Niederhoffer, Victor

Victor B. Niederhoffer

Niederhoffer won the the U.S. National squash singles championship five times, the U.S. doubles title three times, as well as the U.S. Open championship. Considered one of the greatest squash players of his era, Victor transformed the game in North America by helping to create the "open era" and the North American WPSA Pro tour. Niederhoffer recently published his autobiography, Emulation of a Speculator.

Birth and Death Dates:
unknown

Career Highlights:
Born to a poor Jewish family in the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn, Niederhoffer played handball, tennis, and paddleball from a young age. When he was five, he won the handball singles, the handball doubles and the ping pong titles in a local tournament. Well-known locally, at the age of 13, Niederhoffer played -- and defeated -- 35-year-old national paddleball champion George Baskin.

As a freshman at Harvard, Niederhoffer began to claim that although he had never played squash before, he would become the National Intercollegiate champion. As a sophmore, Victor won the national junior title and eventually captured the squash title he had vowed to win.

While attending the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, Niederhoffer won each major amateur tournament in 1965 and then the national title in 1966. Niederhoffer earned the reputation as a very tough competitor. In 1964, he faced national champion Henri Salaun, got into an argument with his opponent and the referee, and was censured by the USSRA. Niederhoffer also got a bloody nose from Salaun. It has been theorized that Victor got into so many arguments because he understood the rules so well and wanted them enforced.

Niederhoffer did not participate in squash events from 1967 through 1972 because he was protesting against the elitism and anti-Semitism that he believed existed in the game. He applied for membership to five private clubs and was denied admission to all of them. When the 1967 National Tournament was held at the Lake Shore Club, he decided not to defend his championship. Disgusted with the elitist environment of the game, he scarcely played the game for five years.

He returned to squash in 1972 and, after an initial defeat, beat Anil Nayar, the top player of that time. Niederhoffer soon turned professional and changed the game by recruiting other amateurs to follow his lead. Due to Victor's intelligence the game of squash was revolutionized. He was inducted into the Harvard Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 1984 and the CSA (College Squash Association) Hall of Fame in 1992.

Origin:
Brooklyn, New York

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