Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) men’s squash team, led by Head Coach Theirry Lincou, is the chosen recipient of the 2024 Sloane Award for team sportsmanship. The College Squash Association (CSA) announced the award recipient on Saturday, March 9 prior to the Ramsay Cup semifinal at the 2024 CSA National Collegiate Individual Championships in Philadelphia.
This is the second time that MIT has received the Sloane Award with the team also earning the award in 2019 under Lincou’s leadership. MIT finished a successful season this year by ending the season ranked 16th in the country.
Lincou expresses the honor it is “to be voted by our peers as the recipient of the Sloane Award. After receiving the Award in 2019, I am extremely delighted and proud to see that the Team continues to carry itself and compete with respect, honesty and fairplay. I believe that it is important to win and and lose gracefully and I am happy to have the players representing MIT the best possible way. Big thanks to our seniors and captains for helping maintain that Team culture”.
The Sloane Award is given annually to the men’s team exhibiting a high level of sporting behavior. The team characteristics this award honors may be best described in the words of former Williams coach, Clarence Chaffee: “a sense of esprit de corps, of sportsmanship, of hard but fair play, of being gracious in victory and defeat, and enjoying the camaraderie and pride of being part of a team.” Coaches discussed with their players which team they felt is deserving of the award. Coaches were then polled for nominations and then voting was conducted online leading up to the team championships.
An award for team sportsmanship was first given in 1981. The team that won the award that year — Williams College — was coached by Sean Sloane. A nationally ranked hardball player, Sloane had been coaching both squash and tennis at Williams since the 1970s, and his teams were known for their spirit and sportsmanship. Sloane eventually left Williams to serve as the Director of the USTA’s Education and Recreation Program, but when he returned to coaching in 1997 at Haverford College, his teams continued to be recognized for their sportsmanship. The CSA renamed the award in Sloane’s honor in 2005.
Naval Academy was the other team receiving the most votes in the coaches’ poll for the 2024 Sloane Award.
