Local squash player hopes to make a racket at first national tournament since COVID

CENTRE WELLINGTON – A Fergus-born top squash player is itching to get back to tournament play to keep growing the niche sport. 

Fergus-born Cameron Seth is 199th in the world based on the Professional Squash Association rankings and will soon get the chance to show off his skills after a hiatus of national tournaments.

The 27-year-old is a four-time MVP by Ontario University Athletics, where he represents University of Waterloo, where he is currently working on a PhD, and winner of a few other tournaments including his first professional one in 2019 at the City View Open in New York.

Seth will get to put his skills to the test once again at the 2021 Canadian Squash Championships, one of the first domestic tournaments in nearly two years.

However, his roots and origins begin at the Centre Wellington Racquets & Fitness club on Wellington Road 18, the only place to play squash in the area. 

In an interview at the club, Seth said he grew up about 10 minutes away and has been playing squash there for essentially his whole life. 

His dad played squash and his mom played tennis at the club and got Seth and his four siblings involved in lessons and summer camps there.

The sport stuck with Seth and with a smaller pool of players, he found himself becoming one of the best at the sport in the province.

“This was not a squash hotspot, there’s lots of good players here, but when I was a kid I was the top player here by the time I was 14-years-old,” Seth said, comparing himself with other players who come from large cities with more players. 

“I think at the end of the day, that’s actually helped my squash career because I had to internalize and think of creative ways to improve my game that didn’t necessarily rely on lots of sparring partners.”

Being able to play and practice independently is part of what makes squash a unique sport, Seth said, and going professional doesn’t have the same trajectory as a sport like hockey where future big league players often need to be playing AA or AAA hockey from a young age.

Seth said a better comparison is with tennis that has tournaments where players try to get as far as they can to get points and improve their rankings. He first went professional after completing his undergrad and still plays professionally. 

With squash as an indoor sport, there has been little activity since the pandemic but starting Wednesday at Yorkdale Shopping Centre will be a national tournament for both men and women. 

At this tournament, Seth is seeded fifth among 23 other of Canada’s top male players. 

“This is one of the biggest tournaments for us because this is what sets the team for Pan-Am Games, Commonwealth Games, world championships, all that stuff,” Seth said. 

“This is really where rankings all get set out within Canada.”

Seth said he would love to see squash at the Olympics but so far it has only been considered and not gone forward. 

However, with relaxed rules where host countries can pick what sports get in and smaller sports such as skateboarding debuting in Tokyo, Seth said he sees it as a sign that squash’s time will come.

“We check all the boxes, we’re an international sport, and we’ve got a professional circuit with lots of players,” Seth said. “I think it’s only a matter of time.”