Way back in the fall of 2011, I was but a smooth-faced freshman boy who from time to time ventured from my triple in the Butts to the Freeman Athletic Center looking to get a quick swole sesh in. Every time I entered through the Warren Street entrance, to my left would be confusing signposts inviting me to something called a “Rosenbaum Squash Center.” I would ignore those signs and continue with my scheduled plans of getting lost searching for the basketball courts.
But now, as a grizzled, second-semester junior, I have found squash to be an ever-present part of my Wes experience. Still, there is much to learn about my third-favorite racquet-based sport. In order to satisfy my hunger for more knowledge on this glorious gourd of a sport, as well as my hunger for waffle fries, I decided to go to dinner with some of the guardians of Rosenbaum, the men’s squash team.
With everyone’s favorite Ke$ha and Pitbull collaboration blasting over the speakers at Usdan, I sat down and asked the group, “How often do you explain the rules of squash to your friends?”
The answers ranged from “on a daily basis” to “I don’t even try anymore” and ”Depends on if they know what squash is.”
From that moment, it was apparent that the plates before us weren’t the only things filled with endless possibilities.
As described by Captain Zander Nassikas ’14, the men’s squash team possesses a wide range of interests boasting over ten different majors between the squad as well as an even distribution of class years. Besides helping widen its demographic appeal, the team’s carefully balanced mixture of old and new has assisted it in gelling through the course of the season.
“All of the freshmen really fit in well with the team, it’s really been really easy,” Nassikas said. “This is the first year we’ve had three seniors as captains, and when I was a freshmen we had two seniors as captains. Since then, we haven’t really had much senior experience, but I feel like with our team there isn’t much of a hierarchy, which I like. People can say anything they want and voice how they feel. It’s a good level of comfort on the team that we haven’t had in years.”
Complementing its veteran leadership, this Cardinal squad has a solid base of hungry new recruits eager to fight their way up the ladder. Two first-year squashers have proven to be frequent winners for the Cards, as Chris Hart ’17 and Alex Kamisher ’17 have carved out starting roles for themselves in the early goings of their collegiate career.
“The relationship we share as teammates has definitely grown,” Kamisher said. “When it was preseason, everything was a little awkward. But in the past couple weeks we’ve really come together. It’s been great to always see the guys at practice, and just to hang out.”
Even for the freshmen who may be biding their time to make their mark, the squad has a special place on the curiously named “Special Teams” half of the ladder captained by Cameron Rahbar ’15 and Blair Corbin ’15.
“It’s the bottom of the ladder who doesn’t play; it came to be because [Coach Shona Kerr] didn’t want to cut guys that would be playing next year,” Zach Roach ’17 explained. “I think we provide good crowd support at away matches. We can be pretty loud. Often we have more away support than teams have home support.”
With its own built-in superfan section, it’s no surprise as to why the squash team is such a tight-knit unit despite sporting such a large roster. With such a positive, encouraging dynamic, it’s only natural that degrading nicknames follow.
“I’m the new ‘El Rey.’” Hart proudly announced with a gentle hair flip. “But, I have yet to meet the character known as Luke Wherry [’13]. The old El Rey. Grant [Lounsbury ’17] is ‘G-Spot’ for obvious reasons. And since we have two Sneeds, they call [David ’17] Dis Sneed and [Dan ’15] Dat Sneed.”
However, with so many Sneeds, it’s easy for things to get a bit out of hand.
“No, I’m Dat Sneed,” David, the yonuger, corrected. “Sometimes it’s just Little Sneed, Sneed Minor, any kind of variation. Sneedling.”
Although off the court the Cardinals are all about cracking jokes at each other and flinging balled-up napkins across the table, they take their craft very seriously. Eventually the conversation shifted to their expectations for the upcoming NESCAC tournament at Hamilton this weekend. Perhaps channeling his graduated namesake, Chris ‘New El Rey’ Hart made a startling prediction.
“We play Middlebury first,” Hart said. “Our realistic goal [is] to beat Middlebury and go top four at NESCACs. If we play Williams again, we can beat them. 6-3.”
It’s hard to want to doubt that level of conviction after experiencing how passionately these athletes expressed their commitment to each other and their sport. With a full week to allow last Sunday’s loss against the Ephs to sink in, it’s a distinct possibility that the Cards will make it to the second round of ’Cac tourney play and hold a significant psychological edge over their purple and white counterparts, especially when these Redbirds dedicate everything they have on the court to one another.
When I finally came to the end of my round of questions and the table chatter started to give way to the clanking relocation of plates and silverware, one courageous member of Wesleyan squash rose above the rest.
After tearing apart his fortune cookie, ‘G-Spot’ Lounsbury proudly proclaimed before the table, “You will always be surrounded by those who love you.” That is the essence of the men’s squash team.
Even though we may think we understand squash, many unanswered questions remain. Like, why don’t they play the national anthem before matches like every other sport? Or, which Sneed is the true Sneed? Beneath it all, perhaps it is squash’s mysterious allure that truly makes it what it is: confusing.