AMONG THE MINORS

In football there is the Warner system, the Notre Dame system, the single wingback formation, the double wingback formation, and a host of other categories into which a man or men may fall. In tennis there is the Western grip on a racquet and there is the Eastern.

Once upon a time, it could even be said that in squash there were two systems-the Philadelphia system and the Boston system. It was a difference in play occasioned by the smaller courts on which the inhabitants of Quakertown were accustomed to play. Thus the Philadelphians developed a game that included a vast array of wall shots, while the sons of the bean and the cod were quite content to play to the front wall.

Although the standardization of court size has long ago done away with any such regional differences, there still remains, according to Coach Harry Cowles, a rough grouping of the various champions produced by Harvard into two classes somewhat along the lines of the old Philadelphia and Boston systems. Squash is the most popular game at Harvard if figures for intramural athletics are to be believed and yet how many people realize that they are playing a system.

In the group of Harvard players who became National champions, Coach Cowles considers William P. Dixon '24, Melville P. Baker '22, and Herbert N. Rawlins, Jr. '27 as exponents of wall, corner and drop shots. Relying on skill in placing shots and using accuracy rather than sheer speed these players worked up to the top in the national ranks.

Most directly opposed to this type of play, was James L. Pool '28, brother of the famous Beek Pool, who depended on straight, hard slashes to the front wall.

Sargent National Prospect

Combining, to a certain extent, the advantages of the two styles was Beekman Pool '32, who is generally considered to be the greatest squash player to come out of Harvard. Pool, the younger, combined his straight, hard-hitting front wall game with corner and drop shots to good advantage. Much like Pool in his style of play is the present intercollegiate champion, E. Rotan Sargent '36, to whom Cowles looks as the next National Champion. Sargent ran the present National champ. Neil Sullivan, to five games and is considered the most serious contender for his crown.