By Kevin Klipstein, President & Chief Executive Officer
The 2005 Annual Meeting of the Member²õÌýtook place during Nationals at Harvar»å—I was three months into the job, and there were five of us total (an official quorum is twenty-five). The average age of the members in attendance was approximately sixty-seven. Undeterred, the four members proceeded to passionately express genuine concerns regarding the development of the sport and management of the organization, and we engaged in a lively hour-long discussion. I had few answers, and could very honestly share many of their concerns. We agreed that so much potential existed for squash in the U.S. and that the association could and should do better.
At this year’s meeting, now held annually during the finals weekend at the internationally acclaimed Delaware Investments U.S. Open, forty members attended, a full quarter were district leaders representing states from Massachusetts to California, and many in between. Chairman of the Board John Fry opened the meeting with Board elections for terms beginning next July, and moved on to hi²õÌýreflections regarding progress versu²õÌýambitious goals to increase ±è²¹°ù³Ù¾±³¦¾±±è²¹³Ù¾±´Ç²Ô,Ìýpromote sportsmanship, build awareness, improve competitive performance and, finally, increase capacity of the organization—both financial and human.
I followed up by leading a ninety-minute presentation and discussion covering what we have, are, and will be doing to reach our goals. This presentation and excerpts from the discussion can be found on our website under the About US Squash section. Having grown during this ten-year period from three employees to twenty-five, and increased revenues from less than $1 million to $5 million, I expect we’ll take less than another ten years to increase the Assembly audience by ten-fold again. Next year, treat yourself to a weekend of the best squash in the world, attend the Assembly, followed by the US Squash Hall of Fame induction lunch, the U.S. Open finals and the Champions Dinner. Y´Ç³Ü’ll be glad you did.
