Canadian Squash Community Loses Another Great Squash Builder in Paul Marley

    In Memory of Paul Marley

    Written by Kevin Kydd, Squash BC

    It is with a heavy heart that we inform the Squash Community that we have lost one of the great ones this week.  After an eighteen month battle with cancer, Paul Marley passed away peacefully on Thursday afternoon.  The family will be hosting: “A Celebration of Life” at the Evergreen Squash Club on Saturday, March 15 at 4 pm.

    In Memory of Paul Marley

    Written by Kevin Kydd, Squash BC

    It is with a heavy heart that we inform the Squash Community that we have lost one of the great ones this week.  After an eighteen month battle with cancer, Paul Marley passed away peacefully on Thursday afternoon.  The family will be hosting: “A Celebration of Life” at the Evergreen Squash Club on Saturday, March 15 at 4 pm.

    Paul’s passing leaves a big hole in squash both within British Columbia and the world. Paul was the ultimate positive force anytime he was near a squash court. From playing in various Masters Championships to bringing squash players to BC from all over the world, his incredible enthusiasm for the sport of squash will be remembered worldwide.

    Paul’s squash playing career took him to many national championships in North America. A tremendous player, he was one of those guys that when you saw his name in your draw various words would come to mind, not all of them printable. Paul was incredibly competitive but win or lose, the opponent would be greeted with a huge smile and handshake few would forget.

    To say Paul loved the game of squash would be an understatement. Paul’s main complaint about squash was that he didn’t find it earlier in life. However the amount of time Paul did spend playing sure helped the rest of the squash world; Paul decided he needed to give something back to the game he loved once the “ol’ hips” slowed him down more than he liked.

    He gave back by organizing a PSA event at the Evergreen Squash Club, taking it from a $5,000 event to a $50,000 event in eight years. Paul had a following of professional squash players who went out of their way to make it to his tournament as many times as possible. Once they came to the event, they would come back year after year. When those players walked into Evergreen Club for the tournament, they were welcomed by Paul and made to feel like they’d come home. Our Province was incredibly lucky to have a world class organizer like Paul put squash in BC on the map.

    The last few years saw Paul being presented with well deserved awards commemorating his service to sport, and in particular to squash. In 2011 Paul was given Squash BC’s highest volunteer honour, the Jack Larsen Award. (top picture.) 2013 Paul was presented with both the Sport BC President’s Award, (middle picture with wife Marnie) and the Queen’s Jubilee award, (seen with Premier Christy Clark).

    Paul is survived by his wife Marnie, their sons Jason & Ryan, and every squash player in the world. We all owe Paul a debt of gratitude for bringing his style of squash, enthusiasm, and energy to all our lives. Paul will be missed.

     

    For more information contact:

    Danny Da Costa
    Executive Director, Squash Canada
    ddacosta@squash.ca

    or

    Kevin Kydd
    Technical Director, Squash BC
    kkydd@squashbc.com