The first event of the season, the annual Meliora Squash Exhibition, took place a week ago and was successful both in terms of attracting a decent crowd and providing the audience with exciting squash. The crowd mostly consisted of members of the local squash community but quite a few students stopped by as well.

During the same weekend, the team played a tournament amongst themselves to determine the top twelve players on the roster. We wanted to get the tournament done before the official training started on October 15. That is the date when the “official” season of the squash team kicks off — well, at least according to the NCAA rules. Until now, the team has done mostly off-court training (running & gym work) and a couple of captain’s squash practices every now and then. However, from now on we will get on court almost every day together with the coaches and start preparing for the first matches of the season.

We started the preparation this week by just sitting down as a team and going through our strengths and weaknesses on court. Coach Heath talked about his professional career and how he improved his game step by step, eventually reaching the number four spot in the world. It is obviously inspiring for the team to hear about his thoughts and encouraging to know that small changes in your game can actually raise your level significantly.

The discussion got a lot of positive feedback and everyone seemed to enjoy just sitting down and spending some time talking about squash in a classroom. Although we will be spending a lot more time on court from now on, we will also continue to have discussions outside the court with a lot more focus on tactical and mental aspects than before. I believe that this will make a difference as we get closer to big games and Nationals.