You've probably heard the sound of a squash game being played before, but chances are you've never heard it like the University of Rochester's Squash team plays it. The Yellowjackets have players hailing from near and far - 11 countries, four different continents, all brought together by one common sport.
Yet despite all of the differences, Hameed Ahmed, a native of Helsinki, Finland told us that all members of the team usually have no trouble speaking with each other in English. "It's an international game, the rules are all international, and all you need to do it count, and we all do that in English."
That is not to say that from time to time, outbursts in native tongues go unheard. Just ask Juan Pablo Gaviria, a freshman from Bogota, Columbia. "I do it all the time. And they all know (it's me) because I say words that I shouldn't say," Gaviria joked.
None of his teammates argued the point. "I've learned a lot of Spanish listening to the South American guys," Ahmed noted with a hearty laugh.
Rochester's coach is an interational as well. Martin Heath was the fourth-ranked squash player in the world at one time, and hails from the coast of Scotland. Putting together a virtual United Nations of squash talent was his idea when he first came to Rochester. "I wanted to create this very diverse group of athletes, because the experience that they get learning from each other," Heath told us. "To me, that's the best thing about meeting people."
A quick look around the courts reveals something else - different styles of playing the game that are directly related to which part of the world each player comes from. "People from hotter climates have a more tricky style," said Edwin Goncharuk, who was born in Rome, Italy, grew up in Brooklyn, NY, and has parents from the Ukraine. "People from colder climates are different, more deliberate. It's very interesting on how the games vary depending on where the players are from."
