Editor's note: This week we begin the new feature, "Active Richmond." This column will highlight some of the things going on in Richmond that you might not know about. Of course everyone knows you can go for a run or a bike ride around town, but this column will steer clear of those things. Active Richmond will publish every other Thursday.
Dozens of the world's top professional squash players will be in Richmond next week to compete in the 2008 Davenport Professional Squash Championship, which in a few short years has grown into one of their preferred tournaments in the entire world.
"This is a very unique event," says tournament director Gus Cook, who is also the head squash pro at the Country Club of Virginia. "From a base of volunteers and enthusiasts, we've grown the Davenport Professional Squash Championship to a very high level, very quickly."
This year, 16 of the world's top 25 pros have entered the tournament, which will be played in a specially constructed, high visibility glass-walled court at the University of Richmond's Millhiser Gym from Feb. 25 to March 1.
The roster of visiting pros reads like a United Nations subcommittee: Ramy Ashour, Egypt, world #2; Greg Gaultier, France, world #3; David Palmer, Australia, world #4; James Wilstrop, England, world #6; Thierry Lincou, France, world #7; Karim Darwish, Egypt, world #8; John White, Scotland, world #9; and Wael El Hindi, Egypt, world #10.
Partly they are interested in the $80,000 prize fund, much of which was contributed by Richmond's venerable stock brokerage Davenport & Co., LLC, but mostly they are coming because this is one city in the world where they feel truly appreciated.
"All the Egyptians, including Ramy Ashour, have returned to stay with the same host family as they were with last year," says Cook. "We had complementary rooms for them at the Jefferson Hotel and they preferred the home stay. These squash pros can go anywhere in the world for a tournament, but they keep coming back here because they feel so welcomed by the community."
Cook, who leads an enthusiastic group of local volunteers to staff the tournament, originated the event in 2003 at the Country Club of Virginia as a way to celebrate the construction of new squash courts. He also saw it as an extension of a great Richmond squash tradition that revolved around the storied Price-Bullington Invitational, a collegiate-level tournament, which was as renowned for its level of competition as for the welcoming way Richmonders opened their homes to the competitors.
Cook is quick to credit Ted Price, the chairman of squash at the Country Club of Virginia, as the man who established that tradition. A quick look at the Virginia Squash Racquets Association Web site tells you all you need to know about Price.
Price, through his leadership of the Virginia Squash Racquets Association, his years as director of the Price-Bullington Invitational, and through decades as a dedicated squash player and teacher at the Country Club of Virginia, is clearly the behind-the-scenes force for the Richmond's rising status in the world of squash. What's engaging about Price is that he started it all as a parent teaching kids life lessons through sports.
"In the early '80s, we put together a team of 10 teenagers," recalls Price. "And six of those were nationally ranked and so they all got a tremendous boost for college. There's real sportsmanship in this game that makes it great for youngsters. You're all by yourself out there, the only one who can with the match. You've got to dig down deep and do your best."
He is also clearly a man who loves squash only slightly less than he loves sharing it with this friends and neighbors.
"I think this tournament will do a lot for the city," says Price. "I never thought we could it, but here we are putting on an event that's bigger than what they have in New York and Boston. This will be the best tournament we've ever had."
Cook agrees: "This will be the strongest draw anywhere in the U.S. this year and probably one of the top six strongest draws in the world in 2008."
w For competition updates and schedules of the Davenport Professional Squash Tournament, go to the Virginia Squash Rackets Association website www.vsra.us-squash.org. Tickets are available for Monday, Feb. 25 to Wednesday, Feb. 27. After those dates, matches have sold out. Spectator parking is available for free at the Special Events Lot at the University of Richmond.
Mike McCormick, the communications director for the Sports Backers, moved to Richmond a year ago from Washington, D.C., where he spent four years working for the White House Press Office. He is a former national champion whitewater kayaker and father of two.