By Rajan Saha, Staff Reporter
The boys’ and girls’ squash teams competed at the U.S. High School Team National Championships in Philadelphia on Feb. 24 and 25. The girls team placed 14th in Division 1 and the boys finished 13th in Division 2.
The boys marked a memorable season by winning their 20th Central League title in a row, led by new head coach Jérémie Aissaoui-Fischer, who coached the Tredyffrin/Easttown and Valley Forge middle schools’ boys’ and girls’ teams previously. He successfully led the girls’ team to win first place in Division 1 of the 2023 U.S. Middle School National Squash Championships. A few of these middle school athletes played for the high school girls’ team this year, contributing to their success.
“I think our season went well,” said sophomore and team member Noe Rowe. “We had a lot of upsets against teams that had previously beaten us and I think we really put ourselves out there as a good team.”
Before nationals, senior and A-team player Harrison Kerr believed the team could perform well due its hard-working nature and how supportive the players are of one another. When they play matches against other schools, they cheer each other on and display consistent effort.
“I think we’re gonna come out with the same intensity that we always do,” Kerr said. “No matter if we’re playing the best team or the worst team, we’re going to give it our all.”
Rowe has a similar perspective on the girls’ team’s chemistry and comraderie aiding its members’ mindsets during matches and beyond.
“I think our strengths are our ability to work together,” Rowe said. “A lot of the people on the team are friends outside of squash, so we’re able to uplift everyone.”
Junior and B-team member Jeffrey Wang believes that being mentally prepared to play the matches has proven to be an obstacle for the players. But, he said that they are able to overcome the challenges by motivating each other.
“Sometimes we struggle to play as well as we can, but our teammates would just help us work through that and push ourselves no matter (what),” Wang said.
To prepare the high school boys’ team for nationals, Aissaoui-Fischer set up the general program for the team, which consisted of a warmup following the raise, activate, mobilize and potentiate protocol. He believes he prepared the players well throughout the season and enjoyed the process.
“I have the luxury of having kids that are nice (and) coachable. I work with some great assistant coaches. They make life so easy,” Aissaoui-Fischer said. “I strongly believe that if you’re willing to listen, great things can happen. It’s great to have kids that are available to speak to (and) available to coach. They are loving the game.”
Rajan Saha can be reached at [email protected].
