Squash has a relatively low number of players, compared to other winter sports teams this year. But the limited amount of court space has significantly reduced the amount of practice time.

Michele Dennis, coach of the girls varsity team, said that having three teams and three practice times is, in part, the reason for the shorter practices.

“We have to share court time. There’s four courts so we have to divide up the co-curricular time. So the JV boys from 3:45 to 4:30, the girls from 4:30 to 5:15, and then the varsity boys from 5:15 to six.”

Dennis said that it is difficult to retain the middle school squash players once they move up to the upper school. Due to the small team size, all the players are automatically on the varsity team, many of whom are new to the sport.

“There’s only eight of us and we need seven to actually play a match. So it’s a little hard because if one person’s out, one or two people, we can’t even have the match.”

Dennis said that having a varsity and JV team would be helpful once the varsity team graduates because the JV team will have improved and ready to become the new varsity team.

“It’s very hard to build the program if you don’t have a JV team.”

Head Squash Pro Paul Szaniawski said that while more time would be helpful, having productive practices depends upon the players’ work ethic.

“The more independent the players are, the more willing they are to work together on particular drills, and they can actually do a lot in small groups and in pairs, even with the 45 minute practice time,” he said.

Senior varsity co-captain Nate Meyer agreed that his team is making the best of the 45-minute practices.

“We’re on court right when our time starts at 5:15 and we’re on right to the last minute at six o’clock,” Meyer said.

Szaniawski said that throughout the season he has “seen a lot of improvement and a lot of positive attitudes in terms of approaching the challenges, whether that’s the practice, or playing a difficult school and having a match.”

On Friday Jan. 21, the boys varsity team played their senior match against King and won all of their matches. Mir Ahmed ’23, Hassan Saad ’25, George Chang ’22, Kyle Benson ’22, Nate Meyer ’22, Jake Mason ’24, and Ethan Rosenberg ’22 all recorded victories.

And while the squash practices have been short, senior varsity captain George Chang has enjoyed every moment on the court.

“It’s something I discovered after I came to Masters and to be the captain and to play number three, I think it’s amazing. It’s been one of my favorite memories at Masters,” Chang said.