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History of the Howe Cup

reprinted from USWISRA

The non-intercollegiate Howe Cup is one of the oldest and most treasured prizes in all of women's squash in the USA. Originally an inter-city competition among teams from New York, Boston, and Philadelphia metropolitan areas, the Howe Cup has grown into a national competition with both inter-city and intercollegiate divisions. Virginia Griggs donated the original trophy in honor of the Howe family: Margaret A. Howe, the U.S. Champion in 1929, '32, and '34; her twin daughters, Betty Howe Constable, the U.S. Champion in 1950, '56. '57, '58, and '59, and Peggy Howe White, the U.S. champion in 1952 and '53. (photo right: Betty Howe Constable)

In 1955, the New Haven Lawn Club played host to the first inter-cities competition. Over the next few years, the Howe Cup broadened its field to includ teams from nearly every area of the country with players in three divisions of varying abilities. Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and Seattle have now hosted the women's non-intercollegiate division.

The intercollegiate division of the Howe Cup began in 1973 as the brain-child of Princeton Coach Betty Howe Constable and University of Pennsylvania coach Ann Wetzel, U.S. champion in 1964. Margaret A. Howe donated the trophy for the intercollegiate division. Yale was selected as the host university and it has been held there every year until 1999, when it moved to Harvard University for the first time.

In the first years of competition wehn only ten schools participated, each school could send an "A" team of five players and a "B" team of three players. Not all schools sent a "B" team. As the number of schools grew, the Howe Cup was changed to one team of seven players per school with the option to bring one substitute.

In 1990, the current format of nine players and one substitute per school was adopted to reflect the growth in the sport and the change in the intercollegiate dual-match formats. In 1998, the round-robin format was abandoned by divisions A and B in favor of seeded draws of 8 with consolation rounds. In 1999, division C changed to the draw format as well instead of a round robin.