Minnesota Women Storm Howe Cup 2007: Story Written by Anne Robertson

Boston, Massachusetts, November 2-4, 2007 - Another year, another Howe Cup. For those of you not in the know, Howe Cup is the annual U.S. Women's Squash Team Championships. Women compete in geographically organized teams of 5 players each, grouped in skill level divisions. This time around, Kren McManus and I had managed to convince three other women from the Twin Cities to come with us, Anna Masellis, Nicole Kirchhof and Amy O'Brien (accompanied by her husband and two adorable daughters). We were all very excited to travel to the Holy Grail of American women's squash - Boston...home of the teams that swept all three divisions last year in Baltimore. Yes, Boston, who mustered a total of THIRTEEN teams for Howe Cup 2007 (two A, four B, four C and three D teams). We who had struggled to recruit six local women to play this year, one of whom (Maria Puchol) had to cancel her trip after suffering a bad ankle sprain in the Fall Kick-Off tourney just two weeks before Howe Cup, could only sit back in awe and eager anticipation.

MN Howe Cup Team Members

Flying in from Minnesota and arriving at our hotel mid-afternoon Thursday, Anna quickly got to work. Coffee was made and bathrobes for all of us quickly materialized after an emphatic conversation with the front desk, as well as arrangements for complimentary transport to and from our evening dining adventure in downtown Boston. We then set off to check out the tournament location: the 16 court Murr Center, the hub of all things Harvard squash. After clocking the precise walking time from hotel to courts for future planning purposes, we sat down to check out the Harvard squash teams at practice. Returning to our hotel, we joined up with various additional teammates and friends for a fantastic seafood dinner.

Bright and early the next morning, we got down to the business at hand. Friends and teammates from previous tournaments were greeted enthusiastically and we performed the opening Howe Cup ritual of oohing and aahing over photos of each other's kids. Team matchplay then commenced and first match jitters were overcome. Anne and Kren had hooked up with some gals from New York and D.C. (Marcia Salovitz, Lorraine Bates and Mary Francis Ford) to fill out a B team, and Anna, Nicole and Amy joined with Beth Rasin, also from New York, as well as a local Boston woman named Jimena Velarde, to make up their five.

Over the next three days, Anne and Kren played a total of four matches, their team ending up near (but not at!) the bottom of the B draw.

Anne and Kren

The C team also played four matches in all, placing 4^th out of six in the second round robin pool...a respectable achievement for a pickup team of 3 Howe Cup rookies from Minnesota, a seasoned New Yorker with excellent racquet skills and a new mom from Boston, breast-feeding between matches!

All in all, everyone played extremely well, and the hard work and practice we had put in over the preceding months paid off in spades. I won 1 and lost 3, but was quick to point out to everyone around that two of those losses were in 5 gamers. The fact that I had had matchball in the fourth game of one of those and still lost was kept to myself for the most part. Kren also won 1 and lost 3, but played very well and acquitted herself magnificently in a contentious 5 game slugfest with a woman from one of the other New York B teams Sunday morning.

The Minnesota newbies also gave good account for themselves. Nicole wowed everyone with her power and athleticism and only lost 1 match. Amy showed off her lovely lob and drop game, winning 1 and losing 3 matches to some very tough opponents. Anna displayed her incredible improvement over the summer and was surely on the path to victory in her 4^th match when she was forced to retire with a calf injury, still taunting her opponent.Since all work and no play makes Jane a very dull girl indeed, we were eager to partake in the extracurricular activities planned by the Boston tournament organizers. Friday night we were treated to a doubles exhibition at the University Club downtown, between professional women's doubles teams from Canada and the United States. We thrilled to their play while munching on the fajita dinner provided, but thought our top Minnesota guys could take them on. The traditional Saturday night party was a riotous affair at a downtown Boston nightclub, Venu. After the open bar and a marvelous dinner of cod and grilled chicken, salad and grilled vegetables (we Minnesotans felt right at home with the bars assortment served for dessert), we did some dynamic stretching with particular focus on the hip area and boogied the night away, started off by the dance stylings of Orla O'Doherty, a squash pro from Philadelphia, to ABBA's venerable "Dancing Queen."

  A Tired Amy

It was very hard to travel back to Minnesota Sunday afternoon and resume our daily routines, toiling away in squash obscurity. It is difficult to describe the atmosphere at a national tournament like the Howe Cup, so different from the local squash clubs and tournaments we frequent, where women are such a minority and it is remarkable if we play competitively against anyone our own gender. A total of 211 women played this year's Howe Cup in singles alone; another dozen or so played in a concurrent A level doubles tournament. All walks of life, nationalities and generations were represented, player ages spanning from 14 to 70. In addition to our own squash play, we watched many incredible matches at all skill levels.

Back on the home front, we want to acknowledge everyone who contributed to our success this year. Many thanks to the MSA, who sponsored us and provided so much emotional support to boot! We really appreciate you guys! Also thanks much to Arturo Manzur and the Minneapolis Lifetime Athletic Club, where we held many team practices before the event; you gave us everything we asked for including a lot of your time and coaching expertise, and on top of that a warm-up tournament! Thanks as well to John O'Brien and the Commodore Squash Club, and the University of Minnesota Recreation Center (thanks also to Vinh for the lovely shirts!) where we also held team practices. Nicole offers many thanks to Terry Linsley, who donated many hours of coaching to her out at the Plymouth Lifetime club, culminating in his pre-tournament advice to "just play better." And, lest we be remiss, thanks are due to all of our long-suffering family members who put up with our absence and neglect to support us in our passion for women's squash. You know who you are.

Looking to the future, as we must, it was announced that next year's event will be held in Philadelphia, likely sometime in October 2008. We hope that all Minnesota team members will return, and we would very much like to bring at least two all-Twin Cities teams, so start practicing, everybody!