Princeton Junior Squash was founded in1988 by Dede Webster and Nina Moyer. The primary focus was to provide an opportunity for children living in the Princeton area to discover and enjoy the game of squash. Using the facilities of Princeton University, the program has grown over the years from a small program of some 12 children and 2 coaches to its current size of around 100 children and a team of adult and student coaches. For the past few years, the program has been run jointly by Richard Hankinson and Gail Ramsay, Assistant and Head Coaches of Princeton University Women’s Squash.

General Philosophy

The program has remained faithful to its basic philosophy over the years, which is to provide an opportunity for local children to learn and play squash. This is in contrast to many other junior programs, which focus on producing champions and on helping children who decide to concentrate on squash to reach their full potential in the sport. The program provides a mix of coaching, drilling, intramural match play, and more formal matches with other programs. Over the years the balance of these activities has changed in response to what the co-directors have felt were the wishes of many of the children in the program. The change has been mainly in the direction of providing more coaching and less free play. However the focus has remained on providing a program for children in general rather than on the child who wants to become a squash champion, and on providing the opportunity for local children to engage in a sport and have a chance to run around and exercise.

Program Schedule

The basic PJS program provides 40 sessions. Ideally, this consists of one session on Sunday afternoon, and two weekday sessions on Monday and Thursday evenings, starting in October and ending at the end of February. However, because of the growing need for the PU Varsity to use the courts for practice most weekday evenings, it has become necessary to find sufficient times when the courts are free in order to fit in the 40 sessions needed to complete the program, and the schedule has become more irregular and extends into mid-March. An additional Spring program providing 10 extra sessions from late March to the end of April, meeting twice a week on Monday and Thursday evenings has become a regular supplement to the program.

Coaching

The program relies primarily on four adult coaches, all of whom have experience with local programs at either the Varsity or High School level. The program also uses volunteer coaches as and when they are available. Due to a recent change in NCAA rules, the program can and does make use of members of the PU Varsity squads who want to coach and help with the program. 

Status

For many years, the program had no formal institutional status, and carried on as a branch of the CNJSRA. Around 1997, PJS became independent from the CNJSRA, and took responsibility for its own financial affairs. In 2001, the necessary legal steps were taken for Princeton Junior Squash to become a New Jersey nonprofit corporation.