2021 Virtual Tournament of Champions Women's Leadership Awards

April 7, 2021 - Virtual Tournament of Champions Women’s Leadership Awards Program
2021 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions Squash Championships honor the 1980 U.S. Junior Women’s Squash Team. PSA Foundation We Are One Fund is Beneficiary.
In a virtual program on April 7th, the long running J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions Squash Championships honored the 1980 U.S. Junior Women’s Team with its Women’s Leadership award. The five-member teenage team, many traveling outside of the USA for the first time, made the journey to Kungalv, Sweden and won the World Junior Team Championships under the coaching tutelage of Carol Weymuller. Its no. 1 player Alicia McConnell won the World Junior Singles title. Both achievements are unparalleled in the history of squash in the USA. In the very same year as the American men’s ice hockey “Miracle on Ice,” these young women raised their own funds, sewed “USA” patches themselves onto their own playing kit, forged a resounding team spirit and beat their international peers using a ball far different than the one with which they grew up playing.
The J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions Women’s Leadership Awards committee, comprised of John Nimick, Ashley Bernhard, Melissa Winstanley and Jess Winstanley, selected the 1980 team as its 8th honoree. In addition to Alicia McConnell, her sister Patrice and team member Kat Castle Grant were able to attend the program and accept the award. Coach Weymuller, Diana Staley and Karen Kelso completed the original team roster. Previous honorees include Natalie Grainger, Linda Elriani, Demer Holleran, Nicol David, Sarah Fitz-Gerald, Wendy Lawrence and Jenny Duncalf.
Alicia McConnell accepted the 2021 award saying, “What an honor to accept this on behalf of the team…and that’s the word I think we all took away from the experience. Win or lose, it was how much we supported each other and enjoyed the journey.”
In addition to the honorees, several notables contributed to the celebration of women’s athletics and the impact the team’s achievements had on squash and the increase afterwards of female participation in the USA. United Nations Women’s Program Specialist Jennifer Cooper gave the keynote speech and Hall of Fame member Ned Edwards presented the induction remarks. ToC Emcee Will Carlin hosted the program and presented a moving pictorial montage and narration celebrating the team’s roots and achievements amidst several high profile (all male) sporting events of the day.
The 2021 ToC Women’s Leadership Awards program benefited the PSA Foundation’s We are One player fund, which extends urgent financial relief to professional players around the world who have been hard hit by the pandemic. Long time PSA World Tour star and Indian No. 1 Saurav Ghosal appeared by prerecorded video to describe his inspiration for the founding of the fund. As of the date of this release, the Leadership program has raised over $22,000 for the We Are One fund.