May 26th.

The North American Open has a long and storied history of world-class squash, boasting such past winners as Sharif Khan, Mark Talbot and Jahangir Khan, the greatest squash player of all time. With a $25,000 purse for this year’s event the field of competitors promises to be strong, with our top seed likely to be ranked in the world’s top 10.

Frequently Asked Questions About USL Tryout Camps

Posted on the United Squash League site earlier today.

Q. "How do I obtain USL Player Status?"
A. You must be a member in good standing with the USL Player's Association.

Q. "How do I become a member of the USL Player's Association?"
A. You can register online. Membership is $250 US, with an introductory rate of $195 for members registered before 30 April 2007. Click here to register.

Q. "To be selected for a team must I attend a tryout camp?"
A. Yes, all prospective players residing in North American must attend at least one tryout camp to be considered for a team in that division.

Q. "Are there any age requirements as to who can tryout?"
A. All players must be at least 16 years old to participate.

Q. "What should I bring to the camp?"
A. Bring gear (clothing, rackets, shoes) that you would use to practice or play squash.

Q. "Is there any cost involved to tryout?"
A. The tryouts are free of charge. Transportation and accomodations costs are those of the participant.

Q. "Can I go to other USL Tryout Camps?"
A. Yes, participants can attend as many of the tryouts as they wish.

Q. "Who watches the players at these camps?"
A. All ten United Squash League clubs are invited to the tryouts.

Q. "How does a player make a team?"
A. After all tryout camps have taken place, a club will nominate 10 players in order of preference. The USL Committee will review the nominations and select the 6 players representing the club.

Q: "Are there any team selection requirements?"
A. Yes, 4 of the 6 players selected must reside in North America (Canada, Mexico or United States). One team member must be under the age of 23 on 1 June 2008. One team member must be a local squash player or teaching pro. All North American team members must have USL Player status and have attended at least one tryout camp.

Q: "When are team announcements made?"
A. In November.

A Twist on Team Play

Today, the United Squash League announced a new subtituoin rule to team play.

Substitution - A club manager may substitute a player at the conclusion of a point. If a player is substituted for, he/she may not return to the match. A player may only play in one match per event.

USL Rules/Glossary can be found here.

United Squash League Website Launched

Since May 2006, GameFace Events has been developing North America's Professional Squash League. Today, they officially announced the formation of the United Squash League.

A clever email postcard, which linked to www.unitedsquashleague.com, was sent to North American clubs and professional players around the world.

The detail to branding is unlike anything squash has ever seen. Each page is adorned with the USL Logo, a silouette of a squash player hitting a ball into a blue and green background. Illustrations of both men and women squash players are carefully disbursed thoughout the entire site. Clean, easy to navigate and very inforamtive the site is a clear sign of what's to come!

To see the new internet space visit unitedsquashleague.com.

Club Selection Begins

The United Squash League is comprised of two divisions; the USL West and USL East.

For optimum team and media distribution, North America is divided into ten regions. One city from each region will be selected to host each USL Team.

Criteria for selecting hosting cities and clubs include the location, venue capacity, and event history of the squash facility, as well as applicable metro-area demographics.

City councils interested in hosting a team have already begun discussions with the USL to select a squash facility in the area most advantageous to all involved.


CLUB HOSTING BENEFITS

• Revenue - Ticket sales, squash lesson and club membership gain, as well as increased participation in amateur squash events hosted.
• Entertainment - Players, corporate sponsors and spectators enjoy recurring professional sporting events.
• Marketing - The USL's comprehensive marketing strategy includes press attention, traditional and online advertising.
• Recognition - National and international recognition as a USL Team's home venue and training facility.
• Club Pride - Volunteers and staff dedicated to keeping the USL Team at their venue and in their city.

New Year, New Professional Squash League

Get ready for excitement levels in North America’s Squash community to shoot skyward as the United Squash League hits the courts.

The new league is the initiative of GameFace Events and sports marketing wizard Yesenia. Like so many people, Yesenia was gobbled up from first sight of the energy in the game. The difference being she already worked in a field where she could tune in to the growing popularity of squash and had the means to deliver some impact.

Squash in the US endured a long history of limited regional popularity, existing in cosmopolitan enclaves of “insiders” prescribing to the physical and social benefits derived from including the competition in their daily or weekly schedule. Of course that was a time when attention to physical fitness didn’t hold the same charismatic aura over our national psyche it now has.

Today, private squash clubs and community courts are mushrooming up in major cities across a wide band of the country. As construction of new facilities moves along at an unheard of pace, demand for court time continues to outstrip availability. Proof positive of a willingness to take squash to the top.

The plan for the league is to bring the sport to as wide a geographic range of North America as possible. In its first season, USL Professional League will operate with five teams in the Eastern Division and five in the Western Division.

The United Squash League will help the exciting sport put down some roots in America and support the continued development of squash events everywhere.

Happy new year squash fans!