by James Zug
Before the finals of the 2026 U.S. Open powered by Comcast Business, US Squash inducted Morris Clothier, Heather McKay and Damien Mudge into the United States Squash Hall of Fame. More than two hundred and thirty people attended the luncheon.
Watch a full replay of the ceremony below and on the US Squash Vimeo. View images from the induction ceremony on the US Squash Smugmug Page.
Mollie Marcoux Samaan, the chief executive officer of US Squash, welcomed a large crowd of friends, fans and family to Peggy & Leo Pierce U.S. Squash Hall of Fame at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center. “To measure our success, we often look at participation numbers, championships won, facilities built or the strength of the professional game,” she said. “All those things matter and our team at US Squash is passionately committed to making sure that the next generation inherits an even stronger, more vibrant sport. But the core of our past and future success lies in the transformational impact that people have on this game, often through talent but more often through pure grit and strength of conviction. Today is about honoring three individuals who have left the game much better than they found it.”
Samaan acknowledged the members of the US Squash board in attendance: Carey Anderson, Will Carlin, Stuart Friedman, Zerline Goodman, Brian Leonard, Kevin Luzak, Kate Nelson and Robert Osborne and Shanin Specter. She led a round of applause for Eve and Leo Pierce, members of the Pierce family that have supported the Hall of Fame. Andrew Fink, the chair of the board, gave a short video presentation.
Then Samaan acknowledged luminaries in attendance: Tracey & Shanin Specter, who gave the lead gift for the Arlen Specter US Squash Center; William Louis-Marie, the CEO of World Squash and Zena Woolridge, the president of World Squash; Alex Gough, the president of the PSA and Tommy Berden, the chief commercial officer of the PSA; Steve Gregg, the executive director of SquashSmarts and Stephanie Walter, the president of the SquashSmarts board; the CEO of the Squash + Education Alliance, Tim Wyant. “My greatest joy in life is being on great teams and this team is working together to meet this Olympic moment.” She also noted Palmer Page and Kevin Klipstein, two of her predecessors at US Squash.
Lastly, she had all the Hall of Famers in the audience stand: Peter Briggs (inducted in the class of 2005), Joyce Davenport (2011), Ned Edwards (2003), John Fry (2021), Nancy Gengler-Saint (2022), Kenton Jernigan (2008), John Nimick (2006), Tom Poor (2012), Gail Ramsay (2022) and Gary Waite (2015); in addition, Anne Monahan, the daughter of Barbara Clement (2014) and Palmer Page, the brother of Tom Page (2020). Samaan ended with a moment of silence for the one member of the Hall of Fame who died since the last induction two years ago, Victor Niederhoffer, class of 2000.
After a delicious lunch, James Zug, the chair of the U.S. Squash Hall of Fame committee, spoke. “This is the most magical day of the squash year,” he said. “It’s the day we celebrate the people that have made our game so special and then a few hours later the best players in the world compete in the finals of our open national championship.” He noted the four members of the committee in attendance: Peter Briggs, Ned Edwards, Kevin Jernigan and Emily Ash Lungstrum. “The committee plays a profound role in helping all of us hear, as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote, “the long reverberations” of history.
Professionally produced videos introduced each of the three inductees. Speaking about Heather McKay were Barbara Slotemaker de Bruine, Sarah Fitz-Gerald, Geoff Hunt, Sue Newman King, Narelle Tippett Krizek and Andrew Shelley. For Damien Mudge it was Ben Gould, Manek Mathur, Jason Mudge and Gary Waite. For Morris Clothier it was Peter Briggs, Jonathan Foster, Kevin Klipstein, Bill Marshall, Eric Vlcek and Gary Waite.
Then Nancy Gengler-Saint introduced Heather McKay to the audience at the Specter Center. “She gave an unparalleled contribution to squash,” said Gengler-Saint, who played against McKay in the 1970s, “but it wasn’t just your extraordinary achievements and your grit, tenacity on court, but your world-class sportsmanship, your fairness, humility and grace that we all remember.” McKay, who is eighty-five and lives outside Canberra, Australia, was unable to join in person, but she accepted her enshrinement on video.
John Conway introduced Damien Mudge. Conway, an old friend from the University Club of New York, told a wonderful story about Mudge’s rehab a knee injury. Mudge then joined the luncheon with a live video feed from his home in Mexico. “Squash is obviously a magnificent sport,” Mudge said. “But the the depth of love and compassion in the game is incredible. The world of squash is great than the sport itself.” Jason Mudge accepted the plaque in his brother’s stead.
Ned Edwards, chief strategy officer, global advisor and executive director of the U.S. Squash Foundation, then introduced Morris Clothier. He movingly gave quotations about Clothier’s father and grandfather, both famous champions (grandfather Bill Clothier won the 1906 U.S. Open in tennis).
Morris Clothier then spoke. He thanked all the clubs and schools that were a part of his squash journey and represented in the audience, including Berwyn Squash & Fitness, Merion Cricket Club, the Racquet Club of Philadelphia, Haverford School, Franklin & Marshall College and the Racquet & Tennis Club. The varsity squash teams of both Haverford and F&M were in attendance, as well as Haverford’s head of school (Tyler Casertano) and F&M’s president Andrew Rich. He spoke about his mentors in squash, including Jimmy Dunn, George Haines, Tom Page, John Nimick, Ned Edwards, Peter Briggs and Larry Heath; and his doubles partners including Jon Foster, Eric Vlcek and Gary Waite.
After the luncheon, many in the crowd gathered for an historic photograph on one of the refurbished squash doubles courts at the Specter Center.
The U.S. Squash Hall of Fame was founded in 2000 at a gala dinner at the Racquet Club of Philadelphia during the World Squash Doubles Championships. After two decades based at Payne Whitney Gymnasium at Yale, it relocated in 2021 to the Peggy & Leo Pierce U.S. Squash Hall of Fame at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center. With the additions of Morris Clothier, Heather McKay and Damien Mudge, there are now seventy-four members of the U.S. Squash Hall of Fame.