Squash

Summary

While the origins of squash are not clear, there was a game called “rackets” played in taverns and prisons in Britain in the early 1800s. When rackets moved into a prestigious school by the name of Harrow, it is believed to have transformed into squash via a schoolyard game, the imagination of youth and a small rubber ball.

It wasn’t until 1893 that squash and its rules were mentioned in a book. Its name may be derived from the noise the ball makes as it smacks the wall. Since the construction of the first court in Quebec City in the 1800s, the sport of squash has grown in Canada. It is estimated that more than 400,000 Canadians play squash competitively or just for fun. More than 15 million people worldwide play squash.

The game of squash is played on an enclosed court measuring 6.4 m x 9.8 m. There are “out of court” lines at a height of 4.6 m on the front wall, 2.1 m on the back wall, and sloping down from front to back along the side walls. At the base of the front wall is a 48-cm-high “tin,” which the ball may not hit.

Using a racquet, players must hit the ball toward the front wall, though it can first strike the side or back walls. A serve must hit the front wall above the cut line and land in the opposing player’s quarter court, unless it is volleyed first. Games are played to eleven points with point of rally scoring (PAR 11) and a player must win by 2 points. Matches consist of the best three-out-of-five games.