MSRA Spotlight on Alfonso du Toit

By Corey Modeste

While running the leagues for the last two years, I often saw the name Alfonso du Toit in the winners' column of the 5.0 division results. I thought it was great when I saw an email reporting his scores from a hard-won five-gamer in which he wrote, “The old dog strikes again!”  And then when he graciously agreed to speak with me for this interview (despite the fact that I reached him while he was juggling groceries from the supermarket) I knew this was a guy I'd like to have a beer with.


Alfonso grew up a tennis player in South Africa and started squash at age 20 at the Camps Bay Squash Club in Cape Town . I thought Alfonso's description of the club as “the best in the world” was a little self-serving until I saw the pictures of the club. Overlooking the ocean of South Africa 's Western Cape , sitting out on the deck at sunset with your buddies after a tough match seems was as rewarding as the sport itself.  Despite evident athleticism, Alfonso says that his transition to squash from tennis was tough and he tells of quite a few losses to “old ladies” who were up on him when it came to court strategy and how to work a boast. However, “no one likes losing” as he reminded me, and Alfonso had the benefit of playing in a club that was not only beautiful, but was also Federation league champions and had former South African champion and former world number 8 Gunner Way in-house for training and inspiration.


It was business (and subsequently romance) that brought Alfonso to NY in 2006. While visiting the city on a business trip, he met the woman that he would later marry and settled in Brooklyn . As I have done when I have moved to new cities, one of the first things Alfonso did was to find a new squash club. The nearby Eastern Athletic Club (EAC) was not only convenient and but it had just renovated its facility with four brand-new singles and one doubles court. The trendline in Alfonso's record in the 5.0 league clearly indicates that EAC was a good fit; after a 3-4 record for the 2006-07 season, he was 9-5 in 2007-08, 10-4 last year and has plans for even better this season.
When not on court (which is about three times per week), Alfonso works in commercial sales for security system company ADT and lives in Fort Green with his wife Emily.


Photos of the Camps Bay Squash Club in Cape Town, South Africa