Fram Gommendy reports

I love getting Kevin Klipstein – President & CEO, US Squash – newsletter in my mailbox. He has a way to write in a manner that makes me think I’m reading French. Don’t ask me, that’s the way I feel about it.

I remember one of his best letters – about some parents’ outrageous behaviour and how to remediate to that unfortunate trend. That’s what made me start to have a dedicated US column on SquashSite. That man makes a lot of sense.

I chose what he writes about the Olympic Journey ahead of us…

“Dear friends of Squash

Like you, I am excited about this season of squash ahead of us. Inclusion in the Olympic Games has provided us with an entirely different lens through which to view our sport and its development. Most conversations I have include some sort of connection with or relationship to the Olympics in some way. Inclusion clearly creates a unique opportunity to leverage broader awareness of squash, expand our reach and increase participation.

To take advantage of this moment, we’re investing in market research to help us attract major sponsors and we are so pleased to have recently announced the Comcast Business title sponsorship of the upcoming U.S. Open at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center.

The Specter Center has exceeded expectations in so many ways, beginning with our ability to host major events such as the U.S. Open, as well as the U.S. Junior Open, the U.S. High School Championships, Collegiate Nationals and more than a dozen others in a world-class manner.

The Specter Center also serves as the home of Team USA Squash. With the new Ganek Family Head National Coach Nick Taylor arriving in October, the entire High Performance Program and the athletes it serves will receive a huge boost in energy and support. Nick has an outstanding track record as a world class player and coach in addition to unrivaled passion for bringing new players into the sport. A bigger pipeline of players means a larger talent pool, and all of this is done with an eye towards the goal of medaling in 2028.

Many have questions about LA28, so I’ll share what we do know:

• World Squash, US Squash and the PSA Tour are working in close collaboration on all aspects of the upcoming program in LA;
• In April, we received confirmation that the competition will be a 32-player singles draw per gender;
• By the end of 2024 we expect confirmation of the squash venue from the LA28 Organizing Committee;
• During 2025, discussions will take place with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regarding the maximum number of athletes allowed per National Organizing Committee (in our case the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee) and the qualifying programme;
• By early 2026 we expect final confirmation of all qualification tournaments for all sports by the IOC Executive Board.

Among the key principles to be considered for the qualification journey will be:

• A fair balance between world rankings and qualifying tournaments;
• Providing all athletes (mainly professionals) at least ONE opportunity to compete in a tournament for which he/she could qualify;
• The likely use of all Continental Games (such as the Pan American Games) as qualification events.

We will keep you posted on this timeline and further details. From a fan perspective, once the venue is set we’ll get a better sense of how you can start your own Olympic journey.

(…..)

See you on the court!”

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