Squash Enthusiast Remembered In Tourney

By Andy Hutchison

Newtown resident Bob Rout played squash at Bethel’s Sportsplex two to three times each week for ten years before passing away following a battle with sarcoma, a form of skin cancer, in August. He was 60 years old.

“Squash was my husband’s life. He just loved squash,” his widow, Susan Rout, said.

To remember a friend and competitor at the Sportsplex, Newtown’s Russ Wood spearheaded the organization of the Bob Rout Memorial Squash Tournament that was held recently at the Sportsplex. More than two dozen players, ranging in age and ability, turned out to play in what is planned to be an annual event. The tourney benefits the Jimmy Fund, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and, of course, honors a man who made the game of squash and the Sportsplex an important part of his life.

“I think it’s great. So much of him is at the club,” Susan Rout said.

“He was a longtime squash player at the club so a lot of the guys knew him quite well,” Wood added.

Wood, who had an opportunity to play squash with Rout for only a year, said Rout impacted his life greatly, by the way he handled himself on and off the court.

The tournament lasted two days and initially brought in $600. Event T-shirts are being sold and donations will be accepted through the end of April.

“It was fun, and in the spirit of good sportsmanship,” Wood said of the tourney, which featured open, novice, and master divisions. “The spirit of Bob Rout was with us throughout the weekend.”

The winner of the open division was Macio Talbot, a University of Connecticut student from Bermuda, and the runner-up was Jorge Baez, an MBA student at Yale, from Quito, Ecuador. A lively crowd enjoyed a top-notch dramatic final match that went five games. The novice division was won by Kerry Ralph of Beacon Falls and runner-up was Bob Schenck of New Fairfield. The master division (for players 70 years and older) was won by Dick Marron of Danbury and runner-up was Steve Tabb of Candlewood Lake.

The Routs came from Toronto, Canada, where squash is more popular, said Susan Rout, adding that her husband converted some local racquetball players and helped make the sport of squash more popular in the area.

They moved to Connecticut to work for IBM for a two-year assignment — that was more than a decade ago.

“We fell in love with Connecticut and decided to stay,” Susan Rout said.

With family back in the Toronto area, Susan Rout moved back — this past week, in fact — but she plans to return to town next year, and for years to come, to celebrate her husband’s love of the game of squash in the annual tourney.