Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Did Doubles Players Leave Frying Pan for Fire ?

The doubles world was rocked in the off-season when the ISDA's top players played hardball off the court with tour owners and  orchestrated a mass exodus with the goal of launching an independent, player-owned tour beginning this fall.  

From the outside view, however, the new SDA Pro Tour looks more like a US Squash subsidiary than an independent body.

Here are some notes that indicate the players may have less control than they thought.

1) The office phone for the tour (212) 268-4090 is actually US Squash's Headquarters.  

2) US Squash's website lists US Squash as the sanctioning body for two early SDA Pro Tour tournaments: Maryland (here) and Philadelphia (here).

3) The page also says the US Squash Code of Conduct is applicable code for the tournament.  

4) On SDA Pro Tour's Members Page, if you want to find a partner to compete in a pro tournament, you are asked to email: doubles@USSquash.com.  

5) On the newly formed SDA Pro Tour's website, at the bottom of each web page 'Preston Quick (US Squash)' is listed as the tour manager.

Adding insult to injury, the players don't even own their website. SDAProTour.com is owned by Denver Colorado's Harrow Sports (here) - not the players. 
 
If a separate group is running the tour and is the official sanctioning body of the tour, one is left to wonder what the players own or control ?

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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousSeptember 26, 2012 at 5:46 AM

    Garbage as usual, ezine. Why don't you do some real reporting and interview some players to see if they're happy? Did you notice there are 3 current players and 1 former player on the board of directors? Did you notice Preston quick is a player? Did you notice that the director of development is a former player? Seems pretty player-owned to me. Why, McManus, do you need to pick a fight with everybody?

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    1. AnonymousSeptember 26, 2012 at 9:21 AM

      it's good players are on the board. 2 players as staff doesn't mean control/ownership though. also think you're being a little rough here. e-zine is just saying what's going on. and they seem to pick up on stuff that is ignored or not known by most everyone else.

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  2. AnonymousSeptember 26, 2012 at 6:22 AM

    Interesting and informative piece.

    The group that sanctions an event is the group in charge. No debate there.

    Maybe US Squash will do a great job. Time will tell.

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