By Stephen Appezzato
SEA BRIGHT – If you’re on Ocean Avenue, you may witness droves of racket-wielding people disappear down a secluded alleyway nestled between Anjelica’s and Ocean House Tap and Grill. Nestled away down this corridor sits one of the area’s most historic sports clubs.
Members of the Monmouth Squash Club and Swim School, formerly Valkyrie Squash Club, among other names, are celebrating their club’s centennial anniversary this month.
Since 1923, the institution has weathered multiple ownership changes, storms, floods and even a fire. Yet a loyal clan of squash enthusiasts has kept the doors open, preserving the historic club.
“The club has a really fascinating history in its entirety and how it has developed over time,” said Tertius Raubenheimer, who purchased the club in 2017 with a business partner after Super Storm Sandy closed its doors.
Raubenheimer is the club’s general manager and head sports professional. Since he was a child, squash has been a cornerstone of his life.
“I grew up, born and raised in South Africa, where I learned to play squash at the age of 12 at my school. I immediately fell in love with the game,” he said.
After he finished school, Raubenheimer became a professional squash player.
“I moved to America and went on the professional circuit,” he said. Eventually, the South African settled in Manhattan, beginning a coaching career at the New York Athletic Club where he met his business partner. The two perused the roster of squash clubs in the region, ultimately coming across Sea Bright’s institution and purchasing it.
“That had been a dream of mine, to manage a club and a program,” he said.
Raubenheimer and his partner renovated the space after it was walloped by Sandy, aiming to maintain the club’s rich history while expanding offerings. The squash club now offers pool use, swimming instruction, fitness classes, ping-pong and other amenities alongside its mainstay sport.
So, what is squash exactly? “Some will say it’s chess at 100 miles an hour,” Raubenheimer joked.
Squash is a two- or four-person racket sport played in an enclosed court much like racquetball. Players thrash a small ball against the court’s walls in an effort to score points. The fast-paced game challenges players’ physical fitness and mental ability, as they must quickly react to the movement of the ball. Lines running along court walls delineate play areas and add rules to the game.
“The ball is the size of a ping-pong ball or golf ball but it’s made of rubber. When you hit it, it kind of squashes, and hence the name,” Raubenheimer explained.
Currently, Monmouth Squash Club has two full-time squash instructors, Raubenheimer and former Egyptian squash star Ingy Ali. Under their guidance is a roster of accomplished junior-level players, some of whom rank within the Top 100, 50 and even 10 in their divisions in the country. Twenty swim instructors lead the club’s aquatic programs.
In reflecting on his time owning the club, as well as its 100-year-old history, Raubenheimer said he is grateful for the generations of squash enthusiasts who kept the club’s doors open. Monmouth Squash Club’s loyal members “have really just weathered all these storms and kept playing,” he said. They “nurtured a very strong community feel and atmosphere that’s very welcoming to new players,” Raubenheimer added. “It’s really a great community that we came into and that we’re trying to nurture.”
The club has stood the test of time, economic woes and natural disasters and Raubenheimer has his sights set on preserving the local institution for future generations of squash enthusiasts.
The article originally appeared in the December 14 – December 20, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
