Team Announcement: The Philadelphia Freedom

The National Squash league is thrilled to announce The Philadelphia Freedom as the final women’s team of the 2025 season, joining the Cleveland Beacons, SoNo Sharks, and DC Inferno. They will be placed in the South Division with DC, competing in a home and home series during the regular season. The Freedom is owned and operated by Sunil Desai, U.S. Naval Academy class of 1991 and head girls squash coach at Conestoga High School. Desai also has served 20 years in the U.S. Marine corps and is now the president of The Bindi Project, a nonprofit that fosters love and respect for women and girls in India by engaging men and boys through educational media. The NSL welcomes Sunil to the league and looks forward to seeing his continued positive impact in the squash community and beyond!

The Freedom will play out of the Arlen Specter US Squash Center, sharing their home with The Philadelphia Lightning. This state-of-the-art center is perfect for NSL matches, with all the audio and visual capabilities for a top-notch live squash production. Keep your eyes out for their home match date later this spring, the Freedom are hoping to soar into the playoffs!

Sunil Desai, Owner of the Philadelphia Freedom, on the NSL:

“I believe the National Squash League, and in particular its novel format for team competition, will prove to be one of the most important developments for squash in the 21st century to ensure that the first Olympics to include squash as an official sport in 2028 are not the last.  As with other professional sports leagues, I am confident the women’s teams newly formed this year will garner as much fan attention as the men’s teams.  And that the NSL has both the women’s and men’s teams operating under one combined league is an added point of pride for the squash.”