From June 19 to 22, US Squash held its first Super Junior Championship Tournament (Super JCT) for the top 64 junior squash players in each age group nationally. Competing for their national ranking spots and their US Squash rating, players battled each other in elimination matches until a clear winner emerged. For the Boys Under 17 age group, that winner was junior Neil Srivastava.
Neil Srivastava began playing squash at 8 years old, inspired by his older brother Rishi Srivastava, a 2024 Conestoga alumnus, who currently plays squash at Yale University. After quitting baseball to focus on squash, Neil Srivastava dedicated himself to training, competing, and improving in the sport. Over the years, he spent hours traveling to tournaments and working with coaches. By the time he turned 11, Neil Srivastava had climbed into the national top ten in his age group. This year, by winning multiple major tournaments such as the Super JCT, Neil Srivastava is ranked the highest in his age group by US Squash.
According to his coach, Josh Simon, Neil Srivastava’s success is due to consistent improvement and dedication to the sport.
“He is meticulous. He works in a very structured way, and it works really well for him. Each year, we’re attacking what we didn’t do well last year, and we’re trying to improve it,” Simon said. “He’s got a high IQ and he’s not afraid of hard work. He’s got heart, he’s got grit, and he’s willing to put in work to achieve his goals.”
Neil Srivastava trains six days a week for an average of 90 minutes per day. To maintain and improve his play, he participates in clinics, fitness, skill sessions and matchplay, including one or more major tournaments a month. Immediately after a tournament, Neil Srivastava and his coaches plan a day-by-day schedule building up to the next major competition to incorporate adequate rest and training for his preparation in order to improve. His busy lifestyle requires him to make efficient use of time, dedicating it to both school and squash, balancing assignments while traveling for competitions or practicing after school.
“It’s a lot of time management outside and inside of school. Whenever I have (a) free (period), I try to get work done, but I also try to be focused outside of school because I know a lot of my time is committed to squash,” Neil Srivastava said. “I’m not trying to spend all the time that I’m not playing squash doing schoolwork, so I try to be as efficient as I can so I can still do other stuff that I find fun.”
Currently, Neil Srivastava is training for the U.S. Junior Open, the largest individual junior squash tournament in the world. The tournament will be held from Dec. 20 to 23, at the Arlen Specter US Squash Cnter in Philadelphia, and he anticipates a tougher challenge due to the participation of international players. The event gets competitors from several countries and wide range of playing styles and strategies. Neil Srivastava will also turn 17 before the tournament and play in a higher age group, Boys Under 19, in which he will face older and more experienced opponents.
“We have a training plan laid out for the next month to get prepared for the U.S. (Junior) Open, laid out from his fitness to his technical work to his match play work to his drill work, to be focused on what we need to hone in on,” Simon said. “His preparation allows him to be confident. When we go into the match, if we focus on the game plan and execute it on the day, then we should have a good outcome. We’ve studied players, we’ve done match analysis, we’ve prepared a game plan, let’s try to execute that to the best of our ability.”
Ryan Ding can be reached at [email protected].
