Lancaster, PA — Yesterday, Franklin & Marshall announced that Gavin Jones will be the new Director of Squash.
Jones takes over two successful college squash teams. The F&M women won the Walker Cup (“C” Division) last season and finished the year ranked seventeenth in the nation. The men’s team finished in the Potter Cup (“A” Division) of the Men’s National Team Championships, which led to a season-ending ranking of eighth.
Jones takes over for John White. White, who led the Diplomats for four seasons, will be the coach at Drexel University next season.
Below is the press release from Franklin & Marshall:
LANCASTER, Pa. – Franklin & Marshall Director of Athletics, Patricia S.W. Epps, announced the hiring of Gavin Jones as the new Director of Squash on Wednesday. Jones will be the eighth individual to coach the men’s squash program and the sixth to coach the women’s team at F&M.
“We had an outstanding field of candidates and a tremendous group of highly qualified finalists,” said Epps. “In the end, Gavin was extraordinarily well prepared and he brought a tremendous amount of passion to the process.”
A world-class squash player, Jones was ranked as high as 37th on the Dunlop/Professional Squash Association’s (PSA) World Rankings during his career. He won three PSA Titles during his time on the circuit as well.
Jones was the Welsh National Champion in 2005 and 2006 and was a member of the Welsh Commonwealth Team in 2002 and 2004. He was a Silver Medalist in the 1999 World Team Championships, and earned five bronze medals in in the European Team Championships, while representing Wales in over 70 caps.
Since 2007, Jones has been the Squash Pro at The Cynwyd Club in Bala Cynwyd, Pa. In that capacity, Jones coached dozens of players in the College Squash Association’s (CSA) Top 100 through the years.
Jones’ background includes more than 20 years of squash playing and coaching experience at various clubs around the world. For the past four years, he has coached Harriton-Lower Merion, the largest public school squash program in the United States. That program has developed numerous college squash players.
While squash is often thought of as an individual sport, Jones grew up in a team environment playing for Wales’ National Team. He later assisted the Welsh Boys U19 National Team.
“After traveling around the world with the Welsh national team, I’ve always wanted to mentor a team and give back the same experiences I had with my coach,” said Jones. “I want to help young adults succeed on the squash court, and provide guidance off court.”
Jones will begin his tenure on Franklin & Marshall’s campus in August.
