By Jay D. Prince, Editor in Chief
For decades, college squash has been so dominated by the “Big Three plus One” (Harvard, Princeton and Yale plus Trinity) that, in some respects, the upper echelon of collegiate squash has been boring. I mean, how interesting can a sport be when everyone else is playing for fifth place? For an easy comparison, how many of you are hoping that Alabama does not win another national college football championship this year? And their run has only included two consecutive titles.
So when teams like St. Lawrence and Rochester rise from the depths of the rankings to seriously push perennial powerhouses, the sport of squash can’t help but become more compelling. And that is precisely what has happened over the past eight years. Say what you want about the influx of foreign players, squash has finally joined the rest of the collegiate sporting world and gone out in search of the best players available to stock their teams while earning a world-class education. By so doing, the Saints and Yellowjackets have secured players of international renown that have helped vault them into contention with the greats of the game. That can only serve to push the level of American juniors to even greater heights if they want to continue competing for spots on the rosters of the best institutions in America. Former world junior champion, Amr Khaled Khalifa, put his stamp on the collegiate game last year. The sport should be proud to welcome him stateside.