On March 1st, squash fans from all over the USA flocked to Nashville, TN to witness the first ever National Squash League Draft, where each of the six team owners picked their roster from a pool of 40 of the world’s best players.
The weekend kicked off with a much anticipated showdown between Team USA and Team World in the patented 3v3 NSL format. USA’s Timmy Brownell, Andrew Douglas, and Spencer Lovejoy took on the international contingent of Victor Crouin (FRA), Youssef Ibrahim (EGY), and Ramit Tandon (IND). On paper, Team World had a significant edge in world ranking, but USA players Timmy Brownell and Spencer Lovejoy had the distinct advantage of experience, both having played in the first ever NSL test match last year in Louisville, KY.
USA raced to an early lead, cruising through the first period and showing the value of experience as they cleverly used their powerplay to stymie the World offensive. They rocketed off to an 8-1 lead in period two as well, but Team World used all their available star power to level the match, playing Victor Crouin for 10 straight minutes to end the period, securing a 25-23 victory. Tied at one point each, the final period would decide the match. The third period was a see-saw battle back and forth, neither team able to build a significant lead. With the score tied, power plays expended and 5 minutes remaining on the clock, Timmy Brownell and Victor Crouin faced off to decide the match. The clock inched down and the rallies were dynamic. When the time was up, the score was tied at 28-28. In a winner take all sudden death rally, Brownell stretched to the back left corner and faded a tight length down the side wall that Crouin was unable to scrape off, giving USA the victory 29-28! The crowd erupted into pandemonium. The atmosphere showed what the NSL is all about. Check out the match replay HERE.
Fans were buzzing and the tone was set going into the main event of the weekend the following day: The Draft. Hosted by e-spaces, the venue was a multi-level tiered arena with an upper deck. Fans rushed into the arena to watch history occur at the first ever squash draft, and team owners perched upon the upper deck preparing their final drafting strategies. MC, Ryan Leslie, welcomed the fans and the draft began!
One big question had been looming: Who would go #1 overall? Victor Crouin held the highest world ranking, but Youssef Ibrahim had showcased his supernatural attacking ability and skill in both exhibition matches, catching the eyes of the owners present. With the first overall pick, Chad Hood and the Atlanta Tornados opted with the aggressive strategy selecting Ibrahim, and Crouin fell to Galen Weiss and the Derby City Colts at #2 overall, who were ecstatic to draft the superstar Frenchman. The Nashville Crushers, led by squash savant Jonathan Dyke, selected home favorite Timmy Brownell #3 overall; this pick seemed largely because of Brownell’s standout performance in the USA vs World exhibition the previous day. Elisabeth Hill and The New York Knights took Auguste Dussourd (FRA) #4 overall, and Ramit Tandon went fifth to the Newport Dragons. Newport owner Bear Dyke caught the attention of all the fans with one of the quotes of the night, “To be a Dragon, you gotta have heart!” And last but not least in round 1, Dave Adams and the Chicago Grizzlies selected Andrew Douglas, current US National Champion to lead their squad.
Rounds 2, 3 and 4 saw some big surprises, with Spencer Lovejoy (round 2, Newport Dragons) and Matias Knudsen (round 2, NY Knights) being drafted far above their expected draft rank and Sam Scherl (round 4, NY Knights) and TJ Dembinski (round 4, Newport Dragons) being the lone non-PSA players drafted, going ahead of highly ranked PSA players such as Bernat Jaume (#53, Spain) and Faraz Khan (#55, USA), who went undrafted and remain as Free Agents. Check out the completed team rosters here and full Draft replay on our YouTube.
With all six team rosters decided, the stage is now set for the regular season. The winner of the South division (Atlanta, Derby City, and Nashville) will play the winner of the North division (New York, Newport, Chicago) in a final match for the NSL Championship. Who will be the first ever NSL champions? Check out the season schedule HERE.
