Help Michigan Squash Continue a Historic Season
Donation protected
A year ago, The Squash Club at the University of Michigan was started by two freshmen with the hopes that a few members might join...
Before we knew it, dozens of players ranging widely in experience had signed up to play squash at Michigan. Within months, we fielded our first official team consisting of 9 extremely strong players and multiple reserves players. We traveled to Madison, Wisconsin where we soundly defeated both the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin. We left feeling hopeful for the future and ready for the next season.
When we returned to campus in the fall of this year, we all shared a strong sense of hunger and drive. We spent the fall training intensely and pushing each other to become better players. Then, over a weekend in November we traveled to Chicago, Illinois to compete in the Big 10 tournament. We were focused, determined, and ready. We began the day with our biggest match yet: Northwestern University. Our team played with heart, with a few players winning in sweaty and painful 5 game matches. We had officially defeated the #1 seeded team 6-3. We were ecstatic, and used the momentum that the huge win gave us to emerge undefeated, with victories over the University of Wisconsin, Indiana University, and the University of Notre Dame. While we were proud of our superb performance, the most rewarding aspect of the weekend was the camaraderie the team left with. We were now not just a team but a family.
When we arrived home, our story was featured on the front page of the season's first College Squash Association newsletter. The icing on the cake came later that week when we earned the University of Michigan a CSA ranking for the first time in school history. At #40 in the nation, we had put ourselves only 6 spots behind the number one ranked club team in the country and even in front of multiple varsity programs.
Michigan Squash is a special and unique program. Not only are we a team from across the country and world, with different majors and interests, but we are also the highest ranked team in college squash with a female, freshman Jackie Hager, in the starting line up.
So, here we are today, an extremely diverse yet remarkably united squash family that is improving and growing every day. But, we need your help. We come to you, our family and friends, asking for donations because we have so much more we want and need to do. As many of you may know, the university has declined to make us an official club sport for unidentifiable reasons. Therefore, we must self fund every trip we make to play around the country. Unfortunately, most college squash action is not happening here in the midwest, which makes traveling to play quite costly.
We have matches scheduled for Baltimore, MD in January and Madison, WI in February. We also are planning on hosting the Ohio State University at the Detroit Athletic Club. Most importantly, we hope to make our first appearance ever at the College Squash National Team Championships on February 28th. However, without your help, it is unlikely that we can get to all of these matches. To add to our financial stress, we have a $1,000 US Squash fee due at the start of the new year.
As the Holidays approach, we hope you will consider helping us as we establish what has proven to be a truly historic season. We thank you so much for your continued support, whether it's through liking our instagram posts, coming to cheer for us at matches, or just offering a simple “congratulations!” after big wins. We wouldn't be where we are without you and for that we are deeply grateful.
This team has much more to prove and we will not let you down.
Happy Holidays and GO BLUE!
-The Squash Club at the University of Michigan
Before we knew it, dozens of players ranging widely in experience had signed up to play squash at Michigan. Within months, we fielded our first official team consisting of 9 extremely strong players and multiple reserves players. We traveled to Madison, Wisconsin where we soundly defeated both the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin. We left feeling hopeful for the future and ready for the next season.
When we returned to campus in the fall of this year, we all shared a strong sense of hunger and drive. We spent the fall training intensely and pushing each other to become better players. Then, over a weekend in November we traveled to Chicago, Illinois to compete in the Big 10 tournament. We were focused, determined, and ready. We began the day with our biggest match yet: Northwestern University. Our team played with heart, with a few players winning in sweaty and painful 5 game matches. We had officially defeated the #1 seeded team 6-3. We were ecstatic, and used the momentum that the huge win gave us to emerge undefeated, with victories over the University of Wisconsin, Indiana University, and the University of Notre Dame. While we were proud of our superb performance, the most rewarding aspect of the weekend was the camaraderie the team left with. We were now not just a team but a family.
When we arrived home, our story was featured on the front page of the season's first College Squash Association newsletter. The icing on the cake came later that week when we earned the University of Michigan a CSA ranking for the first time in school history. At #40 in the nation, we had put ourselves only 6 spots behind the number one ranked club team in the country and even in front of multiple varsity programs.
Michigan Squash is a special and unique program. Not only are we a team from across the country and world, with different majors and interests, but we are also the highest ranked team in college squash with a female, freshman Jackie Hager, in the starting line up.
So, here we are today, an extremely diverse yet remarkably united squash family that is improving and growing every day. But, we need your help. We come to you, our family and friends, asking for donations because we have so much more we want and need to do. As many of you may know, the university has declined to make us an official club sport for unidentifiable reasons. Therefore, we must self fund every trip we make to play around the country. Unfortunately, most college squash action is not happening here in the midwest, which makes traveling to play quite costly.
We have matches scheduled for Baltimore, MD in January and Madison, WI in February. We also are planning on hosting the Ohio State University at the Detroit Athletic Club. Most importantly, we hope to make our first appearance ever at the College Squash National Team Championships on February 28th. However, without your help, it is unlikely that we can get to all of these matches. To add to our financial stress, we have a $1,000 US Squash fee due at the start of the new year.
As the Holidays approach, we hope you will consider helping us as we establish what has proven to be a truly historic season. We thank you so much for your continued support, whether it's through liking our instagram posts, coming to cheer for us at matches, or just offering a simple “congratulations!” after big wins. We wouldn't be where we are without you and for that we are deeply grateful.
This team has much more to prove and we will not let you down.
Happy Holidays and GO BLUE!
-The Squash Club at the University of Michigan
Organizer
Louis Alpert
Organizer
Ann Arbor, MI