Hi all! My daughter will be applying to BS in the fall as an incoming freshman. Looking for strong squash programs with strong academics. 3.9 gpa student. Any recommendations? Looking at NEPSAC or MAPL schools
Check out Brooks School. Squash was highlighted during our tour. Good luck!
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Hotchkiss has a really strong squash program
You can do a search on boarding school review for which schools have squash and filter also for size, geography etc. Then you can go into the specific school team pages online and look at their historical w-l records to get an idea of how strong their team has been.
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Many of the usual suspects regularly posted about on these forums have excellent squash programs:
Deerfield
Hotchkiss
Andover
Kent
Taft
Choate
St Paul’s
There’s a distinction between good girls squash teams and good programs.
Some schools have good girls teams because they have inherited highly trained squash players, often from the squash hotbeds of Fairfield County, NJ, and PA. These athletes mostly get instruction from their local coach(es), go home many weekends and breaks for training, and the school they play at is somewhat anecdotal to their development as squash players.
Then there are boarding schools that have in house coaches (not just faculty supervisors) that know the game and how to develop squash players. These BSs are few and far between. This is not the same model as existed 10-20 years ago.
Good boarding school squash teams:
Lawrenceville
Hotchkiss
Tabor
SPS
Kent
Andover
Groton
Choate
Good boarding school squash programs in no particular order:
Andover
Hotchkiss
The Hill School (probably the best BS squash coach on campus in the country)
Tabor
Taft
Kent
St. Paul’s
At LV and Hotchkiss, girls rarely progress from JV to Varsity as these schools recruit top national girls players for 9th/10th grade every year. JV girls can get stuck. So choose the school wisely if varsity squash is the goal.
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And if varsity isn’t a goal? Can you still have a hook as a potential JV? I mean cross country would def be more of a hook for my daughter. Although she doesn’t LOVE it as much. She’s just naturally really good.
An athletic hook references when a kid is a potential impact player (varsity year 1 or 2).
Most boarding schools are looking for well balanced kids that are involved in multiple sports and activities. They need to fill JV teams for sure, and want kids that participate in a myriad of activities.
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Mercersburg has a very strong squash program and a great community and academics.
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My son played squash during boarding school so I’m familiar with the scene. Each year some of the top schools will “recruit” several players. Usually these are JCT-Gold level players from the US Squash circuit. The amount of help these players get from coach support varies. But it can provide a considerable boost.
JV level player probably would not move the needle at top boarding schools, but may help at other schools looking to build their squash program.
One thing to keep in mind is that most US Squash tournaments are over the weekend. Many of the boarding schools have policies that make it difficult to travel over the weekend. Most also have a 3 sport requirement. So that makes it difficult to train year round.