When we first started on our journey to build a squash facility, we thought it would be a for-profit venture. But very quickly we ran up against several obstacles:
We all have had incredibly positive experiences from squash. And while it’s true that squash is one of the most demanding sports in the world and if you play you end up being incredibly fit, the desire to be fit is not the only or even the main reason we want squash to become more accessible. As every squash player knows, we learn more about someone after five minutes on a squash court than we could in a lifetime of meetings. And that breeds deep friendships and community. Squash also teaches us how to behave with others. Many of the rules are nuanced and outcomes can be debated: Let? Stroke? In? Out? Up? Down? Players that seek victory by manipulating the nuances are soon found out and over time remarkably few people end up behaving in this way. Unlike many other sports, we don’t have to have a particular physique to play squash. While it’s helpful to be tall, it’s also helpful to be short and fast. The only thing all champions have in common is that they are all incredibly fit. They are big, small, short, and tall. It’s a game anyone can be great at. And it’s fun! Whatever your level, there’s always an opponent for you, and getting together and playing this game (because at its heart, it is a game) is just plain old simple fun. Sometimes it can feel like chess, and sometimes it feels like court sprints, but it’s a rare day that a squash player comes off court feeling regretful.
Everyone has their mission in life. And crazy as this may sound, our mission is to make the world a better place by hitting a small dead ball around four white walls. Oh, the lessons you will learn…
- There are many things that you can do with real estate that are vastly more profitable than squash.
- Getting a profitable return from squash with real estate prices in Manhattan is extraordinarily difficult and risky.
- There are many things that we want to do with our squash center that do not fall neatly in line with a for-profit motive. Building diversity, community and reasonable pricing into the mix are just three examples – but there are many, many more.
We all have had incredibly positive experiences from squash. And while it’s true that squash is one of the most demanding sports in the world and if you play you end up being incredibly fit, the desire to be fit is not the only or even the main reason we want squash to become more accessible. As every squash player knows, we learn more about someone after five minutes on a squash court than we could in a lifetime of meetings. And that breeds deep friendships and community. Squash also teaches us how to behave with others. Many of the rules are nuanced and outcomes can be debated: Let? Stroke? In? Out? Up? Down? Players that seek victory by manipulating the nuances are soon found out and over time remarkably few people end up behaving in this way. Unlike many other sports, we don’t have to have a particular physique to play squash. While it’s helpful to be tall, it’s also helpful to be short and fast. The only thing all champions have in common is that they are all incredibly fit. They are big, small, short, and tall. It’s a game anyone can be great at. And it’s fun! Whatever your level, there’s always an opponent for you, and getting together and playing this game (because at its heart, it is a game) is just plain old simple fun. Sometimes it can feel like chess, and sometimes it feels like court sprints, but it’s a rare day that a squash player comes off court feeling regretful.
Everyone has their mission in life. And crazy as this may sound, our mission is to make the world a better place by hitting a small dead ball around four white walls. Oh, the lessons you will learn…