US Squash has announced that beginning in summer 2016, the US Squash Academy will serve as an elite performance academy for Team USA in an effort to continue the recent progress in the world standings.
The first US Squash Academy will take place July 9-23 at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.
Selection criteria will be announced in January 2016.
The approach to the Academy is multi-layered, combining several major components of US Squash’s rapidly evolving elite development programs and bringing them together. These components include the Elite Athlete Program (EAP), prospective EAP athletes—primarily U.S. players competing in collegiate squash, the top junior prospects nationally across age divisions and the Junior Team USA players.
US Squash will host two separate one-week squads for junior Team USA players, ages Under 11, Under 13, Under 15, Under 17 and the World Championships team members. The Junior Team USA squad will prepare for the World Junior Championships. The younger age divisions will prepare for the developmental Pan American Junior Championships and the Battle of the Border programs taking place in August 2016.
The US Squash Academy will also provide an environment for U.S. collegiate athletes to train as if professionals, while receiving coaching education instruction to prepare them for a potential career in squash after college. Through exposure to the U.S. National Coaching staff, the athletes will be more prepared should they choose to successfully pursue the EAP upon graduation.
The final component will be the attendance of US Squash’s EAP athletes who will provide mentoring and support, as well as insight into what it takes to be a professional squash player. The Academy creates a pathway and relationships from Under 11 players through to the professionals, with world class coaching and support. Fed by US Squash’s Regional Squad program which engages 30 of the best coaches across the country to work with elite junior players regularly, the Academy is expected to provide the foundation for future excellence for Team USA.
The Academy will be under the direction of The Ganek Family US Squash Head National Coach Paul Assaiante and day-to-day operations overseen by Gilly Lane, Associate Head Coach at the University of Pennsylvania, and one of US Squash’s most successful athletes, having attended Pennsylvania University as a student-athlete, represented Team USA at multiple major events, trained in both the U.S. and the Netherlands as a professional player and achieved a world ranking of 49.
For more information please the Director of National Teams, rich.wade@ussquash.com.