Smith College Squash Coach Tim Bacon is the only U.S. College Squash Coach who also teaches academic courses as well as coaching the varsity squash team (he is also the only Level 4 Squash Coach in the U.S. – but that’s another story).
Smith College squash athletes are given a great squash practice schedule with no time-wasting out-of-practice meetings, fund-raisers, etc. In fact they are the only team who use a “four out-of-five” practice structure. Practices were lengthened to 2.5 hours instead of 2.0, and team members were then given the option to attend just 4/5 practices to let them fufill their time commitment to the team – and to help them better organize their time at Smith – so many opportunities – so few hours!
Here is a short clip from one of Tim Bacon’s academic classes – Introduction to Coaching – where students get a chance to pursue a High School Coaching Certification. The clip also provides another example of how there are many opportunities to meet boys at Smith College – even if it is a “women’s” college. I am not sure about the treatment this boy is receiving (he is actually a very nice guy!).
Well perhaps not the entire team! Co-Captain Elizabeth Guyman went to watch the Beijing Olympics with her family – and now Jr. Luisa Tsang is there as part of Smith College’s fantastic semester-abroad program. Smith College Squash is one of the few programs that actually encourage their athletes to go abroad – obviously hoping that they will stay in shape and play squash – or perhaps another racquet sport.
Luisa Tsang, Smith Squash & the Great Wall of China!
Luisa writes from Beijing:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIM!!!!!!!!
Hope you had a wonderful day!
I have contacted alumna Kirsten Wallace Fisher, but the places she named are 1hr away from Peking University…SO i decided to play badminton instead. In fact, I’m playing it today at 4pm! It’s not squash, but it’s better than nothing. =) The badminton club is starting to recruit new students now, so I’m trying to join (if only I can figure how Chinese “dailyjolts” work, it would be an easier process).
Luisa Tsang, Smith College Squash & a Fried Scorpion - yummy!
I’ve attached a picture of being on the Great Wall and of me eating a fried scorpion on the streets. We went to the Olympic stadium over the weekend and made a human pyramid. The Chinese have apparently not seen foreigners form pyramids because a huge crowd were taking pictures of us instead of the stadium. I’ll be going to Xi’An this weekend to check out the terra cottas and to ride a bike on top of the city wall. Other than that, I’ve been working at a Traditional Chinese Medicine clinic and helping patients do cupping (I got a patient’s arm on fire once….).
Anyways, I hope Squash Team is going well! Hope you had a wonderful birthday!
The worst thing about squash is that outside of about 40 elite colleges (like Smith College) and a handful of big cities in the North East it is tough to find a squash club during Spring Break to keep your game in shape.
To counter that, Smith Squash Coach Tim Bacon (also a Certified Racquetball Canada Coach) has been making racquetball racquets and balls available to his players for their trips into the sun. The Spring Break destinations of South Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, and L.A. are all meccas for Outdoor Racquetball – no shirt required – either the one-wall or three-wall variety – actually, any local school wall will do. Check it out:
Outdoor Racquetball, a variant of American Racquetball, is not to be confused with the British Racketball that is played on the Smith College squash courts. Best of all there are no clubs to join or fees to pay – you just show up and play the locals (or kick their derrieres as Tim did on his last trip to Flamingo Park in South Beach).
At this week’s meeting of the Smith College Racketball Club (Wed. March 11, 7-7:45 pm) Coach Bacon will be going over the basic rules and strategy of Outdoor One-Wall Racquetball, with the incredibly lively and bouncy blue Ektelon racquetball. Free racquetball and loaner racquet (to be returned after Spring Break) for everyone that shows up.
There is a common misunderstanding that if a student attends a women’s only college – such as Smith College, one of the top colleges in the U.S. – that one would never see any boys. Not true!
Any of the almost 10,000 males at the Five Colleges around Northampton, Massachusetts are entitled to take classes at Smith College, the nation’s largest women’s college.
In addition to academic classes, since the College is only a couple of hundred feet from downtown Northampton, the country’s #1 Small Liberal Arts Town (which means the most and best bars, restaurants, theatre and cinema, art galleries, shops, etc. i a very “Green” environment), there are multiple opportunities for the female students of Smith to run into boys.
As we see here on the following video. Meg Oliverio, #3 on the Smith College Squash Team, has asked a male buddy from UMASS Amherst to come to the gym to hang out for a while:
The season is over, but members of the Smith College Squash Team come out to stay in shape at the Wendesday Night Recreational Racketball play organized and run by captain Alice Reznickova. That is “British Racketball” – played with a regular “American” racquet with a low-bounce ball designed specifically for the squash court.
Posted by Tim Bacon 
Posted by Tim Bacon 
Posted by Tim Bacon 
