New Haven, CT — At Yale University this weekend, over 144 college squash players gathered for the 2009 Ivy League Scrimmages.
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Note: We are unable to identify a few players pictured below. If you know their names, please contact us or leave a comment below.
New Haven, CT – A sign of things to come? The Harvard women and Yale men should hope so. The two teams won this weekend’s Ivy Scrimmages, held at Yale’s Brady Squash Center. As scrimmages, the results don’t count toward national or Ivy League rankings. The competition did, however, give a sense of where teams stand coming into the start of the season.
And it’s a very good place for the Harvard women. Even with several players sitting out, the Crimson rolled over Yale in the finals, winning 8-1. Contributing to the team’s success were members of the Crimson’s deep first-year class, including Laura Gemmell, the highest ranked first-year player in the CSA’s women’s preseason individual rankings. With all the players from last season’s Howe Cup squad returning, the Crimson are ready to contend for the national title they narrowly missed last season.
Harvard didn’t get a rematch with the team that denied them that title, defending national and Ivy League champions Princeton. The Tigers, who were #1 in the preseason rankings, lost to fifth-ranked Yale in the second round by a decisive 2-7. Princeton was playing without 2008-2009 All-American Neha Kumar, who played number two at the end of last season.
Like the Harvard women, the Yale men benefited from the contributions of first-year players, with Richard Dodd playing at number 5 and Kenneth Chan proving to be a solid number 1. The Bulldogs blanked Brown and Dartmouth on their way to the finals, where they defeated defending Ivy League champion and national runner-up Princeton 6-3. Although most of the squads had some players sit out this weekend, the Bulldogs should be encouraged by their strong start, especially after coming off a disappointing 2008-2009 season.
Another team that should be encouraged by this weekend’s performance is Dartmouth. In Hansi Wiens’ head coaching debut, the Dartmouth men battled Harvard to a 5-4 win in the first round. Both teams will have something to prove when the Crimson travel to Hanover in early December.
This year’s Ivy Scrimmages also marked the first appearance by the Columbia men, who were led by new head coach Jacques Swanepoel. They joined the Columbia women, who were making their third trip to the Ivy Scrimmages. As emerging varsity teams, the Lions aren’t yet competing on the same level as the other Ivy squads. Both Columbia teams should only continue to improve over the coming years.
A lot can – and will – change between now and February, when these teams will return to New Haven for the National Team Championships. But if the Harvard women and Yale men have their way, they’ll finish the season the same way they began it: victorious.
To see photos from the event, click here.
Link to Yale men’s press releases (with scores): Day One and Day Two
Link to Yale women’s press releases (with scores): Day One and Day Two
Northampton, MA — With a new squash season, there are many new faces in men’s college squash.
Below is a preseason list of the top 14 first year players:
Below are other top first year students listed by schools as submitted by coaches and team contacts:
Amherst College:
Bates College:
Boston University:
Brown University:
Colby College:
Cornell University:
Dartmouth College:
Denison University
Franklin & Marshall College:
George Washington University:
Hamilton College:
Harvard University:
Haverford College:
Hobart College:
University of Illinois:
Middlebury College:
United States Naval Academy:
Northwestern University:
University of Pennsylvania:
Princeton University:
Purdue University:
University of Rochester:
St. Lawrence University:
Stanford University:
Trinity College:
Tufts University:
Vassar College:
University of Washington:
Wesleyan University:
University of Western Ontario:
Williams College:
Yale University:
Cleveland, OH — The University of Notre Dame women’s squash team traveled to The Cleveland Racquet Club to meet up with the women’s team from the University of Rochester over Halloween weekend. Upon arrival the two clubs played in a mini-singles round-robin match in groups of three. This was a great warm-up for both teams, and being the first competitive match for some players it was a great way to work out some “jitters.” Following the mini-tournament the teams played their official CSA match.
Of the eight members on the Notre Dame team, only two had prior CSA experience, but all of the players were filled with a competitive fire and Irish Pride. Three at a time they took to the courts and it was evident early on that this could be the school’s most competitive match to date. Notre Dame began down a match having to forfeit at the 9th position. Grace Lee (#8) and Brittani Russell (#7) started off splitting their matches. Brittani did a great job adapting her tennis background to the squash courts and won her match in three straight games, 11-4, 11-9, 11-8. Tess Fitzpatrick (#5) was next to finish in a match that needed four games to determine the winner. Following two close games that Tess won 11-9 and 11-7, her opponent outlasted her in a 10-12 Game 3. In the fourth game, Tess dug deep and stepped up her play to win the game 11-5 and take the match. This evened up the team score at 2-2.
In the next round of matches Irish players Kelly Levis (#6) and Octavia Ratiu (#3) faced stiff competition but both played well in their CSA debuts. Melissa Curvino (#4) and Mariana Cuervo (#2) also turned in great early season play, but fell to their Rochester opponents.
Team Captain and returning starter Kristine So (#1) took to the court buoyed by the great play of her teammates in the earlier matches and displayed the confidence of a seasoned player. After opening up with an impressive first game win 11-0, she went on to win the match in three straight games, 11-0, 11-8, 11-7.
Following the match with Rochester the team was privileged to have a private group lesson with Cleveland Racquet Club squash pro, Nathan Dugan. Nathan, who began coaching at the age of 12 and was once the 52nd-ranked player in the world, shared some of the insights he’s obtained from over 20 years of playing and coaching the game of squash. After some lecture-style instruction several of the players were able to join Nathan on the court for some drills and first-hand displays of squash technique.
Sunday morning the Notre Dame women returned to the Club where a friendly match was held between the Irish team and female CRC members. Some of the play clearly reflected the lessons from Nathan’s clinic the night before, and everyone had a great time both on and off the court.
The next match for Notre Dame squash will take place on Saturday, November 14th, when the men’s team will travel to Northwestern University to play in a round-robin with the University of Illinois, Western Michigan University, and the host Wildcats.
The women’s team hopes to get in a match in January, but is already looking forward to the College Squash Association National Tournament to be held at Yale University from February 26-28, 2010.
Haverford, PA — This summer, Sean Sloane announced his retirement as the head men’s and women’s squash coach at Haverford College. Damon Leedale-Brown recently began his first season at the helm of the Haverford squash program.
Beginning in 1970, Sloane has been connected to college squash. He served as the coach of Williams for the better part of sixteen seasons. In 1987, he joined the United States Tennis Association as the Director of the Education and Recreation Program. In 1997, he returned to squash coaching at Haverford.
During Sloane’s tenures at Williams and Haverford, his teams were known for their sportsmanship. In 2005, the men’s College Squash Association renamed the team sportsmanship award after Sloane.
In October, Sloane had hip revision surgery. He was nice enough to chat with the College Squash Association during his recovery. Below is a portion of our interview.
CSA: Why did you retire?
Sloane: I’m not completely retired — I am still coaching men’s tennis at Haverford. But, it was time. I don’t think there are many coaches out there coaching three teams (men’s tennis, men’s squash, and women’s squash), and the overlapping responsibilities have gotten more complex, especially the recruiting aspects. And I can’t be on the court any more in squash — both hips are artificial and I am just now recovering from a revision of my right hip.
CSA: What will you miss the most?
Sloane: The day-to-day interaction with the teams and the many great friends I have made through the sport.
To be more specific, I have never found anything to match what I call the “light-bulb moment.” As a coach, you work with players on all kinds of technical and tactical improvements. Each improvement takes time. But there always arrives that moment when you and the player both see the idea kick in, the player makes the change, positive results are virtually instantaneous, and a huge smile comes across his or her face. Those moments have always been, for me, the most powerful and inspirational aspect of squash coaching.
As a corollary to the “light-bulb moment,” there are also “transcendent moments” — these are times during match play when a player of yours suddenly puts together all that you have both been working on and plays a series of almost perfect points. Again, the joy and wonder on a player’s face after such transcendent moments — hard to match!
CSA: What do you consider the highlights of your squash coaching career?
Sloane: In both tennis and squash, I had great mentors. John Conroy, Princeton’s squash and tennis coach and my summer boss for five years, showed me what it meant to be a tennis professional. Clarence Chaffee, my predecessor at Williams (where he coached for 37 years), was a great role model and always emphasized sportsmanship. When Haverford’s women won the Chaffee Award for sportsmanship at Howe Cup in 2003 and Haverford’s men won the Conroy Trophy at the National Team Championships in 2002, those were very emotional moments for me.
And I have always been very proud of the fact that during my 17 years at Williams four players who began playing squash in college graduated as All-Americans.
But when my fellow coaches surprised me several years ago by re-naming the CSA Team Sportsmanship Trophy the Sloane Award — I consider that the culmination of all I have tried to be as a squash coach!
CSA: If you could change one thing about intercollegiate squash, what would it be?
Sloane: I would mandate that all intercollegiate squash matches begin with the players themselves, inside the court, making the decisions. To me, the best, fairest, and most rewarding squash matches occur when both players respect each other and the traditions of the game and battle each other on equal terms to the finish. We have lost this unique aspect of our sport by asking our teams to serve as referees from outside the court. Refereeing squash from behind the court is incredibly difficult and takes years of experience. But even more important, as coaches and educators, we should be asking our players to accept the challenge of respecting the traditions of squash by giving the benefit of the doubt to one’s opponent in all decisions. If either player feels that this is not happening, he or she could ask for the present refereeing system — but first give our players a chance to prove themselves great sportsmen and sportswomen!
CSA: Do you have any advice for the College Squash Association?
Sloane: Maintain our autonomy! Never allow NCAA or US Squash to take control of intercollegiate squash. Pursue partnerships with them, but retain control of our sport!
CSA: Do you have any words of advice for CSA coaches?
Sloane: I feel incredibly fortunate to have spent most of my working life as a coach. I have been a high school and college English teacher, a squash and tennis professional, a professional tennis coach on the ATP Tour, an ITF and ATP Referee for major professional tennis tournaments, and an administrator for the USTA — none of those ever matched coaching for personal satisfaction.
Coaches may not make a lot of money, but where else can you sleep late most days, come to work in a sweat suit, enjoy long vacations, and be inspired each day by the energy and desire of intelligent young men and women to improve themselves? What a life! Do whatever you have to do outside of coaching to allow you to stay in coaching — it is the best!
CSA: Anything you would like to say to your friends in the college squash community?
Sloane: Best wishes to all my friends in squash — I hope to see you all around the courts this season and in future years!
University of Washington coach Michael Bishop reports on his team’s cross country trip to the Navy Round Robin and their improvement over last season.
Annapolis, MD — The University of Washington (UW) squash team’s pre-season goal was a return to being a mid-30’s ranked team. A cross-country weekend trip to the Navy Halloween weekend round robin was a big step in that direction for us. We defeated number 32 Virginia and number 33 Drexel by identical 5-4 scores, and added wins over the University of North Carolina (UNC) and Bard before losing to number 29 Georgetown on the sixth and final match of the weekend. A scrimmage with the Navy B team made it an exhausting but exhilarating two days.
Squash teams often consider themselves fortunate to have the excitement of one 5-4 win in a season. Two in two days was about all I, as coach, could handle. A game University of Virginia (UVA) team kept all matches close except number 1 (3-0 for UVA’s Patterson over UW’s Young) and number 2 (3-0 for UW’s Morcos over UVA’s Tse). A key victory for us came at number 4, where sophomore co-captain Parisa Khalighi (our team is co-ed) wore down Kaseem Sututikorova with the steady rails and pinpoint drops she learned from days as a junior with coach Azam Khan. The clinching win came 3-2 (12-10 in the fifth) from freshman Eugene Chau over Paul Light, and exhilaration reigned as we realized we were on track again after a tough 08-09 season.
After the Friday night victory over UVA, we expected a much easier time with UNC, to whom we had lost last year, 5-4. We knew our team is much improved over last year’s, and figured UNC would be coasting in the Saturday morning tilt. But UNC had also found new blood including senior Rees Sweeney-Taylor (who had not played last year) and gave us all we could handle, keeping it close until the end. We won 6-3, with four of the nine matches going to four games. Khalighi again provided a key win and gutsy performance against fleet Mike Morrill, UNC captain, with scores of 6-11, 14-12, 12-10, and 12-10.
Our tired but energized team faced Drexel immediately following UNC, again winning by the narrowest possible margin. We easily won the first three matches (at numbers 3, 6, and 9) but Drexel came back with the next three wins, and it all came down to the final three matches with number 1 going to UW’s Young over Chatterjee. Khalighi again played superbly but in the end, it was Drexel captain Justin Burkholder with a 3-2 win over her. It all came down to a match at number 8 between UW sophomore Kevin Park and Drexel’s Gagliano. Park wore him down and won 11-1 in the fourth. Asked afterwards whether he realized that his was the clinching match, Park commented, “I wondered why so many people suddenly came to see me.” Park was the weekend hero, going 5-0 for the five CSA matches, losing only in the scrimmage with Navy B.
Our third Saturday match was against Bard, a team that had provided our only regular season victory in 08-09. Bard was much stronger this year, taking several games and narrowly losing at number 5 as their Vladamir Pick took our Ryan Tyler to five games before finally losing 11-0 in the fifth, a victim of Tyler’s incredible fitness and energy.
On Sunday, our weary team faced Navy B followed by Georgetown. Again, there were close matches (four of them went to five games with the fifth one always close). In a match that felt quite competitive, the Hoyas ended up going 8-1 to get the “W.” The number 1 match included spectacular gets and great shots with Michael Krayem beating Husky Rob Young in five. The lone Husky win came from Kevin Park in yet another five gamer.
How does a team go from number 44 to a weekend like this? Numerous factors have contributed to our team’s resurgence. A big boost was expected from the return of number 1 Rob Young, who had taken the year off college squash but had worked independently on his game and came back stronger then ever. But unexpected surprises came repeatedly starting at the end of last season as Ben Bryan, a talented badminton and tennis player showed up and asked if he could learn squash (the answer was yes, and Bryan is number 6 on the team). Then Kevin Park, a then freshman, came and said he had learned the game playing for St. Andrew’s, a secondary school in Toronto, and could he play on the team? Yet another bit of good fortune came in October when Eugene Chau, an incoming freshman, showed up at practice and explained that he had played at Andover Academy. Chau has been a solid number 7 and shows great promise for the future.
A second big factor has been the addition of weekly coaching sessions with Azam Khan. Khan, a former US National team member, has coached some of the top US juniors, including US Junior Open champion and Penn player Kristen Lange as well as current US women’s junior team member Yarden Odinak. UW players Morcos and Khalighi grew up with Azam’s tutelage and helped arrange to bring him on board in what is clearly a step up for the team.
The third big factor has been the student leadership of the team. In an unusual step, the team has three co-captains this year. Seniors Brett McGinnis and Najib Morcos seemed the obvious choices for captain, but Khalighi’s leadership, enthusiasm and skills made it clear that the team had a “troika” at the top. The arrangement has been a great success with a palpable difference in enthusiasm and work ethic on the team.
Northampton, MA — The college squash season is getting underway for the majority of teams; however, CollegeSquashAssociation.com has already been busy this fall. Below are some highlights in case you missed them.
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Northampton, MA — Today, the women’s College Squash Association released its preseason individual rankings.
Listed after each player’s name is their school.
Northampton, MA — Today, the men’s College Squash Association released its preseason individual rankings.
Listed after each player’s name is their school.
The College Squash Association (CSA) is the governing body overseeing all intercollegiate varsity squash in the United States. The CSA is a subsidiary of and supported by U.S. Squash, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
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