Best of Luck At The Dublin Masters!

Julie Lilien, Head of the Junior Scholarship Project at Open Squash, along with her teammates Steve Tanenbaum, an architect in New York, and Tad Friend, author of 2016’s "Holding the T" article about “squash for the midlife slump” in The New Yorker, are heading to Dublin to compete in the Transatlantic Masters squash tournament on March 12. Their American team will play against 50+ and 60+ teams from Ireland, England, and Canada.

Steve went to grad school at Columbia in the 1990s and started playing squash when he moved to the city for grad school.

“I was a former tennis player and it’s hard to get a team organized for tennis in the winter. Someone turned me onto squash and I’ve been hooked ever since.”

Steve, now a 5.0 player, is a member of Open Squash FiDi, playing on the 5.5 team in the league. “I only really just hit 5.0 in the last week or two,” he said. He’s been working with his coach, John Musto, at the New York Harmonie Club for lessons, and they’ve been sharing yoga lessons up there. 

“It’s just two old guys and a very limber young woman teaching us all kinds of crazy stuff,” Steve said. “It really has helped. I’m feeling more limber.”

As a veteran squash player, Steve said, “I’ve got to do something to make sure you don’t get hurt, so that you can keep working out.”

Julie’s involvement in squash began at five and has continued to her current age of slightly over 21. (She wishes!) As Head of the Junior Scholarship Project at Open Squash, Julie helps bring squash to juniors who might not otherwise be able to play. Julie's family is also deeply involved in squash, with her son Gabriel coaching at Open Squash and her father, who is 99, having played well into his 90s. Her teammate Lissa Kenney, a top female player in NYC, also pushed Julie to travel to Dublin and is an important asset to the game. Alicia Mconnell, U.S. Squash Hall of Famer and seven-time U.S. National Singles Champion, will also be playing for the American team.  

Tad, a staff writer at The New Yorker and an Open Squash FiDi member, has been playing squash for years. In his article he chronicled his attempt to crack the top ten in the over-fifties rankings–to get better even as his body was getting worse. He’s now in his sixties and still at it. Last year, Tad's team came in second out of four; this year, he anticipates tough competition from the Irish and English teams.