AGM Presidents Message
As announced in our latest newsletter, Seattle Squash is excited to get back in the swing of things! Over the past two years of covid restrictions on indoor sports, we are pleased to resume league play and tournaments. The recent Washington State Open featured some great matches across the ranks with over 50 participants. Special thanks to Tatu Murronmaa and the SACDT, for organizing and hosting the event. In addition to awards and t-shirts, we arranged a dinner sponsored by Kells and the SSRA for all the WSO players and our membership. It was great to see many of you there and we look forward to the more players, and divisions (especially women) at the Seattle City Championships next spring, as well as the Seattle Open in February. Even during the pandemic restrictions, we supported in house squash leagues at the Pro Club and the SACDT and helped fund a junior player from Bellevue with the US National team at the world championships in France.
Seattle Squash is fortunate to be financially strong with no overhead costs to speak of, as all of the administration and squash related events are performed by our volunteer board members. Our funding is from league, sponsorships and your annual US Squash membership. As we head into the 2022-23 league season, I am excited that many longtime Seattle Squash members, and a few new ones, have offered their assistance and interest in joining the SSRA board of trustees. There are several areas and roles where we need assistance, including updating our website and bylaws, sponsorships, payment platform and social media. We also need strong and diverse representation from members, and from all of the local clubs, whose past support of Seattle Squash, league night, clinics and tournaments is greatly appreciated. This season we are excited to announce we will order and distribute the league t-shirts at the start of this season and will be holding a league social event before the end of the year, where all members will again be welcome. None of this happens by itself, and I have been fortunate to benefit from the wealth of knowledge and tradition preserved by our previous Seattle Squash board members and officers. Ensuring our governance and financial stability has been our goal this past year and now that we are back in the swing of things (sorry, I couldn’t help it!), we welcome and encourage your participation, starting with the AGM or our regular monthly meetings. A special thanks to the current board of trustees, Andy Stearns, Eric Williams and Sid Padgaonkar, who have worked tirelessly this past year to ensure Seattle Squash endures. With your support and dedication to the game of squash, I am certain Seattle Squash will thrive in 2023 and beyond.
Allan Bakalian President