By Henry O’Brien ’20 Sports Editor
The Mercersburg Academy boys’ and girls’ squash teams have had a proud history of excellence. The boys’ team has produced legends like Mark Talbott ’78 and high school All-Americans like Illia Presman ’17. The girls team won its Division championship at US Nationals in 2005. Both teams, and their JV teams, have been guided under separate head coaches since squash became a sport at Mercersburg.
However, the 2019-20 season brings change to squash at Mercersburg, with all four teams – boys and girls varsity and JV – housed within the Mercersburg squash program. The program is headed by its director, newcomer Ryan Tyree. As the director, he is the head coach for both the girls and boys varsity teams, while overseeing the JV teams.
Tyree excitedly said, “I was really pumped. From day one all things said by my colleagues and friends of mine… got me enthusiastic about the chance to coach here.”
Tyree is joined by math teacher Mike Sweeney, who served as the girls varsity coach last season, on the varsity staff where they will split time between the boys and girls varsity teams, while English department chair Chip Patterson and art teacher Wells Gray coach the JV boys and girls teams respectively, with Tyree and Sweeney overseeing.
Patterson stated, “I already see a lot of benefits to it [the program], especially because all the players are getting more time in the first place, and that it was really need.”
This upends the norm in which it used to be that the coach of each team focused on his own team. With more than one coach working with each team, they can give more advice and insight to each player.
“It is great having different training styles because we get a variety of drills and workouts that we never had before,” said Coco Sandhu ‘21, the number one player on the girls’ varsity ladder.
The Goldthorpe Athletic Complex offers Mercersburg students the finest athletic facilities for high school sports, and a prime example is the Davenport Squash Center, which gives students an opportunity to find their passion for squash or continue their previous experience. Even so, in the past, it has been challenging for members of each squash team to get more than one hour of practice as court time was split among the four separate teams.
Under the program, the court time problem disappears. In three out of the five weekday practices the entire squash program practices together; these are known as “Allsquad” practices. These practices last two hours, giving all players an extra hour to work on their game, which can go a long way in the development of new squash players. Allsquad also lets players of different teams and skill levels play with each other.
Captain Alex Lorenzo ‘20 praises Allsquad, saying, “We get more connections and friendships that allow us to work together and better one another. It allows for others to train with higher ranked players and allow them to better themselves.”
With its new approach, the Mercersburg squash program hopes to continue its legacy of success, while laying the foundations for future greatness.