(1927- )
A part of the Kingsley clan that has given so much to squash administration, Darwin Kingsley served as the first executive director of the United States Squash Racquets Association from 1974-1992. He was raised at the Rockaway Hunt Club where he played in the annual Gold Racquets tournament and was club champion. At Yale, class of 1950, he played number one on the famous Skillman team that went undefeated for four years and 47 matches in a row until losing to Princeton in the final match of the 1949-50 season. In later years Kingsley partnered with Alfie Hunter to win the national senior doubles in 1979 and 1980 and the national masters doubles in 1988. But it was behind the scenes where he made his largest impact. Both his father, Darwin, Jr., and his brother, Charlie, served as president of US Squash, and he did likewise from 1973-75. When the Association decided it needed its first full-time direc¬tor, Kingsley was hired. He established an office in Bala Cynwyd and for eigh¬teen years presided over the greatest growth the game had ever seen in the U.S. membership soared from 160 member clubs and 800 individual mem¬bers in 1974 to 350 member clubs and over 10, 000 members when he retired in 1992. Throughout his tenure he was an active, ebullient leader and a solid force for the amateur game. In 1984 he was awarded the President’s Cup.
