Moosewood Squash Centre has Valley residents picking up the game

In Field of Dreams Ray Kinsella was promised that "if he built it, they would come." He built a baseball field in his cornfield, and the legends of baseball came. Consider Mark Alger the Ray Kinsella of Alaska squash then.

Alger, a Palmer resident and the 1981 national squash champion, built it, and now people are coming. It isn't Hollywood -- it's Moosewood. As in Moosewood Squash Centre, a complete indoor squash facility Alger built on his Palmer property.

In the last year, more and more people are picking up the game, many of whom have never even picked up a racquet. On Tuesday nights, there are around 10 regulars who show up to play -- with wildly varying degrees of skill -- and on Friday nights, teen-agers are hitting the ball and learning the game.

"Squash has always had this elitist attitude about it, and we're trying to do away with that," Alger said. "Building this is something I can give back to the game and to the community. People who wouldn't normally join a club and play can learn right here."

Alger grew up playing tennis at the Tacoma Lawn Tennis Club in the early 1970s. During the summer, he said it resembled a tennis "Caddyshack," with "kids running around the club playing tennis all day." On a couple of rainy days, the kids hit the indoor squash court. Alger and another boy picked up the game quickly.

"I fell in love with the game. It wasn't long before I enjoyed it more than tennis," Alger said. He started playing in junior tournaments up and down the West Coast, becoming an 'A' player at age 15. In 1979, he was part of the U.S National Team that traveled to Melbourne, Australia.

In 1981, Alger won the national championship (completing the 1980 season), becoming the first player from west of the Mississippi to do so.

He was a professional player on the World Professional Squash Association tour for three years, climbing as high as 12th in the world rankings.

Throughout, his mother, Joanne "Obie" Alger enjoyed watching her son and family compete.

"She was a big fan of squash and she liked to watch me play," Alger said.

His mother passed away in December, 2000, and Alger was left with an inheritance. He and his wife, Dawn, decided to use the inheritance and, along with their own money, build Moosewood Squash Centre, to honor his mother and to give people a chance to pick up the game.

It took a year to build, and the indoor facility is nothing short of spectacular.

Alger said he had plenty of help from friends in building the facility, which includes a full gym area, featuring exercise equipment and weights, as well as an art studio. The court -- the only regulation squash court in Alaska -- is rich with detail, right down to "Moosewood Squash" neon sign.

"This is a beautiful, museum-quality court," said Bob Landau, a professional player with the Alaska Club in Anchorage. "But it's not just nice to look at, it's nice to play, too. It's as good, if not better, than any court I've ever played on."

When Moosewood first began hosting matches, there were two or three regulars. Now, there are about 22 people who play on a regular basis -- a bit more than the number in Anchorage, Landau said.

"I think there are more regular players out here in Palmer since Mark opened this court than there are in Anchorage," he said.

Unlike a racquet club, there is no charge to play at Moosewood Squash Centre. The Algers are just interested in making sure the game grows in Alaska, and that people enjoy the court and the opportunity to play a game steeped in history.

"We're doing this for fun. There is no charge. Palmer's a great place to live," Alger said. "I like watching people pick up the game and learn. It's a simple game to pick up, but an impossible game to master. I'm still learning."

Alger is a pilot with Alaska Airlines, and spends lots of time in Seattle on business.

As a result, he plays competitively three to four times a month down there. Ultimately, Alger would like to see that kind of competition come to Alaska.

"I'd love to see other clubs put in a few courts, and get some interleague play going. The Alaska Club could fill three or four courts with players. It is a perfect lunch-break activity because you can play a half hour, get a good workout, shower and be back at work in an hour's time," Alger said. "That's why it grew so fast on the East Coast in the 50s and 60s."

Moosewood Squash Centre is hosting an exhibition (see related story), as well as the Alaska state championships during the first weekend in March. The club has even attracted attention from the national Squash magazine.

Squash Magazine recently donated several racquets and shoes to Moosewood Squash Centre, for people to use who want to learn how to play.

Exhibition planned

By CASEY RESSLER/Valley Life editor

A legendary coach and squash legend and the top-ranked squash player from British Columbia will be in Palmer for a squash exhibition next week.

Moosewood Squash Centre -- also known as the home of Mark and Dawn Alger -- is hosting an open house and exhibition featuring Yusuf Kahn, Jon DeSouza and Alger. Kahn is considered one of the top coaches in the world, DeSouza is one of North America's top players and Alger is a former national champion.

"It should be a pretty good night of squash, with Yusuf and Jon here," Mark Alger said. "Yusuf is probably the best coach in the history of squash."

Kahn, based in Seattle now, is Alger's coach and has been since Alger was a junior national champion. The open house will include a short video featuring the construction process and the development of Moosewood Squash Centre, as well as some of the action that has taken place on the court during the last year.

DeSouza and Alger will face off in an exhibition match, and refreshments will be served. The public is invited to attend and learn more about the game of squash, Alger said. For more information and directions, interested people can call Alger at 746-2580.

So, what is squash?

By CASEY RESSLER/Valley Life editor

What exactly is squash? Perhaps the easiest way to explain it is to compare it to it's cousin, racquetball.

For one thing, the court is smaller -- a regulation squash court is 32 feet long and 21 feet wide -- which places a premium on shot making. In the front of the court, the bottom portion of the wall is called the "tin," and hitting the ball there is a foul, making it impossible to kill the rally by driving a shot low on the wall as in racquetball.

The ball is smaller and has less bounce than a racquetball. In the past, there were "hardball" and "softball" variations of squash, but in the last 20 years, "softball" squash is the only game played. When dropped from shoulder's height, for example, a squash ball will bounce only to about mid-calf height, as opposed to a racquetball, which would bounce to around your waist. A squash racquet is bigger than its racquetball counterpart, but smaller than a tennis racket.

Ask any regular squash player and they will quickly tell you that they won't go back to a racquetball court after picking up the game of squash. It requires a lot more strategy and emphasizes ball placement and shot selection a lot more than racquetball does.

Overall, squash is a much more technical game -- and due to much longer rallies, it is an incredible cardiovascular workout.