Bumper Recruiting Class Buoys Huskies 07-08 Prospects

Tessa Martin (photo ©Northeastern Squash )

In Boston, just down the Charles River from Harvard's squash courts, crosstown from the venerable MIT program, and closer to town than the longtime Tufts and Wellesley teams, there's a new squash program gaining momentum like a freight train. It is Chris Smith's Northeastern Husky squash.

Smith, The Coach of the Men's and Women's squash teams at Northeastern University only knows optimism. And next fall's Northeastern squash recruiting class reflects that positive outlook. The Husky men will welcome a strong Freshman class which may well give them the boost they need to continue their meteoric climb through the CSA ranks, where they ended last season as the #23 team, in third division, and hope to continue climbing. And an even stronger Husky women Freshman class will make the distaff Huskies a player in the bottom half of the CSA Women's league.

Northeastern, whose fans take their Husky sports teams seriously, now have two new rising stars to support and follow throughout their 07-08 campaign.

SMITH, THE CATALYST
Coach Chris Smith has practically willed these teams into existence, and driven them onwards. Smith, who himself presents a big physical presence, on or off the squash court, is indefatigueable in his promotion of the Northeastern Huskies as the next big college squash story. Obviously, his positive attitutude and cheerleading play a sigificant role in his teams' rise. But he clearly has the talent to both teach and lead, and is gaining in coaching experience with each new season.

Smith, a natural entrepreneur, has reinvented himself several times in his brief squash career — beginning with an excellent squash career at Hobart, leading his team to a #10 finish in '94 and '95 ...after an injury that ended a budding pro career, Smith tried coaching, first a National assistant jr coach in 2002 ... then as one of the first employees of the nascent SquashBusters program ... then he took a break from squash, and was next spotted in the Boston area pursueing an entrepreneurial project ... then back to squash where he tried to introduce his own line of protective eyewear ... then back to SquashBusters where he slotted right back into the program that he always felt very close to ... and then an expanded squash role, where he was named as US National Junior Boys coach in the same year that he started Northeastern squash and took the US team to the worlds at New Zealand ... whew !! ... and now, still as a ceaseless promoter, building Northeastern squash.

Sara Barrett (photo ©Northeastern Squash )

The thing is — Chris puts his money where his mouth is. For anyone who thought that Smith's foray into the Huskie squash program would be a brief dabbling, think again. Beginning with a men's program which lost every one of its matches its first season in the CSA league, Smith has guided his program to meteoric gains through the CSA pecking order, gaining 10 ranking positions the second year and another 10 last season.

"With our strong recruiting year and having only lost a few players," Smith told SquashTalk, "I am setting the team's expectation that we can continue to make sigificant gains in the upcoming season."

Heading the men's recruiting class is Christian Rosstad, who comes to Northeastern from the Salisbury school where he anchored their team for four seasons. He will be joined by Peter Taylor Yawney, who is a transfer to Northeastern from Conn College. As a freshman at Conn College Taylor gained experience at the #1 position. Also joining these two will be Pedro Souza, a SquashBusters graduate and finalist in last weekend's Urban Squash Nationals and Mike Wegman, from Rochester NY.

Christian Rosstad (photo ©Northeastern Squash)

In explaining his continuing recruiting success, Smith says, "Northeastern has become a desireable school for squash student athletes. It the main non-Ivy League option for a student looking for a large rather than a small school, or an urban destination, combined with a serious squash program."

STELLAR HUSKY WOMEN FRESHMAN CLASS
But the men's story will have to give the spotlight this fall to the incredible group of Freshman women squash talent that Smith has convinced to matriculate at Northeastern. With fully five solid players joining the now seasoned Northeastern squad for 07-08, the Norheastern Husky women have a real opportunity to join the NEU men by making big noise in the 32-team CSA women's league.

Smith has sold a banner group of women on the opportunity to create a new winning squash program. Heading the Freshman group is Tessa Martin, the national junior champion of Trinidad and Tobago. She comes to Northeastern with senior level competitive experience, including international PanAm games experience.

Peter Taylor Yawney (photo ©Northeastern Squash)

The very strong supporting cast to Tessa include, Emily Raho, from Rye Country day school and the Apawamis program, Sara Barrett from Westover School, the USA Girls U19 Silver National Champ, Diana Toubman, Kingsford Oxford School and Elizabeth McDonough from Conard High School in West Hartford Ct. Each of these four has had notable junior and Independent school competitive careers.

These players join Northeastern's inaugural women's squad, led by last year's #1 Tong Dhanasarnsilp, Sarah Sweet, Katie O'Neill, Francis Schaefer, Jenielle Gooding and four others.

The Freshman group of five makes the Northeastern Women the real wild card in the CSA Women's division. As with any group of freshman and players making the switch from the junior circuit to the CSA spotlight, the transition can be unpredictable and filled with peaks and valleys. Smith is careful not to set expectations too high. He only knows that he will have a team that will be competitive across its schedule.

SquashTalk predicts, that based on the incoming form of the recruits, Northeastern, who was #32 in 06-07, can be expected to present stiff opposition to teams all the way up through the # 19 team (Vassar).

The Huskies from the beginning have distinguished themselves with their showmanship - from match appearances of the Husky Mascot to the performance of the National Anthem to their always flashy uniforms.

They are increasingly backing that up with on-court competitive performance. And Smith is looking to the future. "Now my big challenge is to give the program stability. I need to begin to raise an endowment, to ensure the program's ongoing growth."

The first-year Northeastern Huskies add five stellar recruits for 06-07. (photo ©Northeastern Squash)