Squash is seen as more a recreational sport than a mass spectator one, yet on Cayman there are plenty of talented youngsters with aspirations of turning pro.
One of them is top junior Alain Mudeen. The youngster has just turned 17 and is taking this next academic year off – before going to Harvard – to see if playing squash full-time is viable.
Having just conquered all comers at the Caribbean Under-17 Championships in British Virgin Islands, Mudeen is keen to pit his skills against adults again. ‘We’re going to Guernsey for the squash part of the Island Games at the end of September,’ he says with a big smile. ‘I have no idea how I’ll get on but I know it’ll be good experience.’
He last played in an adult tournament in Grand Cayman at the start of the year and finished third. ‘Next year I hope I win it.’
Mudeen is the best of a great bunch of youngsters Cayman Islands Squash Club coach Dean Watson has produced at South Sound. Mudeen is so keen he intends to train in Egypt for a while alongside the fabulously talented Egyptian Amir Shabana. ‘He’s my hero as well as Jansher Khan. They’re the best around. I hope not to ever have to meet them,’ he laughs. ‘It would be tough if I did. Maybe in 10 years’ time I’ll be ready.’
Being Caribbean champ wasn’t a tough as it sounds. ‘I beat my club mate Cameron Stafford in the final in BVI. He threw some unexpected shots and I had to adjust quickly. I train with him a lot and knew a lot of the kind of shots he played but he still pulled some things out of the bag.’
Stafford is only 15 and wasn’t expected to get that far, although Mudeen thought he would. The last time he was Caribbean champion was four years ago when he won the Under-13s. ‘I expected to win this time,’ he says without bragging. ‘I knew all the opposition and was well prepared.’
Mudeen was a cricketer and switched soon after his father, Ali, played squash for the first time, came home enthusing about it and inspired little Alain to take it up. ‘I soon fell in love with it.’
Mudeen was born in America of Guyanese parents. A former pupil at St Ignatius, spending his gap year playing 24-7 is his utopia. ‘The competition, that’s what I love the most. The pace is brilliant. I wasn’t good at it at first, say for the first two years. I used to take a thrashing but wanted to become the best. I may be the Caribbean’s best but I’m not tested internationally. Devoting this year to it helps my development. My parents are helping financially and I hope to pick up a sponsor soon.’
Englishman Watson was once a world top 80 pro so he knows what the youngster needs to do to get there. ‘Alain is very intelligent and academically gifted,’ he says. ‘And he shows a lot of intelligence on the court. My only criticism is that he is a tad lazy with his feet. He likes to mix the game up and not follow the normal pattern. He plays with a lot of flair like the Egyptians.
‘He is joining the Players Squash Association within the next month so that he will be qualified to be world ranked as a senior. This first year is a trial. Once he starts schooling again next September we’ll know what direction he’s going, then he can decide if he wants to spend the following two or three years playing full-time to rise up the rankings. Squash is a minority sport, unlike, say football, cricket and rugby, and unless you reach the top there’s not much money in it.
‘I think he can make it with his dedication and skill. In junior events the No.1 and 2 who are seeded are already full-time players. He’s not at that level yet. He’s got the potential, skill and attitude but needs a stricter road. There are still a handful of men who can beat him on this island. We know what he needs to do to be up there.’
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