Vijay Chitnis, having served in the role as Director of Junior Development at U.S. SQUASH since 2004, has recently accepted a position at Brown University as their International Advancement Officer. This position will be one in which he will oversee international prospect and project management and will identify, cultivate, and solicit key donors to the University. Chitnis started at Brown, his alma mater, in mid-May.
During his time at U.S. SQUASH, Chitnis oversaw the largest growth in U.S. junior squash history, with the program seeing a 30% increase in participation in just the last year alone. Instrumental in expanding the organized play structure to include Silver and Bronze tournaments, Chitnis also launched the U.S. Middle School Championships after growing the U.S. High School Championships from 16 to 94 teams in four years. In his work, Chitnis encouraged strong alliances among junior squash initiatives, including all the urban squash programs, and the merging of the traditional junior squash tournament circuit with the New England Interscholastic Squash Association by starting the process of integrating schedules and results nationwide.
As part of the transition, Dent Wilkens will be starting full-time in August as the newest member of the U.S. SQUASH staff. Wilkens’ role will be as a Program Manager, focusing on programs that support teaching professionals and coaches, and U.S. SQUASH’s initiative to seed new middle and high school programs across the country.
Prior to working at US Squash, Wilkens held a teaching professional position at the Fairmount Athletic Club in Philadelphia and served as tournament director for several 2008 U.S. SQUASH Championships. He captained the Princeton Squash Team, graduating in 2007, and has been an integral member of the Princeton Squash Camp coaching staff for the past six years. Wilkens also worked for Squashtalk.com as an office manager during a sabbatical from Princeton.
