About Charlie Johnson's Racquet Sports

We’re Back! Back online where we started in 1996 and back trying to provide excellent products for discriminating racquet sports enthusiasts.

 

My (our) history. I started as a tennis player when I was 8 years old! Played in high school and college and switched to squash in graduate school to get some exercise. Fell in love with it. Back in the 1990s I had a big tennis and squash retail store in Cincinnati with a large mail-order presence. There was a highly competitive mail order market, and to standout, I was the VERY FIRST person to sell racquet sports equipment online. We designed a rudimentary shopping cart back in 1995 and went live selling tennis and squash racquets, shoes and accessories in 1996 before shopping carts were a thing. I remember telling a squash buddy of mine, who was vice-president of marketing for Proctor & Gamble (based in Cinti) that I was going to sell on the internet, and he “wisely” said: “no one is going to buy things on the internet!” Ha….!

 

So, after a few crazy years of that, as tennis got more and more competitive and hard to deal in volume discounts, I settled on my passion for squash. Our online store focused on squash products only, trying to provide all items for all kinds of players. Meanwhile, I also began my coaching career and was lucky enough to work at clubs where we developed top, nationally ranked junior players and adults who competed at the national tournament level. While in the Midwest (Cincinnati and Dayton, OH), I was able to balance both things: online sales and coaching.

 

Fast forward to my move to the east coast and New York City area 11 years ago. Once I started as Head Squash Pro at The Yale Club of New York City in 2014, the demands of the job, building a strong squash program at the level expected for one of the top city clubs in the country, took time away from website maintenance and order fulfillment. CJSquash.com lapsed. A page had been turned to a new chapter and the passion for squash was channeled to building a successful club squash program.

 

Now, while I still head our Yale Club squash program, two new knees and a new hip later, I’m still coaching squash full-time and playing occasionally, but have also experimented with other racquet sports. Winters found me trying platform tennis and summers you will find me on the tennis court (when not playing golf), and I’ve tried Padel, and yes, Pickleball as well.

 

So, with a reliable supplier and staff, I decided it was time to try and service the needs of racquet sports enthusiasts like myself, that enjoy a good game and fine equipment. We are not going to offer all the thousands of products available for these popular, and growing sports, but instead will try to narrow down your search by offering the best products, and some best values. Give us a look, see if we might have the racquet or paddle that suits you, and as before, feel free to reach out to me with your questions.