Tweetie, Patrice, Vicki, Tessa are so into squash
By Anne Jambora
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 20:30:00 04/07/2008
MANILA, Philippines—Therer are women whose high point of the day is their adrenalin rush, and they want to share the feeling with others. Top model and mother of four Tweetie de Leon-Gonzalez is one such woman.
She is a diehard player of squash—playing it at least thrice a week, two hours each time—and she’s working to make squash as popular as the other racquet sports.
A board member of the Squash Rackets Association of the Philippines, Gonzalez gathered her girlfriends—former swim queen Akiko Thompson, fashion designer Patrice Ramos-Diaz, celebrity doctor Vicki Belo, columnist Tessa Prieto-Valdes, Luxasia general manager Mia Nolasco-Cuenca, marathoner Leica Carpo—to join her First Celebrity Squash Cup on April 12 at Makati Sports Club.
“I want people to get interested in the sport again. Squash is a very good workout,” Gonzalez said.
Healthiest sport
Squash is rated the healthiest sport by Forbes Magazine— over swimming, rowing, cycling, running, basketball, skiing—in terms of cardio-respiratory endurance, muscular strength and resistance, flexibility, calorie burn and risk for injury. And many women, including Gonzalez, are into it to keep their bodies trim.
Gonzalez says after child birth, she regained her pre-pregnancy figure by playing squash.
Belo, who has been playing the sport for 30 years, said nothing beats squash when it comes to raising the heart rate and burning calories. With vanity her prime reason for exercising, Belo said squash keeps her body agile and her mind alert.
Belo prefers it to tennis because it doesn’t expose her to the sun, and to badminton because it doesn’t have jerky movements, and is thus kinder to the knees.
“I love the game so much I arrange my life around it,” Belo said.
She even requires potential lovers to play squash too. (Boyfriend Dr. Hayden Kho took up the sport.)
‘Dead’ ball
An exhilarating sport that requires hitting a ball against the wall in an enclosed court area, squash doesn’t let the mind wonder as the ball is never too far away from the players.
And since it uses a “dead” ball, meaning one that does not bounce right up the way a normal ball does, players have to work extra hard to keep the game—and the ball—rolling. (The ball is literally cold at the start of the game. It warms up after three to five minutes of consistent hits.)
Valdes, who has been drawn to sports by her father at a young age, said anyone who likes a good game of strategy will love squash. You need to anticipate what your opponent will do next and outsmart him/her.
“I just love the sound of the ball when it hits the wall,” said Diaz. (The soft ball used in the sport literally flattens out at the moment of impact, hence the name “squash.”)
“Squash has a reputation as the elitist’s sport,” Gonzalez. It is her mission, she said, to “debunk” the myth.
While it’s true that playing squash costs a lot less money than tennis or badminton (the racket is cheaper, and the ball can go on and on even after a month of use), the elitist notion is not without a valid reason: Squash courts can only be found in exclusive clubs in the metro, and they’re expensive to build.
(The tournament is sponsored by Nike, Nestlé, Randy Ortiz, Belo Essentials, Folded & Hung, Gerry’s Grill and Cabana Workshop.)
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