For Immediate Release – March 15, 2007
WELLESLEY ATHLETICS
Wellesley College Reinstates Squash as Varsity Sport
WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College’s Director of Athletics and Chair of the Physical Education Department, Bridget Belgiovine, announced earlier this week that Wellesley will reinstate squash as a varsity sport, effective during the 2007-08 academic year.
Student-athlete participation, performance, and commitment to the program have remained high since 2005, when squash was moved to club status for a variety of reasons, including non-regulation courts. Maintaining a squad size of 12, the team has continued to practice five days a week while also competing against other intercollegiate programs, including participation in the Seven Sisters Championship.
Their continued competition is due in part to a partnership with the Dana Hall School for use of their newly-built regulation size squash courts. This partnership will continue to allow the Wellesley squash team to practice and compete at this state-of-the-art facility.
Squash enjoys a rich tradition at Wellesley. The program began in 1940 as a club and went on to host the first- and second-ever Women’s Squash National Championships in 1965 and 1966, before becoming a varsity sport in 1969.
On the reinstatement, Belgiovine remarks, “The commitment and performance of the squash student-athletes over the past year, our partnership with Dana Hall, and the expressed commitment from alumnae, faculty, and friends to support squash prove that the tradition at Wellesley and within Seven Sisters should be maintained.”
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