Reeham Sedky, a University of Pennsylvania senior, has won the 2019 College Squash Association (CSA) Betty Richey Award—the most prestigious women’s individual honor bestowed by the organization.
The Richey Award is given annually to the women’s college squash player who best exemplifies the ideals of squash in her love of and devotion to the game, her strong sense of fairness, and her excellence of play and leadership. Betty Richey was a graduate of Radcliffe College, and a standout athlete who was named to the United States women’s lacrosse and field hockey teams multiple times. She began coaching and teaching physical education at Vassar in 1937, and over the next thirty years she launched varsity teams in women’s squash, men’s squash, field hockey, men’s tennis, and women’s tennis. Toward the end of her career she focused more of her attention on squash and was one of the founders of the women’s individual national tournament in 1965.
Reeham Sedky, of the University of Pennsylvania, has had an incredible run of success over the course of her career. She has amassed a career record of 59-4 which included a perfect 20-0 season during her junior year, the Ramsay Cup (individual national championship) that season, and a 31-match winning streak. Rightfully so, her accolades match her record on the court. In her first three seasons, Sedky earned First Team All-America and First Team All-Ivy League each year, and she has been name the Women’s Ivy League Player of the Year two times (2017 and 2018).
Penn Director of Squash Jack Wyant comments on his star player: “Over the past four seasons, Reeham Sedky has continued to show why she is one of the best and most dedicated players in program history. I hope this award validates all of the hard work that she has put in to get to this point. A leader on the court, Sedky was named a team captain. She is also just as dedicated off of it, where carries a heavy engineering and computer science course load and has been an Academic All-Ivy League honoree.”
Maddie O’Connor of Columbia University and Sabrina Sobhy of Harvard University were the other to finalists for the Richey Award.
