The Howe Cup—the U.S.’ largest squash event for women—is approaching in Philadelphia on the November 8-10, and Open Squash assistant coach Ciara Richards is leading regular Sunday morning practices at 10 a.m. at our FiDi location in downtown New York City.
“What I’m telling women squash players is, even if you can’t serve the ball, you’re good enough to play at the Howe Cup,” Ciara said. “Yes, there’s a competitive level, but you’ll be placed on a ranked team with a variety of players, and you’ll be playing against people of your level even if you’re essentially a beginner. This is a great way to gain confidence playing squash but more importantly to connect with an incredible community of women squash players from all over the country, and so, if you’re not sure about whether you’re good enough to join us at the Howe Cup this year, I promise you’re good enough, and that if you come along to Philadelphia with us, you’ll have a fantastic time.”
The event, which draws more than 800 women each year, dates to 1928. The Howe Cup is named after two generations of women—Margaret Howe and her twin daughters, Peggy and Betty, who were U.S. champions in 1929, ’32, ’34, and then ’52- ’53, and ’56-59, respectively. There are divisions from A to D and doubles play.
Open Squash held a well-attended event for women’s squash week, including fantastic charcuterie from Mangia thanks to our friends at New York Squash, which recently held its centennial celebration with us and is aligned with our mission to broaden New York’s squash-playing community. From beginners to competitive long-term women players, Open Squash is building a devoted women’s program thanks to Ciara’s leadership.
“The great thing about the Howe Cup is it forces you to make friends,” Ciara said. “I got paired up with a woman from Bufalo last year, as well as one of my fellow alums from Drexel University (where Ciara played on the college team). There was another girl from San Francisco who used to play for Stanford. So, you don’t really know who you’re going to be playing with, but it’s a thriving amateur tournament. It was cool to make new friends.”
Open Squash has printed some Howe Cup t-shirts for women going along this year to support the spirit of the event. As a women’s coach, Ciara has also been coming to terms with her own history as a college squash player, and her route back into playing the game for enjoyment.
“At the college level in this country, there’s a lot of pressure to win, and then as you’re coming to the end of your college career there’s a question about whether you’re going to continue in the sport at the professional level, or give it up,” Ciara said. “And those can feel like your only options, honestly, which means that after college we seem to lose a lot of women’s squash enthusiasts.”
“When I played in the Hyder Cup last year, and in the Howe Cup, I had to overcome some of my internal concerns about playing competitive squash again,” she said. “But I realized that if I’m encouraging women to enjoy playing squash and going to tournaments, I needed to find the ability to enjoy playing squash again, without necessarily thinking about winning or losing all the time. I didn’t care if I won or lost and ironically I played some of the best squash of my life. And it’s a whole new world of squash, actually, for me. And I realized that’s what I wanted to share with our women’s program. To have women come and enjoy the game, find community, and yes, enjoy the fitness, but mainly, the fun.”