US Squash presented the W. Stewart Brauns, Jr. Award, one of the organization’s highest honors, to Melissa Winstanley in a special ceremony on the glass court in Grand Central Terminal during the 2026 Tournament of Champions. Winstanley is the Operations and Hospitality Director at the Tournament of Champions.
James Zug, senior correspondent at US Squash, spoke on behalf of the Association. He noted that it had been exactly forty-four years since Winstanley had helped produce her first pro squash tournament—what is now the Tournament of Champions—in Toronto in January 1982. “Since then, she has put on a hundred major professional portable court squash events across North America, including in Boston, San Francisco and since 1989 the ToC here in New York at the Winter Garden for six years and since 1995 in Grand Central,” he said. “She does it all with great warmth. Kindness is Melissa Winstanley’s superpower.”
John Nimick, the ToC tournament director, said that this year’s event marked the sixty-seventh time they had put on a pro event together. “Melissa is one of my closest friends and an incredible partner at these tournaments,” he said. “She is the reason we can host such amazing, iconic events that showcase our game and support our community.”
Winstanley was gracious in her acceptance. She thanked the entire team of staff and volunteers behind the ToC—more than forty people help behind the scenes—as well as US Squash and John Nimick. Lastly, with tears in her eyes, she acknowledged her family who are annually a part of the ToC: her daughter Jess Winstanley, Jess’ Peter Nicol and their son and active usher at every 2026 session, Bode Nicol.
To learn more about Melissa Winstanley and her years running pro tournaments, listen to the January 2020 episode of Outside The Glass that featured her and John Nimick.
The W. Stewart Brauns, Jr. Award, awarded annually since the 1980s, is given by US Squash to a person who has made sustained administrative, off-the-court contributions to the game of squash. It is named after a legendarily dedicated leader of US Squash, Stew Brauns, who was a tournament director, head referee, committee chair and founder of the World Squash Federation. Previous honorees include Jahangir Khan who served as the president of the World Squash Federation, Jay Prince who founded and published Squash Magazine, referees Larry Sconzo and Mike Riley, Shabana Khan who is a leading teaching pro and tournament director, and most recently coach Don Mills.
