Over the last few years, Washington and Lee’s squash program has quietly climbed the ranks both on campus and across the east coast.
In 2021, there was no squash team on campus. This school year, the Washington and Lee squash team is set to play more than 20 matches across the region including trips to New York, Washington, Philadelphia, Charlotte and Charlottesville.
Squash team president, coach and founder John Williams, ’25, is largely responsible for expanding the scope of the program, he said.
“As a freshman, I had a few people who I’d play with on occasion, but there was never anything organized,” he said. “This really bummed me out because I missed the competition and team atmosphere that I experienced in high school varsity sports.”
After his first two semesters on campus, Williams said he took the initiative to organize a more legitimate, competitive team on campus.
“I was aware that a club squash league existed under the College Squash Association (CSA), so in the spring of my freshman year I reached out to the commissioner and got Washington and Lee registered as a team,” he said. “Then I quickly began reaching out to every team I could that was in the mid-Atlantic area, and surprisingly, teams were extremely eager to add us to their schedules.”
Since then, the squash team has grown from five players to now consistently having 10 or more players at every match, according to club treasurer Hansen Ogden, ’26. The team’s flexibility and inclusivity to players of all levels sets it apart from other campus sports.
“We have the structure in place for people to be as serious as they want with the program, but also understand if people want to just come every once in a while to practice or compete,” Williams said.
This year has been the strongest on record for the squash program. The team currently has a 6-4 record, including wins against club programs at the University of Virginia, Duke University, the Naval Academy and the University of Richmond. These universities have had squash programs for much longer than Washington and Lee.
Over the last two years, the team added John Mullin, ’27, and Jack Jones, ’27. Jones transferred to Washington and Lee after playing varsity squash at Denison University last year. Williams said the two “have been a tremendous boost to the quality of our lineup.”
The team’s most ambitious trip this year will be to New York City to play at Fordham University, which will be its first-ever varsity opponent. Over the same weekend in January, the team will face off against New York University and Northeastern University’s club teams.
What lies ahead long-term for the squash program? For Williams, the goal is clear and not far from fruition.
“Ultimately, my goal is for the team to become a varsity program at W&L within the next three to five years,” he said.
To achieve that goal, Williams said he and other program leaders like Robert Mish, ’25, and Ogden have worked to build the team from the ground up.
“Each year we’ve tried to create manageable growth and build on our progress from previous years,” said Williams. “My first year I was just trying to fill out a roster and get matches on the books, and now we’re growing our budget, expanding our schedule, creating uniforms, selling merchandise and working with alumni groups. It’s amazing what we’ve been able to accomplish in such a short time span.”
While this will be Williams’ last season with the program, he is confident in the future of the squash program.
“This year we’ve focused a lot on solidifying the structure of the team to make it easier for the next generation of squash on campus,” he said.
Younger players, like Mullin, look forward to pursuing a varsity lineup.
“Creating a varsity team at some point would be very cool,” Mullin said. “We just need to keep growing the team and prove to the school that there is enough interest to have one.”
For students interested in playing squash on campus — no matter their experience level — the team welcomes all students and provides the equipment to do so. “We typically practice from 6 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday nights and love seeing new faces on the courts,” Williams said.
