Dr. Cyrus wants no bitter rivalry in squash

The founder of the game of squash here has urged the need for graciousness in the sport and advised against playing the game “in bitter rivalry.”

The advice came as Dr. Cecil Cyrus addressed the formal inauguration of the new squash courts at the National Lotteries Authority headquarters last Saturday 12.{{more}}

The opening, an intimate affair with the presence of four media houses and squash enthusiasts present was almost derailed by an over-enthusiastic chairperson misreading the mood of his audience and going on a length promoting a particular health product.

Dr. Cyrus’ history of the game however made up for the indiscretions of the chairperson. It was Dr. Cyrus who had introduced the game to St. Vincent and he recalled his own discovery of the game in often-humorous terms.

He said it was his search for a daily shower, which led him to discover the game of squash in Ireland where he was pursuing medical studies. Dr. Cyrus said that it was upon his return to St. Vincent in 1969 that he began playing the game in an old fowl coop at his then residence at Cox’s Heath. He was to later construct a court at his Botanic Gardens compound where he said; the emphasis was placed on teaching the game to the youth.

As he told the story he and his wife Kathryn sponsored the first Caribbean Junior Squash Tournament hosted by St. Vincent in 1981 in which 64 children participated from Guyana, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica. Dr.Cyrus emphasised that St. Vincent was the cradle that produced some of the stalwarts of the game regionally.

He also urged the Association to remember the past since it is on the past that the present and future of the game is modelled.

President of the Association Dr. Sherian slater addressed the ceremony and made a special presentation to manager of the NLA McGregor Sealey

At the end of the affair two exhibition matches were played that saw Leroy Lewis pitched against Raffie King and Shane Slater against Roy Defrietas.