Guest Editor - L.J. Anjema

Ok, so without further ado, I present my guest editor, Mr L.J. Anjema and his post.....


In my quarter-final match during the Qatar Classic about one month ago I got confronted with –apparently- a ‘new’ rule in professional squash and also with my own frustration. After an important hard fought rally which I won, I yelled to myself in encouragement: “Come on!”, and as I’m Dutch and as I was talking only to myself, my spoken language during my outburst, was Dutch.

I think every professional athlete knows that an exclamation of this sort, though it might sound aggressive, is not meant in a hostile manner or directed personally to your opponent. It is a positve reinforcement/encouragement to yourself. After all, we’re not delivering pizzas, we’re trying to perform under high pressure at world class level in sometimes brutal conditions.

After my “Kom op!” I was surprisingly asked by the referee to refrain from speaking my own language on court. I don’t get angry quickly, but this comment infuriated me! This comment pressed all the wrong buttons I had! Why should I speak another language if I talk to myself? Where did this rule suddenly come from? Do I have to first: think it, then: translate it and finally: yell it out? And all this in the heat of the moment? The fact that I can speak a few languages doesn’t mean I have to choose the language of my referees preference. What if I was from China and I could only speak Chinese, should I then not be allowed to say anything at all on court?

The referee said that he couldn’t tell whether I was swearing or not. This I could hardly understand because ‘kom op’ and ‘come on’ look and sound mysteriously similar, especially after a long rally you’ve just won. And besides that, if I WAS swearing and the referee couldn’t understand my native language, how many people in the Qatarian crowd could have? Isn’t the most important reason behind the language abusal rule that it might be offensive to the public and therefore not to be tolerated? The fact that the referee can’t understand my language: is that supposed to be MY problem? Well… that day, it was!

I don’t generally make a lot of fuss about umpires’ calls or argue much but this went too far. Of course, besides calling lets, strokes and the score, they should watch players’ behavior and make sure rackets are not flying all over the place. But referees are referees and shouldn’t take up the role of policemen.

And lastly, let’s look at behavior: I get the feeling that it is more and more expected that players should become quiet emotionless squash ball hitting robots. And this for ‘the good of the game’ and a ‘professional image’!

I couldn’t disagree more. We have a great tour with players from different countries, backgrounds, cultures and with different personalities. We should allow them to come out and show themselves without being shut up every time they open their mouths on court. It is the personalities of the players that first-time-squash-viewers are attracted to and might or might not indentify with.

Let’s not put one boring mold on the definition of ‘good behavior’. It is not only the sport itself but also the personalities that make a sport entertaining to watch. Let’s allow and bring back some emotion and some passion in this awesome sport! And yes, that is for the good of game.

L.J.