I stumbled across a college review website and was surprised to see that there was a big “Not Applicable” beside the “Guys” category. Smith College usually gets top ratings for Most Beautiful Campus or Best Housing, so this was perplexing.
Erroneous Publication!
As perhaps the only U.S. College Squash Coach who also teaches academic courses (Psychology of Sport, Introduction to Exercise & Sport Studies, Introduction to Coaching, etc.) I knew that there were boys in Smith College courses – since many of them take my classes! I regularly get hockey players from Amherst College, mountain bikers from Hampshire College and baseball players from UMASS Amherst. Here is a short video of UMASS student Joe Dalton discussing our our topic of the day: Leadership in the film Miracle.
In addition to males in Smith courses, Smith College students are encourage to take classes at any of the Five Colleges, which means being educated alongside the almost 10,000 male students at UMASS, Amherst and Hampshire. Free bus and lunch when you take courses on other campuses in the association!
I won’t even talk about Northampton nightlife less than 200 yards from Smith (30+ bars and restaurants filled with boys!)… and now there is an Urban Outfitters…
The Smith College Squash team is the first and only team in the U.S. to plan and schedule a four -week “non-traditional season following the National CSA Championships. Who said you cannot play squash in the spring – it is a beautiful time of year on the Smith College campus (and if it dos get hot – the courts are fully air conditioned!):
One of the major problems with the NCAA and U.S. College Squash is that the competitive seasons are too short and too intense – leading to lack of player development, a high injury rate and burnout on the part of athletes. The reason is that the NCAA season is based on the “Professional Sports” model where very little improvement on the part of players occurs and the emphasis is on making money though the scheduling of many competitions.
Under the impression that they are “protecting”athletes, the NCAA is actually ensuring high injury and burnout rates by limiting season lengths to 19 weeks. Unfortunately the NCAA administrators are heavily invested in their bureaucratic creation and are unable to critically reflect on alternatives. Read the rest of this entry »
Smith College Squash played their hearts out but could not quite put away their higher ranked opponents, who simply played better to take the Epps Division Consolation Final 6-3 this morning at Harvard University.
The Howe Cup is played with the three-court system, and Haverford took a 2-1 lead after the first three matches, with Smith’s #6 Jasmine Wallas coming back to win in five after being down 2-1. #3 Meg Oliverio and #9 Mercedes Pepper fought hard against opponents who played very strongly.
In the next round the Smith Ann Wetzel nominee, #2 Jessica MacLeod put on a display of classic squash at its finest (deep drives followed by tight drops when the opponent was out of position) to what can only be termed “crush” her opponent 9-1,9-1,9-0. First year (and in her first year of squash!) Joane Poon just needed a little more experience to take her opponent, losing narrowly in four competitive games. Bostonite Jaye Cooke could not quite overcome her opponent’s hard-hitting and went down 3-0.
Up 4-2, Haverford needed only one more win to clinch the match with numbers 1, 4, and 7 still to play. In her best match of the year Smith #1 Shanita Williams combined hard drives with accurate drops and volley kills to dispatch her very fit opponent in straight games. Unfortunately for Smith, co-captain and #4 Alice Reznickova was hampered by a re-injured rib/back ailment and was not able to counter her opponents pressure losing 3-0. Only a few points separated fellow captain Elizabeth Guyman from victory as she went down with great tactical effort 9-7,9-7,10-8.
Haverford played a great match to reverse their 5-4 lost of two years ago, and there was great sportsmanship on the part of both teams. All four coaches from both teams were impressed by the effort and hustle of all players.
Outplaying their seeding of 31, Smith finishes the season in 30th place out of the 40 teams in the CSA. With wins in each of the past three weeks the team is looking forward to a great next season!
Many thanks to our #10 Liz Hughes and #12 Catie Blunt for coming with us for each match, dressed and ready to play in case of injury! They both got in a few exhibition games and gave a good account of themselves!
In a reverse of last year’s final match of the season, the Smith College Squash team beat Epps division rivals Colgate University by a score of 8-1 to advance to the Consolation Final of the 2009 Howe Cup in Boston today. Colgate fought hard but fell to the technically superior Pioneers in all but one of the matches. Smith #4 and co-captain Alice Reznickova, recovering from a strained back muscle lost 3-0 to her speedy Colgate opponent.
Before the match Coach Tim Bacon recognized the contribution of the team’s three Senior players:
Smith College Squash 8 Colgate 1
A highlight of the match was visits form alumnae Ashley Kilgore ‘05, Becky Spalding ‘07, and Huong Nguyen and Judy Liu, both class of 2008 – and of coure Ashley’s dad who brought along the requisite baked brownies. Judy is working in NYC, Houng is doing her Ph.D. at Tufts, and both Becky and Ashley are working in rehab clinics in the Boston area. Becky brought along her boyfriend and nice cupcakes!
Becky, Huong, Alice, Judy, Meg
Mr. Kilgore, Joanne, Ashley, Becky
Smith plays next at 9:10 tomorrow morning (Sunday, Feb. 15) against the winner of Wellesley and Haverford in the playoff for the 29th/28th spot in the championships.
Smith Squash lost their first match of the season back on November 8th to an experienced Squad from Northeastern by a score of 8-1. Three months later, back in Boston at the start of the 2009 Howe Cup, the team came out all fired up and improved to a loss of 7-2, almost a 6-3 as Smith #3 Meg Oliverio had a close match with a 3-1 loss. More important than the actual score, the team came out running for every ball from the start which will serve them well for the rest of the tournament.
The team next faces 30th ranked Colgate who lost their match to Conn College 9-0. The match-up against Smith will be a tough won as Colgate was the team who beat Smith 5-4 in the playoff for #31-32 in last year’s national team championship in Princeton. Th Smith team plays next at 2:00 pm today, Saturday, February 14th at Harvard’s Murr Center.
Four months of practices since October 6th – the team has improved as much as possible – now it is time to put it all to the test at this years Women’s College Squash Association Championship (The Howe Cup)!
Smith College Howe Cup Schedule 2009
The Smith College team has both the largest women’s roster in the country (22 players), and is the team with the largest percentage of “new” players – only two of the team’s players played on their high school team: Shanita Williams and Jaye Cooke from Boston’s SquashBusters. Half of the squad comes from overseas, from the Bahama’s (Jasmine Wallas) to Beijing (Su Fu). Four of the team’s top 10 qualify for the 2009 CSA Scholar-Athlete Award.
Playing most of the season under interim Coach Erin Robson (former coach of William’s College AND Smith Grad Program Alum) the team finished second at the U.S. Women’s College Squash Championships in November, and finished 3rd at the Seven Sister’s Squash Championship, reversing a November 8-1 loss to Wellesley, by a score of 6-3. The team’s other win came against an athletic Boston College squad who although short on numbers (they are in the Emerging Division) were big on talent and heart.
Smith’s #2 Jessica MacLeod has been nominated for the Ann Wetzel Award which goes to the best female squash athlete who started playing at college. Smith has won the award on three previous occasions. With the return of semester abroad athletes Alice Reznickova and Liz Hughes, the team is anticipating tough matches against usual Epps Cup opponents Haverford, F&M and Colgate.
Here is our travelling line-up:
1. Shanita Williams ‘10
2. Jessica MacLeod ‘09
3. Meg Oliverio ‘11
4. Alice Reznickova ‘10 (Co-Captain)
5. Jaye Cooke ‘10
6. Jasmine Wallas ‘11
7. Elizabeth Guyman (Co-Captain) ‘11
8. Joane Poon ‘12
9. Mercedes Pepper ‘09
10. Liz Hughes ‘09
11. Catie Blunt ‘12
Check back here for immediate results after our matches – and here is the link to the official CSA Website with scores for all divisions. Alums Huong Nguyen and Judy Liu, both ’08s, and Becky Spalding ‘07?, are planning on coming down for some of our matches! hope to see yu there if you can make it!
The team will be staying at the Hyatt in Cambridge and Tim’s mobile number is 413-330-8222 if you need a personalized update:)
Posted by Tim Bacon 
Posted by Tim Bacon 
Posted by Tim Bacon 
