By Amy Boytz
Additional information from Bob Callahan
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Bernardo Samper, Trinity, preseason rank #1
Amina Helal, Trinity, preseason rank #1
Photos courtesy Trinity College, 2001-2002 season |
By the time you read this article, college squash players will be well into their competitive season, likely in the midst of the three-match-per-week frenzy that is piled onto their academic workload. For four solid months, the teams practice daily (sometimes multiple times) on the courts and compete in numerous matches each month, slaving for three months to be at top physical shape and also staying up on class work.
To get you geared up for the college game--and to introduce you to players who will likely be world competitors as soon as they graduate--here is a brief explanation of how the intercollegiate season works.
The Format
College squash is a winter sport, with teams beginning formal practice by mid-October to early November. Most teams, however, start "captain's practice" as soon as they return to campus in the fall.
Team rosters range in size from 10-20 players each. In intercollegiate matches, schools play their top 10 players against their opponent's top 10. Only the top nine results count, with the number 10 match played as an exhibition. Most college teams will play anywhere from 10-20 matches per year, mostly on weekends. Many schools also offer a full Junior Varsity schedule for their players in the second 10 on their line-up. Practices are typically two hours each day after classes, six days per week. Team matches start in mid-November and culminate in the end of season National Team Championships in late February.
The squash colleges, in 2002, united under one squash association: The College Squash Association (CSA).
The Schools
The most frequent names that arise when discussing college squash are typically the East Coast schools of Harvard, Princeton, Trinity and Yale. These are the top teams year to year, both for the men and women's squash programs.
For 2002-2003, Trinity was the preseason, nationally ranked No. 1 men's and women's team.
The Conferences
There are two prominent conferences within the intercollegiate squash scene; both, again, residing in the East Coast hotbed of squash. There is the Ivy League, which includes all Ivy Schools: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Univ. of Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Yale. And there is the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) that includes Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut, Hamilton, Middlebury, Trinity, Tufts, Wesleyan and Williams.
These conferences don't play each other on a regular basis, though the schools within them will often set up matches based on competitive level. In a nutshell, the teams play those that are at their same competition level, not usually playing any team that is more or less than 10 spots away from them on the National rankings. For instance, Trinity--a top contender each year for the National title--is a part of the NESCAC conference. Because the school features a top-caliber team each year, it is in everyone's best interest to schedule matches against Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and the lot prior to the National Championships at the end of the season.
Schools in California such as Stanford and U.C.-Berkeley field teams as well, though in their Pac-10 conference there are no other "squash schools" for them to compete against. Instead, these teams must pack up and travel cross-country several times per year, cramming in upwards of three matches per traveling weekend. That's a lot of squash, but until other West Coast schools start producing competitive squash teams, the traveling won't stop. Also hopping on the bus or plane are schools in the South East region of the US, such as the University of North Carolina's Tarheels, currently a club team at the school.
The Championships
Individual Championships
The only true showcase for individual talent throughout the intercollegiate season comes at the end of the competitive year at the Individual Championships, this year to be held at Princeton University during the first week of March. At the Individual Championships, there are two 32-person draws, all based on ranking. Each school is auto-granted a spot for one player, and from there the draws are filled based on ranking from the season. This event always features tight matches and dueling competition, with the chance for numerous upsets. The way the regular collegiate season works, each school's No. 1 player always plays its opponent's No. 1. The No. 2s play the 2s, and so on. If a school is chock-full of excellent players, there is never a chance for, say, the No. 3 man to prove that he could truly beat all his opponents' No. 1 players--until the Individuals. The entrants filter through a traditional draw and, based on performance, can end up jumping dramatically in the National rankings.
Team Championships
The Team Championships are fairly straightforward. At the end of the competitive season (February 15-17 for WISA, February 22-24 for NISRA), the teams meet and compete for the National title. This year's WISA Team Champs, also known as the intercollegiate Howe Cup, will be held at Yale University. The NISRA Champs will be at Harvard University.
Though these are officially the National Titles, there is also a separate Conference title for the Ivy League schools, aptly named the Ivy Championships. The Ivy's are as big, if not bigger, of a deal for schools in this conference than the Nationals. This title is won at the end of the season and is based solely on head-to-head results from the competitive year. |
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