From the humble anonymity amidst a pair of courts at the Attleboro YMCA, a flock of area residents have stamped "squash" on their athletic endeavors - why the half-dozen international squash courts at Brown University's Pizzitola Center were flooded with familiar faces a few days ago.

There was Dave Purdy of North Attleboro, who provides instruction at the Attleboro Y to whomever wants to take up the sport.

Then was North Attleboro's Mike Parent playing in the "A" flight championship matches. There were North's Brian Patch and Wrentham's Tom Wunderlich taking their Nos. 1 and 2 points respectively in the "B" flight series.

There was one of the godfathers of sport, Owen James, who along with Russ Yarworth, introduced the sport of squash to local athletes better than three decades ago when the courts at the Attleboro Y were constructed in 1973.

There was Tom McNulty, the former No. 1 singles player for the Bishop Feehan High tennis team. Off in the shadows were Steve Mendes and Tim Lindsey of the Attleboro YMCA, who champion the sport to anyone who walks through the doors. Former Attleboro High Bombardier Dave Archard, North Attleboro's Joe Desautel and North business owner (Fuller Box) Peter Fuller, ex-Shamrock Paul Shannon, a past president of the R.I. Squash League, the Coogan's, Jerry and Jay. "You you get a bunch of older guys, guys who are really competitive, it's an incentive to stay in shape," said Wunderlich, a software marketer whose 67-year-old dad still plays.

"With golf, it takes all day to play," offered Purdy, who directs Soleil Communications, an advertising agency on Pleasant St. "I don't have all day - I have to work!"

"It's such a great fraternity," said Patch of the friends he's gained, from all walks of life. "Judges, doctors, they might not answer routine calls - but they answer all their squash calls!"

And so it was that Parent, Patch and Wunderlich helped bring the Brown University Squash Club to the R.I. Squash League championship, a confederation of some 10 teams playing at all levels, from "A" players like Parent to "C" and "D" players like James and Wunderlich's dad.

"Norm (Yarworth) played over in England and he showed us how to play," recalled James, the Attleboro Y courts being three-feet shorter in width (18-feet) as compared to the 21-foot international courts. All courts are 32-feet in length.

"I remember us going over to the Bancroft Company (a then manufacturer of tennis racquets and products) in Woonsocket and buying squash racquets for $7," chuckled James.

"When I first started playing, we used the rental racquets at the front desk (at the Attleboro Y) for two years," said Patch. With Jack Fitzgibbons, Dave Schofield and Purdy, he became part of the generation of converts, having played many other sports, turning in the tennis and racquetball racquets for the 27-inch long by eight-plus inch wide instrument of squash.

"I started playing and fell in love with it," said Purdy, who also represents Prince Sporting Goods. "I had played tennis at North (Attleboro High) and at SMU (UMass-Dartmouth), I switched to racquetball and then squash." In 1989, he became the U.S. National champion (in the "D" level), became a certified teaching pro and rattled off the names of every Khan family member who has become a world champion.

The Pizzitola Center courts were a beehive of activity, while the viewing stands were packed with followers, family and friends. "It's such an exciting sport to play, to watch and to teach," said Purdy. "There is a guy still playing for the University Club (in Providence) that's 91 years old."

The game of squash was developed in England in the 19th century as a pastime for some boys at private boarding schools, who began puncturing small balls and whacking away at them with some ill-shaped racquet. In 1908, the sport came into the mainstream of the English sporting society and jumped across "the pond (Atlantic Ocean)" when English ex-patriates, Pakistanis and Indians began arriving on America's shores. The racquets were traditionally made of laminated wood with a various components, mostly horsehide, for the stringing or guts. Composite materials, or metals along with synthetic strings took over by the late 1980s.

The squash ball is composed of two pieces of rubber compound glued together to form a hollow sphere. There are several different style balls for varying temperatures and atmospheric conditions, slow balls and higher bouncing balls.

The first player to score nine points (only the server can score points) wins the game, most matches being best-of-five contests.

The R.I. Squash League season begins in the fall and concludes with the championships in the spring, a 20-week season. Most players get on the courts two or three times a week. Patch, for example, has a 19-1 record, Wunderlich is 16-5.

"I started playing for fun when I was at Brown (an '89 graduate)," said Wunderlich, who had played baseball and soccer at Ponagansett High in northwestern R.I. "I had never played any racquet sports, but the nice thing about squash is that it doesn't matter how good you are, you always play with or against people your own level and you get a good workout."

"They say that this is No. 1 in heart attack sports," said Patch of the intense exertion of energy, testing every body muscle group. "It's so high tense. You have to be in great shape to play squash. You can't play squash to get in shape. I tell you, though, it's tough getting old!"

When Wunderlich was a senior at Brown, when squash was a club sport, the Bears would get a good working over by the varsity teams from Harvard and Yale. He found that by chasing the ball around, "you get incrementally better," the skills develop at a rapid rate.

"It's a sport that definitely helps you with your quickness," said Wunderlich. "If you gain 10 pounds and decide to go out and play, it's like carrying two bags of sugar. There are your knee and ankle injuries, the muscle tears. If my dad is still playing, I guess I can."

There are some two dozen regular squash players at the Attleboro YMCA, a dozen or so of which have roots in Pakistan. "Nobody played before," said James. "It was something to do in a short time and get a good workout.

"Because of the confinement of the walls, the balls dying in the frontcourt and the backcourt, it takes a while to get used to," added James of the lunging and learning. "When you play long points, you can get pretty sore."

But, nobody's complaining.

PETER GOBIS can be reached at 508-236-0375 or at pgobis@thesunchronicle.com