Wellesley, MA — This weekend the Wellesley College squash team will travel to Mt. Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts to play our final dual match of the season before the Howe Cup Championships at Yale University. Wellesley’s sixteenth match this season will be away, just as all of our matches this season have been. We have played most of our matches in Western Massachusetts, including our sister institutions Smith and Mt. Holyoke. We have played all of our matches away, having depended on the support of our peer institutions, because the Wellesley squash team is currently fighting to be reinstated as a varsity sport.

In the summer of 2005, the college decided to drop the sport from its varsity roster. The Dean of the College agreed to fund the team with $30,000 for both the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 season. Louise O’Neil, the Athletic Director who cut the program, retired in 2005 and Bridget Belgiovine, former head of Division III athletics for the NCAA, was hired as Athletic Director in 2006. The team has taken their case to the new Athletic Director, and has also held meetings with the President of the College, Diana Chapman Walsh, and the Dean of the College, Andy Shennan. The team is making progress, and the College appears receptive to the arguments the team has made

When the program was cut in 2005, the deciding factor was the fact that Wellesley had not converted their hardball courts to regulation international size softball courts. The team has solved the court situation this year through the generous support of the Dana Hall School. Dana Hall has four new softball courts where we practiced every day during our January term, and twice weekly now that classes have started.

In addition to solving the court situation, last fall the team dressed up as squash balls in order to get signatures from students on campus in support of reinstating squash as a varsity sport. We collected 1,200 signatures on a campus of 2,600.Additionally, we have reached out to both the USSRA and CSA, and have had an overwhelmingly positive response. Tim Bacon of Smith College has written to Ms. Belgiovine, as have the head of the CSA, Stuart LeGassick, and many other CSA coaches. Seven Sisters alumna, Jeanne Blasberg, Chair of the Board of Directors of the USSRA, has written a letter of support as well. Our captains, Joan Huang and Ayako Kubodera have sent out hundreds of letters to Wellesley squash alumna asking them to write to the administration at the College.

In the midst of all of this, Wellesley has managed to climb eight spots in the national rankings from 30 to 22. We have moved up one divisions for the Howe Cup from D to C. We are optimistic about our chances at the Howe Cup next weekend. As both our Athletic Director and President have told us — what we have achieved this season is amazing.

If you want to learn more about the Wellesley Squash team, and our fight to be reinstated as a varsity sport , or would like to write a letter of support to our administration, please contact Captain Joan Huang.

We hope to see you in South Hadley this weekend.

Guest writer Sarah O’Dell is the number one player for Wellesley College. Her squad is currently ranked 22nd in the country. Wellesley visits Mount Holyoke on Saturday at 1 PM.

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