encourage some schools
to pick up sport
Owner hopes to
encourage some schools
to pick up sport
By Sherry conohan
Staff Writer
CHRIS KELLY Chad Sullivan has transformed what was a run-down athletic club into Sea Bright’s new Valkyrie Squash Club.
SEA BRIGHT — Squash has returned to the borough.
The courts, tucked away at the end of a narrow alley in the downtown district between Angelica’s restaurant and the Peninsula Grille, have undergone a complete renovation, as has the building they are in, since Chad Sullivan took over ownership about a year ago.
Sullivan moved to Sea Bright from New York City four years ago. He gave up Wall Street after purchasing the old squash club to be able to participate in the makeover of the facility.
Armed with a knowledge of construction from having worked in the field during summers while in college, he wielded a hammer along with other workmen in transforming the run-down club into a luxurious state-of-the-art athletic venue now known as the Valkyrie Squash Club.
CHRIS KELLY Francis Odeh (l) and David E. Gilmour, pictured sitting in the viewing deck above the squash court, say that the sport is not difficult and is gaining in popularity. Odeh will be giving squash lessons in the new Sea Bright facility.
Asked what prompted him to buy the squash club, Sullivan quipped, "I had a momentary lapse of sanity."
David E. Gilmour, a territory manager for Wilson Sporting Goods, a tournament sponsor, said a squash club had operated on the site for 40 or 50 years and had even been a badminton club for a few years during that time.
And before it was a squash club, Sullivan interjected, the location was a turnabout for trolleys.
Gilmour said squash is the only racquet sport to have experienced steady growth during the last five years, based on sales and participation. "Tennis has been flat," he said. "Racquetball has continued to decrease."
Gilmour, who is a Little Silver councilman, noted that a squash match takes about 45 minutes.
"In today’s world of time constraints, that’s probably the best cardio-vascular exercise you can get in 45 minutes," he said.
Sullivan completely rebuilt the two previously existing singles courts and the previously-existing doubles court, and added a third singles court. The new singles court was carved out of a space where three small 300-square-foot apartments had formerly existed, he said.
"It didn’t meld with the game of squash," he said of the apartments, "with the occupants playing heavy metal."
Sullivan said he had played in the old squash club for a couple of years before buying it. "The place was in receivership," he recalled. "A couple of guys formed a nonprofit organization to keep the lights on."
"The place was terribly run down," he added.
Before moving to Sea Bright, Sullivan said he had played squash for several years at the Downtown Athletic Club of New York.
He has brought in Francis Odeh, former pro at the Downtown Athletic Club, which has not reopened since 9/11, to be the pro here.
Gilmour, who plans to become a member of the club, said in addition to men’s tournament play, the club expects to start a ladies’ league and have a youth development program.
"We will be speaking to the Ranney School and CBA about having teams," he said. "A lot of schools in the Princeton area have teams. We would be joining their league."
Odeh said squash is not difficult to learn for anyone who has racquet skills. He said hitting the ball is much like baseball. The game is easier to play now with a soft ball rather than a hard ball, he added.
"It stays in play longer," he explained.
Gilmour said about 12 years ago squash in the United States began changing from a hard ball to a soft ball. Internationally, he added, the game is only played with a soft ball.
Odeh said he would be giving lessons and would hold beginners clinics for children and for women with the hope of getting them involved with the sport. For children, there will be an after-school program and a weekend program, he said.
Gilmour said with the improvements, which include the construction of a lounge with a small bar, the squash club can become a family place where members can bring their spouses and children.
Before the renovations, it was dilapidated and so unappealing that members didn’t want to shower there, he said. There also was no lounge for family or members’ conviviality, he added.
"It wasn’t a place to hang," he observed. "Now it’s cleaned up. It’s as luxurious as any club.
"Squash is a luxury sport, mainly in the northeast," he continued.
Gilmour said that in renovating the existing courts and building the new one, to make them state-of-the-art, a foam layer was put down under the wooden floorboards. He said the roof over the doubles court, one of only three in the state of New Jersey, was raised 8 feet, which players will appreciate. In addition, he pointed out, the courts have a glass wall on one side so that spectators can watch games from the ground level as well as from the balcony above where the lounge is located.
"In the last 10 years squash courts have gone to glass walls," he said, with the invention of glass strong enough to take not only hits from the ball but from racquets and body contact. There is a small women’s locker room with showers on the first floor and a larger men’s locker room with showers on the second floor. A small patio is planned for the narrow rear yard. Gilmour said the squash club will have a full pro shop with racquets, balls and stringing.
Sullivan said the club will take about 300 members and will charge $125 a month to belong, with a year-round membership required. It will be open from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. every day, he said.
"We will have a Web site where you can sign up," he said.
Sullivan expects all the work to be finished and the club fully operational by mid-December.
Gilmour noted that Sullivan had been approached by someone about holding yoga classes there.
"So even though it is a squash club, we’re open to other activities," he said. Gilmour was most happy, however, to get squash back.
"I am excited that the club is reopening," he said. "I’ve been playing squash all my life. It’s very convenient, and the closest club other than ours would be in Short Hills.
"This means that now members will be able to play in the league and go to other clubs to play. We form teams at different levels and play in the Northern New Jersey Squash Racquets Association."
Sullivan said he had invested close to $1 million in the squash club between the purchase and renovations.
He said he named it Valkyrie for the Norse maidens celebrated in a Wagner piece, "The Ride of the Valkyrie," which gained pop attention in the movie Apocalypse Now.
"Robert Duvall is riding in a helicopter and flying into Vietnam with it playing over a loud speaker," he noted.