Colleges with squash teams
Squash is a nuanced sport that primarily lives in highly selective schools. For those who get into playing and develop through the rankings, it can be a terrific opportunity to connect with coaches and programs at a number of schools. For those who enjoy the sport, but would not like to play at a divisional level, there are many squash programs that offer competitive play at a club level.
The group that oversees all squash competition is regulated by the College Squash Association (CSA) and its mission is to grow the sport to 40 men and 40 women’s teams in the next few years. The sport as a whole saw over an 80% increase in participation from 2001-2011, but, according to recent surveys, the number of players has remained steady since.
The benefits of the sport abound as it provides structure, offers the opportunity to be physically fit, and join a team of likeminded individuals who are building skills in a sport that will last long after graduation.
Despite being a bit niche, there are approximately 1,000 Varsity squash players and just as many at the club level. Each college team is home to ten to twenty players with nine who play in competitions.
The size of these teams offers two or three recruits the opportunity to play at the college level. Athletes who are looking to get recruited should consider building a talent page on Club Locker where they can update all of their statistics, share results from big tournaments, and details about their academic interests starting in the 9th grade.
Starting on September 1st of 11th grade recruits can be sent materials about the school, have private correspondence with coaches, receive incoming phone calls, text messages, video messaging, and make unofficial visits. Over the next few months, coaches will get to know the athlete pool and start to determine who they are targeting during the recruiting process.
Starting January 1st of 11th grade, college coaches (except NESCAC schools) can bring prospective athletes to campus, NESCAC only offers official visits starting on the 1st day of an athlete’s senior year. This causes a bit of a bifurcation in the process as those who can speak to students earlier have more time to build those relationships with potential athletes.
The best advice to get noticed in recruiting for these schools is to be proactive, coaches have limited time and resources to pursue outreach efforts. If you notice in the list below, many coaches play double duty where they lead both the men’s and women’s programs; that means their time is extremely limited, so if you are eager reach out to coaches proactively.
Our advice when supporting student athletes is to build a spreadsheet template where you can track your coaching communication and stock letters that can be adjusted for each phase of the recruiting process. That way your accolades will be captured and then the nuance of each school can be adjusted in the body of the letter.
Meanwhile, if your school or local community center offers a learn-to-play squash program, try it out, you never know what activity may click with you and reveal a whole host of schools and programs that fit your future goals!
