Balmy Beach Club squash player Audrey Maxwell still going strong on the court and playing competitively at age 80

By JESSICA SHACKLETON

The Balmy Beach Club sits at the end of Beech Avenue. It has been a staple in the community for more than 100 years and boasts a patio with a beautiful view of Lake Ontario. Home of many sports including rugby and paddling, it’s where 80-year-old Audrey Maxwell plays squash. 

Beach Metro Community News recently watched one of Maxwell’s matches from the squash gallery at the Balmy Beach Club. She wore a purple skirt and running shoes with her club squash Dri-FIT T-shirt. Her reddish-brown hair was tied in a high ponytail with her bangs out. 

She was playing a fast-paced game against a player named Maura. After a few warm up hits, the two got down to business. It’s easy to understand the objective of the game and the sound of the ball hitting the wall and shoes running after it echoed through the space. 

Fellow Balmy Beach Club member, squash player, and friend Jen Rowe noticed that Maxwell is the only women’s squash player in the over-80 category in Ontario and one of two in Canada. Squash Canada lists only Maxwell and Naomi Stern in the over-80 ranked players list.

Beach Metro Community News met with Maxwell and Rowe on the club’s patio recently to hear about what motivates Maxwell to continue playing squash, what she enjoys about life, and why staying active is so important. 

“I love life. Joie de vivre. Oh my gosh, I love living,” she said.

This mindset is the most important thing to know about Maxwell. Squash is one of the healthiest sports there is to participate in because it’s so good for cardio and keeps players constantly moving. 

Maxwell was born near the end of the Second World War in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to an Irish father and English mother. She went to elementary school in Ireland and the family moved back to England in the early 1950s. The family ran a fish-and-chips shop in York. She liked to swim and bike as a kid, but otherwise wasn’t into sports. 

She ultimately moved to Canada in 1974, arriving in Montreal. Eventually, she and her two daughters moved to Ontario and lived in Mississauga. Now, she calls Flemingdon Park home.

Maxwell is not walking distance from the Balmy Beach Club, but she said doesn’t mind making the drive down several times a week.

“I’m usually down a couple times a week for squash and in the summertime, a couple times for lawn bowling,” she said. “It’s probably going to be three times a week for squash.” 

After moving to Ontario, she took courses to find work and learned from her daughters in that time. After trying many jobs, Maxwell worked as a corporate event planner for 20 years. She loved it and hopes everyone finds a job they enjoy as much as she did.

“No matter what you’re doing, you’re constantly learning and wherever life takes you – and none of us actually know – you just grab it with both hands and enjoy it,” she said. 

Maxwell retired at 65. Her last day of work was on a Friday and she was in Australia by Monday. She has travelled extensively, and one of her most recent trips was to Thailand to visit her daughter’s yoga teacher training school. 

“I absolutely love travel. There are still a couple of places on my bucket list that I might get to but I don’t want say it out loud,” said Maxwell.

“I’ve done most of the things I’ve really wanted to do. I’ve done skydiving, helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls, hang gliding. I’m still waiting on the hot air balloon.”   

She started playing squash in 1980 while living in Montreal. After some life changes, she was alone with her two daughters and she was looking to move forward. It was love at first try when she picked up a racquet and learned to play squash. 

“Hooked. Totally,” she said. “It was therapy.” 

Legendary Canadian squash player Sharif Khan also calls Toronto home and he was a mentor to Maxwell. Contrary to rumour, they didn’t play an exhibition game but the two did cross paths in the squash world. 

“Sharif was my mentor. When I joined (his) club in the early nineties, he would give us a lot of encouragement and tips. Sharif was a really amazing mentor and I still see him,” she said. 

While working at trade shows, someone had tickets to watch a match at Khan’s glass court at the Sheraton Centre and that was the first time Maxwell saw him seriously play. She said it was “awesome” and over the years she went to watch different players take part in international matches.

“They did a few international tournaments. I went to two of them in Barbados and that’s how I came to be here at the Balmy Beach,” she said. “I met a member from here and he said, ‘Come down and have a drink, and why don’t you join?’ and that’s how I joined.” 

Maxwell became a member of the Balmy Beach Club in 2004, and said she enjoys the camaraderie within the squash sector. 

“This group that we have here is so special, it is so amazing, there are no words to describe the feeling of being together and sharing this love of the game,” she said.   

Though squash is her favourite sport, she also lawn bowls and has helped with teaching young business executives who learned to lawn bowl through corporate events at the club, similar in a way to those she used to organize. 

Squash has been around since 1830 and has maintained its popularity, but there’s another sport that’s everywhere. Here’s what Maxwell had to say about the sport of pickleball:

“I think pickleball is a great game, I do love it. I just can’t fit it into as much of my life as I’d like to. If you’re going to play you’ve got to be able to give a little more than I’m able to,” she said. 

Beyond the squash court, Maxwell keeps herself busy trying recipes. She volunteers in the oncology unit at Michael Garron Hospital, doing whatever is needed. She also loves to read and says she could live without her TV but couldn’t live without books. Maxwell is also dedicated to yoga and does it every day.

Everyone at the Balmy Beach Club knows Maxwell, and they all light up when she’s mentioned. She’s clearly a cherished member of the community and club, and said she is touched by that. 

“It means the world, it really does. If I can inspire one person to enjoy life as much as I do, then I feel like I’ve been very successful in my life. There’s nothing more I could ask for,” she said. “I’m truly blessed.”  

Rowe said she is in awe of her friend. “Audrey is phenomenal and she inspires all of us. She approaches life with such grace and humility and takes everything in stride and keeps on going.” 

“I look forward to seeing you open up the 85 plus group and then the 90 plus group,” Rowe said, looking over at Maxwell. 

Maxwell agreed. “I like that. I’m going to play as long as I can. I said I was going to still be playing at 50, and here I am 30 years later.”  

With that, the rest of the beautiful September afternoon stretched out. Rowe went to the squash court to have a hit with her husband and Maxwell was on her way home, planning to stop to get ingredients for her latest baking recipe.