A Collingwood social club started in 1981 remains alive today on the local squash courts.
Though the town and club have changed much since then, the friendships formed while whacking small, hard rubber balls off a wall at each other have remained.
Collingwood’s squash club has its beginnings in one of Collingwood’s oldest buildings, the yellow-brick, three-storey building on the corner of Huron and Ste. Marie Streets.
Now the Shipyards Medical Arts Centre, it once stood as the first and only brick building on a street of wooden structures.
Over the years, there were several different businesses that called it home. Locally it’s known as the “old Queen’s Hotel.”
When it was first built in 1861, it was the corner McMaster Store. And for a period in the 80s and 90s, it was the centre of a lively social scene and the training grounds for world-class squash players. In 1993, Gail Scott and Donna Lloyd took over management of the club and its nearly 300 members.
The Queen’s Club - built into the Queen’s Hotel building by Charlie Burton - opened it’s doors in Collingwood in 1981.
The membership included national-level athletes such as Steve Moysey (Canadian-ranked player) and John Power (over-40 Canadian Champion), and his son, who became the first North American to earn the title of number one in the world.
“We had some good squash,” said Scott, who still volunteers as a tournament, games, and club coordinator at the Collingwood Squash and Fitness Centre.
The Queen’s Club was also a hopping social club.
“It was like that show Cheers,” said Terry Atkinson, a former member of the Queen’s Club. “You walked in and all your friends were there … It was really active Friday nights, and for celebrations like the SuperBowl.”
Atkinson still plays as a member at The Centre. Now in his sixties, he plays nearly every day of the week.
For Scott, managing the Queen’s Club was just one part of her life in the game. She started the sport in Toronto, where she played tennis and was looking for a winter alternative.
She met her husband Murray Scott at the squash club. Her daughter is a world doubles champion and her grandkids play competitively today. Her niece won gold at a Canadian Championship.
She doesn’t play anymore, but she stays close to the game through her work at The Centre.
“I’m still addicted to it and to the people,” she said. “It’s just a fantastic game.”
She’s fond of her time spent managing the Queen’s Club.
“I met so many people and made friends,” she said. “Everybody is so friendly. Not necessarily on the court, but off the court. Friendly people play squash, and I’m a people person. It was a terrific experience.”
Scott’s husband Murray, is 80 and still plays doubles squash.
“It’s great fitness,” he said. “And one of the best cardio workouts … and it’s a strong social scene too … It was a way of meeting people.”
Murray is the oldest former member of the Queen’s Club still playing squash at The Centre.
In case you haven’t seen a game, squash is played in an enclosed room with all players standing at the same end, facing a wall. The object of the game is to hit the ball off the wall in front of you and the opposing player has to return it. Over-simplified, the wall functions like the net in tennis. In singles, there are two people on the court returning to each other. In doubles, there are four people on the court and a team can hit the ball three times before returning it. A doubles court is larger than a single court.
Moysey became a member of the Queen’s Club in 1993. Formerly, he was the owner of the Toronto Squash Club.
“It’s a great sport and good competition,” he said. “We had fun nights at the Queen’s Club.”
Eventually, the Queen’s Club shut down, and, in the interest of preserving squash in Collingwood, a group of 20 people put in their own cash to bring it back by building courts in town.
The Founders’ Club as it is known today included Moysey, Murray Scott, Scott Firstbrook and Larry Hall - Hall and his wife Barbara are the owners of The Centre today.
In 2001, the group of 20 put together enough money to put two single courts and a doubles court at what was then Barton’s Martial Arts Academy - today it’s The Centre.
Doubles squash was rare at the time, and Gail Scott thought it was a mistake to put in a doubles court.
“I was so dead set against a doubles court. I thought singles was what everyone was playing, and boy was I wrong,” she said.
Collingwood still has the only doubles court north of the GTA, and it’s become popular enough that the sport’s top athletes are graduating from singles to doubles.
For Larry Hall, 79, the doubles court has extended his game. He and his doubles partner are currently the top-ranked Canadian team and third-ranked for Canada and the US combined.
“The game develops a passion,” said Hall. “It keeps you in unbelievably good shape, and it’s a great social game. It’s an opportunity to insult your opponents well before and probably during the game and have a beer after it.”
Firstbrook said it was an easy sell for him to invest in squash courts in Collingwood.
“I wanted to ensure we had a place to play,” he said, who grew up on a squash court with his father. He was also a member of the Queen’s Club in the mid 1980s.
He plays doubles now.
“Doubles can extend your squash game,” he said, adding he would like to see more beginners taking up the sport.
Atkinson plays doubles, so does George Robson, who is in his 70s.
Today, more than 30 years after the doors of the Queen’s Club opened, there are still some former members playing the game at The Centre, and more who come visit during tournaments or social events to relive the days they spent together on and off the court.
“I think it’s awesome and it just goes to show you what a great game it is,” said Scott. “People become friends for life. They stick together.”
The Collingwood Squash and Fitness Centre is on a drive to grow their squash members by another 30.
“It makes for better competition among our players and for better tournaments. So we are looking to attract some players from the past as well as provide opportunities for new players to take up the sport.” said Scott.
The Collingwood Colts will be doing some of their training on the squash courts this year. Hall said the cardio and lateral movements make for good cross-training for hockey players.
