In 1948 Ambassador William H.G. FitzGerald founded a squash competition between the very best squash singles players from the Washington D.C.area and their counter points from Baltimore. The event is recognized as the oldest continuously played intra-city squash match in the United States and was recently mentioned in Squash magazine as an integral part of squash development in the United States. In the early days it was wooden racquets and the large (very hard) green diamond ball the use of which covered side and front court walls with such innumerable black marks that they had to be scrubbed away more than once a season. The participants were members of either the University Club in Washington, D.C. or the Maryland Club in Baltimore. Now, the FitzGerald Cup is all softball and team members truly reflect the best players from both diverse squash communities.
Each team is comprised of thirteen members plus its Captain who may or may not play. Seven team members play in the Open division. Six team members play in progressive age brackets. The champion team and holder of the Fitzgerald Cup for that year is simply the team that wins the most matches. Players who have represented their city five times have their names permenantly engraved on the trophy.
The first FitzGerald Cup was played at the University Club and in the following year (1949) the Maryland Club was the host. Since then, play has alternated between the two cities, normally the first or second Saturday of January. The only exception was 1997 when for a second year in a row the FitzGerald Cup was played in Baltimore. Ambassador FitzGerald requested this so that the 50th anniversary event could be held in his hometown. Over one hundred people attended the 50th anniversary matches and the commemoration party hosted by the ambassador and his wife at their Washington, D.C. home.
2006: This year's team is pictured below and is comprised of: Kneeling left to right; Brian Kroneberger; Coleman Devlin; Saj Niazi; Bob Everd. Standing left to right are: Jack Laporte, Brian Swanson, Bruce Rankin, Eric Loeb, Jahangir Naseem, Jake Himmelrich, and Riaz Arshad. Not pictured are Bruce Dunham, Colin Campbell, and Emmett McGee. Washington’s team prevailed.
2005: This year the Baltimore team, shown below, included: Simon Randell, David Bennett, Jahangir Nasim, Chris Haley, Jake Himmelrich, Colin Campbell, Doug Hoffberger, Saj Naizie, Riaz Arshad, Dirck Bartlett, Robert Travers, Brian Swanson and Jack Hollick. The Washington team included: Eric Pearson, Rod Barnes, David Canner, Jake Gross, Sean Dougherty, John Shields, Terry Hinderman, Austin Clark, Ron Delsesto, Chip Lindquist, Glenn Canner, Bruce Simon Morton, and Paul Ellis. The matches were very competitive. However, Washington took the cup the score -- Washington 9, Baltimore 4.
This year the squash event and the party that followed were held at the Maryland Club. The function included new inductees into the Maryland State Squash Hall of Fame and the changing of the guard from one captain to another: Bob Travers, the current Captain of ten plus years, handed the reins over to Simon Randell. The party was held in the elegant Eager Street lounge of the Maryland Club. Scrumptious food, passed hors devours and cocktails were enjoyed as part of the festivities.
In 1977 the MSSRA created the Hall of Fame to honor those individuals who have exhibited extraordinary skill and dedication to the game of squash. Co-chaired by John Voneiff and Robert S. Travers the records were researched to ascertain the deserving candidates. Seven individuals were nominated in the original list in 1977. The formal announcement was made at the Home of Ambassador Fitzgerald during the 50th anniversary of the Fitzgerald Cup in 1977 with the Ambassador inclusion as the first honorary Hall of Fame member at that time. Nancy Cushman was inducted on May 1st, 1999 and she was the eighth individual and the first woman inductee. The new members this year included Riaz Arshad, T. James Hense Jr., Alva P. Weaver and Jervis S. Finney.
Changing of the Captains
Bob Traversspoke of his tenure as Captain and said, "It has been an honor to serve the Fitzgerald team over these past 12 years. During those years, we have all had a chance to play squash at the highest of levels. What has been equally rewarding is the camaraderie that was shared between the players at the party after the matches and the many friendships that developed over the years. The party always made for a great close to a great day." He went on to say "at 52 years of age, I have been looking for someone to lead the team into the future. The person I was looking for had to be a great player, extremely honest, sincere and committed. That person is Simon Randell. Simon is a great player and has the skills to lead the team. I ask all of you to give him your unending support." Travers also said, " For me, this year's event was a nice finale to a good run because the level of play this year was high, the party was fun, the food scrumptious, the Ambassador was in attendance, the hall of fame ceremony was memorable and finally we all shared an enjoyable evening with friends over good food and drink. In closing Travers said, "it had been my pleasure to lead the team over the past decade. It has brought me many things, the greatest being the camaraderie shared and the friendships that developed. I want to thank each and every one of you for your friendship and support over those years and I look forward to seeing you next year on the team."
Sincerely
Robert Travers
Captain Emeritus
Fitzgerald Cup - Baltimore Players Permanent Bowl
In order to be a Permanent Bowl member, a player must have competed 5 times.
Bill Lamblé
Tommy Schweizer
Jim Lacy
Zandy Harvey
Frank Gould
Peter Parker
Haswell Franklin
Clark Murphy
Rodney Brooks
Vernon Cook
Jack Morrison
Ross Pierpont
Joe Lacy
Sam Silber
Gene O’Connor
Jerry Styrt
Bucky Turner
Jervy Finney
Sam Shriver
Jake Classen
Bill Edelen
Frank Riggs
Jack Luetkemeyer
A.C. Hubbard
Mickey Webster
George Doetsch
Billy Rice
Henry Ciccarone
Charlie Pace
James Hense
Peter Wolff
John Minkowski
Ted Berger
Paul Deitz
Barrett Freedlander
Scott Jordan
Paul Ellis
Dirck Bartlett
Dennis Bourke
Bob Everd
Douglas C. Rice
Robert Travers
Riaz Arshad
Harry Gruner
Greg Mathis
David Warfield
David Bennett
Don Townsend
Brian Swanson
