Pam Saunders Leaves Mount Holyoke
Published August 25, 2008 by Western Mass Squash | Articles
South Hadley, MA — Pam Saunders is leaving Mount Holyoke and joining the coaching staff of the Yale Bulldogs. She will join head coach Dave Talbot and Associate Head Coach Gareth Webber as an assistant coach for the women’s team.
Saunders had been the coach of Mount Holyoke since 2004. In her first season, she led the Lyons to the Epps Cup Championship. During her second year, 2005-2006, she led the Lyons to a 23rd place finish. In 2006-2007, Mount Holyoke finished 13th in the nation and fourth in the Kurtz (B) Cup. Overall, the team had a 17-5 record. In her final season at Mount Holyoke, the team went 17-5 and finished the season ranked eleventh in the nation. Six of her players finished the year ranked among the top 100 players in the nation.
At this year’s Howe Cup, Saunders won the Clarence C. Chaffee Award, which is given to the coach whose team has demonstrated the qualities of competitiveness and court demeanor that characterized Clarence C. Chaffee: sportsmanship, teamwork, character and improvement.
Sauders also returned the Seven Sisters title to Western Massachusetts. After a four-year run by Vassar, her team earned the title in both 2006-2007 and 2007-2008. This past season, Saunders led the Lyons to the inaugrial Women’s Team Championship.
For the past few seasons, Saunders served on the College Squash Association Women’s Executive Board as the treasurer and chairwoman of the awards committee.
Over the past four seasons, Saunders transformed the program. Saunders recruited many international players. The returning top five players are all international players. Over the past few years she has added matches against Trinity, Brown, and Cornell to Mount Holyoke’s schedule.
In addition to her college squash work, Saunders took an active role in the local squash community. She invited local players to Mount Holyoke each week to participate in the Leisure League.
It will be interesting to see who takes the helm at Mount Holyoke for the 2008-2009 season. With the team on the verge of entering the top ten nationally, the coaching position should not remain vacant for long. Hopefully, the new coach can continue the success that Saunders brought to the program.
Saunders will be missed by Mount Holyoke and Western Mass squash players.
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