Squash... the sport, not the vegetable...

I've been playing squash since high school when I started playing with my friend, Ron Stuart, at the Johannesburg Country club in the late '80s. 1990 was a weird year that I served in the South African National Defence Force and I used squash as an excuse to get off-base and go into the town of Phalaborwa. But I really got into squash during my university years at RAU (now the University of Johannesburg) from '91 to '94. Then, I played mostly with my friends Willie van Niekerk, James Daniels and Willem de Ru. I got some coaching from Walt Snyman, and began playing in organized leagues. Time constraints from '95 to '98 prevented me from playing as much as I would have like to and then when we moved to the US in '99 I played no (as in zero) squash for almost 4 years.

In late 2002 I joined Supreme Court in Sunnyvale and had to learn how to play again... now weiging about 15kg more than before. I remember twisting my ankle during my very first match back, forcing me to take a 4-6 week break again. Then we returned to South Africa living in Cape Town for 2 years. I played some squash but not much... mostly against my brother-in-law, Willem and Hamish Houston. On returning to California in Dec 2004 I vowed to take up squash again... seriously... and I did! I rejoined Supreme Court and got to know a bunch of great guys like Vani Moodley and Tom Alexander. For some time my wife worked nights until 8pm and I would spend 5-8pm at the squash club. This allowed me to really get back into squash shape for the first time since 1994. Then I became a dad in Sep 2006 and things changed again. I chose to spend every hour that my boy and I were awake at the same time together and squash took a bit of a back seat. That was a good decision at the time, but as my weight pushed north of 200 lbs, I realized I need squash to stay in shape. Nowadays I am a courtesy member at Stanford (thanks to my wife working there) and I'm beginning to make my comeback. I find that I am less competitive but enjoy playing the game because I love it and because it helps me control my weight.

Incidentally, in 2003 Forbes conducted research into the healthiest sports. The key lesson taht I got out of this is that while many people today may be able to reach their life expectancy, they're going to be a helluva lot less comfortable getting there than those who strive to maintain some sort of a decent physical condition along the way. And THAT'S WHY I PLAY SQUASH!
Aug 2010 Update: After moving to Folsom in Apr 2008 I joined Broadstone Racquet Club, which has proven to be a great place to play squash with a range of guys at levels above and below me. Since I work from home, I go down there often during lunch and get a great workout. I represent BRC in the Sacramento Valley Squash League.