In squash - The Podcast

Jamie Maddox is one of the most prolific content creators in squash today. For over a decade, Squash Stories has been the go-to online squash community, bringing players and fans together to discuss everything from the pro game and officiating to squash history, lore, and even the occasional laugh—all with squash as the backdrop.

In this episode, Jamie and I discuss the evolution of Squash Stories, Mostafa Asal’s return to world #1, the state of the pro game, the progress in officiating, and much more.

Squash Egypt has its first ever female President, Amna Eltarabolsy; former world junior runner up and world junior teams champion. She's been a member of Squash Egypt's board for several years, and now she's ready to take Egypt to yet another level. Amna lays out her vision, Squash Egypt's success at growing the game, its unparalleled junior program, LA 28, and much more.

Karim Darwish was one of the Egyptian greats, along with Ahmad Barada, Amr Shabana, Rami Ashour and Mohammed El Shorbagi, who laid the groundwork for Egypt's complete domination of the pro game. Darwish reached world #1 in 2009 and was part of 2 World Championship winning teams in 2009 and 2011. Karim's post playing career has been nothing less than impressive as well. He's the man behind the Wadi Degla Squash Academy, with 9 branches and counting, and over 2000 juniors across Egypt. Darwish also served as VP of the World Squash Federation and was part of the historic story behind squash's long awaited acceptance as an Olympic sport for LA 28. We take deep dives on all of this and so much more.

Not many can lay claim to being inducted into both the Canadian and US Squash Halls of Fame, but Gary Waite might be the one and only. 4 Time Canadian National Champion, World #1 Hardball singles and doubles, and as high as 12 on the pro softball tour, Gary Waite's eclectic squash accolades are unparalleled. Gary takes us back to the Sarnia wolf pack that laid the groundwork, memories and rivalries throughout the years in Canada, Canada's second place finish at the 1997 World Teams, his hardball days, his vision to bring hardball doubles into the mainstream of racket sports, Harrow Squash, Jack Fairs and much more.

The National Squash League launched in 2024 as a pro squash league unlike anything we've seen before. The brainchild of several young US squash brains including Timmy Brownell and Spencer Lovejoy, have come up with a concept that includes a match with 3 periods and a potential shoot out to determine the winning team. The Philadelphia Lightning are one of several expansion teams to join the NSL, and B.G. Lemmon and the rest of the ownership team in Philadelphia can't wait for the season to commence. Draft day, much like most professional sports, brings with it great anticipation as the list of players available includes none other than Mostafa Asal, Mohammed El Shorbagy and the Colombian Cannonball Miguel Rodriquez just to name a few. B.G. and I talk about all of this and more on Ep. 351

Miles Jenkins has been working with Joel Makin for the last 12 years; former college teammates at the University of Birmingham which was the beginning of the supremely successful player/coach partnership that we see today. Miles talks about those early beginnings with Joel, the evolution of Joel's game and the skillset which has him at #5 in the world, what is required to gatecrash Asal, Elias and Farag, and a deep dive into Miles' coaching philosophy. Many thanks to our sponsors Open Squash and Squashify.

Calgary's Bow Valley Athletic Club will host the Airsprint Private Aviation Canadian Men's Open in week's time and the Bow Valley brain trust, CEO Dean Brown and Darren Thompson, talk about the event, last year's epic final, this year's draw, the growth of BVAC since it reopened during Covid, and much more.

It's been an eclectic season for Canadian #2 and Pan Am Championships gold medalist Nicole Bunyan. We talk about her season which is about to get underway again and includes the Pan Am Champs, World Team Champs, PSA and of course Squash TV duties. Speaking of which, Nicole breaks down all of the finals day TOC drama both for the men and the women. And of course, she lays out a few things we ought to consider as regards our own game's as well as we flesh out some of her recent Squashletic content. Great chat!

2 PSA titles, top 10 status, 2nd place in the World Teams, and his third appearance on the pod! It's been a solid season for Marwan ElShorbagy, and he looks to build on this in 2025. We talk about his two wins, how competitive the top 20 is right now, playing for England, thoughts on playing a final in the first round of an event, and much more. Great chat as always.

Going undefeated at the World Teams including wins over England's Nathan Lake and a huge win over Ivan Perez to lay the groundwork for Canada's 11th place Playoff win over Spain definitely turned some heads and has some thinking the Canadian men might be back on track. Salah and I talk about the World Teams and Canada's best performance since 2009. We also look back a bit to his backstory which saw his family move from Egypt to Canada during his junior days with some encouragement from Canadian squash icon Gary Waite. Great chat with Canadian National Team # 2 Salah Eltorgman.