O'Neill living an American dream

"I was surprised to be picked," O'Neill said. "It's astonishing."

O'Neill, a Redwood Shores resident who would only admit he is "over 30," began playing squash when he was 14, played for the Irish national team and on the German professional circuit in his early 20s. He came to the United States in 1992 to become the squash pro at Pacific Athletic Club, where he stayed for five years. He opened his pub in 1998 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2001. He now holds dual citizenship in both Ireland and the United States.

"It's a tremendous honor to be an American," O'Neill said. "I'm very proud to be Irish, but I'm very proud to be American."

Joing O'Neill as a co-captain is his childhood friend Andre Maur, another naturalized American citizen. The two played on the U.S. team in the Lapham/Grant tournament in February -- the oldest sporting competition between the United States and Canada.

"It really is the American dream," O'Neill said. "Against Canada, they made us sing 'God Bless America' and Andre and I sang it the loudest."

Squash is similar to racquetball with the biggest difference being smaller courts and less lively balls. The Bay Area has become a hotbed for squash. One of the biggest tournaments in the country, the North American Open, will be held next week at the Bay Club in San Francisco.

"Outside the hubs back east in New York and Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area is the biggest hub," O'Neill said.

Out of the blue, O'Neill said he was told he would be named captain by Kenneth Stillman, president of the United States Squash Racquets Association. But it didn't become a reality until O'Neill received a letter from Stillman dated Oct. 26, which read, in part: "As a former member of the national team, and a current and past national champion many times over ... it is important that our USA team have your leadership, knowledge and experience in international play in order to be successful."

"I've been a great ambassador for squash," O'Neill said. "In many ways, [being named captain] is a 'thank you' for all I've done (for the sport)."

O'Neill still actively plays squash -- he's captain of the squash team at San Francisco's Olympic Club -- but his schedule was curtailed for about three years as he battled various knee injuries. He said he's been back at it, hard, over the last six months to a year. Now that he's "over 30," he can enter senior events and not have to face the rigors of playing the young guns in the "open" divisions.

"I want to win the Northern California tournament," he said.

Being named captain for the U.S. team was the easy part. Now comes the hard work. O'Neill said he and Maur are in charge of logistics for the match with Mexico -- from flights and hotel accommodations to designing the team's uniforms. O'Neill said beermaker Guinness will help with the design of the uniforms. O'Neill is good friends with the head of Guinness in the United States and that the company is intrigued by the idea of two Irish-American squash players guiding a U.S. team. O'Neill also said he expects Guinness to sponsor some of the events in Mexico, which also has a love affair with the Irish beer.

There is also the matter of choosing the 20-member team. O'Neill and Maur already have a pretty good idea of who will be on the team, but O'Neill said he wants to make sure some players who might ordinarily be passed over the for the national team get their chance for this event.

"We're going to pick guys ... who have done a lot for the sport of squash," O'Neill said. "In many ways, it's a 'thank you' for the years of supporting the sport."

The honor of being named captain for the Copa Wadsworth match is not something O'Neill takes for granted, especially when he thinks of where he started.

"Never in my wildest dreams (did I ever think I'd captain a U.S. team). I always thought I'd be captain of the Irish team. Once you do a lot of good things, payback comes in nice things. I think that's what happened here. What goes around, comes around," O'Neill said. "Only in America."<