Team Slideshow
Team Info
Squash - Girls' Varsity
Overview
Overview
U.S. National Champions, Division II, 2007-08
U.S. National Championships, Division I, 5th Place, 2013-14
New England Championship, Class A, 3rd Place, 2013-14
Founders League Champions in 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14
The Taft girls' squash program has seen continued and growing success over the past years. In addition to the varsity and junior varsity levels, the increasing popularity of the sport has meant the recent creation of a third competitive team and the extension of the intramural program. The full spectrum of skills and interest levels are served. From the curious beginner to the passionate competitor, any student can enjoy being a part of this dynamic program at Taft.
The varsity team leads the competitive part of the program, competing each year in the New England Tournament and the U.S. National Championships. During the 2022-2023 season, the team won Division III of the National Championships. In the 2015-2016 and 2007-2008 seasons, the varsity team won Division II of the National Championships. During the 2013-2014 season, the team placed 5th in the nation by competing in Division I of the National Championships and finished their season by placing 3rd in Class A of the New England Championships.
Led by experienced and competitive coaches, our program attracts girls from squash bastions such as India, Bermuda, Philadelphia and Greenwich. Taft girls' squash regularly sends girls to play for the most competitive colleges and universities, including Harvard, Trinity, Bates and Tufts.
Schedule
Roster
Coaches
Coaches
About Head Coach Jen Chandler
Jen joined Taft’s science department in 2015 after teaching and coaching for 22 years at her alma mater, Canterbury School. She teaches AP Psychology and chemistry, works in the dormitories, and coaches girls’ varsity squash and tennis. Jen lives on campus with her husband, Corey, who is a member of Taft’s World Languages department.
She received her Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Cornell University, earned Phi Beta Kappa, and received a master’s in education from Northeastern University.
In addition to her focus on classroom education, Jen has had a lifelong interest in the learning involved in athletics, personally competing in soccer, squash, and tennis at Canterbury, and then squash at Cornell where she was the captain and number 1 player her final two years. She developed a passion for coaching once she became involved in private boarding schools. In her many years at Canterbury, Jen coached both boys’ and girls’ varsity squash teams, girls’ junior varsity soccer and boys’ and girls’ tennis teams. It was here that she started incorporating yoga into her work with her teams and has found the benefits to be invaluable. Jen also became connected to the country’s urban squash programs such as CitySquash (NY), Street Squash (NY), and Squash Haven (CT) and had the good fortune to coach a number of athletes from these programs. Jen is a US Squash Level 2 certified coach.
At Taft, Jen has been excited to work with strong teams for both squash and tennis and to continue to incorporate yoga and meditation into practices. Under Jen’s guidance, the tennis team earned places in the Class A New England’s for their 2017 and 2018 seasons and, in 2016, the squash team won Division II of the US Squash High School Nationals. She has been able to maintain her connection with urban squash programs working with students from CitySquash and, for the first time this year, Capital Squash, which is based out of Hartford.
Jen continues to enjoy and challenge herself with her personal athletic endeavors from yoga challenges to hiking sections of the Appalachian Trail.
Click the photos below for additional coach bios and contact information
-
Head Coach
