Paul Assaiante Celebration Event A Huge Success By Rob Dinerman Dateline October 15, 2023
--- Nearly 300 Trinity College squash alums, coaches and friends of the
program converged on Hartford, CT this past Friday/Saturday for an
event organized by the Trinity Squash Alumni Committee (TSAC) to
celebrate the 29-year career (from 1994-2023) of Paul Assaiante as Head
Coach of the men’s squash team that he guided to 17 National Team
Championships --- including 13 in a row from 1999-2011 --- during the
two-decade stretch from 1999-2018. Throughout that extended run of
excellence, Assaiante’s teams put up a host of related numbers that are
not only record-breaking but record-shattering,
highlighted by 22 national-championship final-round appearances during
the 23-year period from 1997-2019 (with one more to follow in 2023,
hence 23 Potter Cup finals overall) and a 252-match winning streak. The
previous records were six straight national team championships, seven
consecutive final-round advances and 72 dual-meet wins in a row, and
the 252 figure represents the longest winning streak in the history of
intercollegiate varsity sports --- meaning any sport, not just
squash. Indeed that number has become part of the larger American
sports consciousness, demonstrating the degree to which the Trinity
men’s squash team has put Trinity College “on the map” by dramatically
elevating its profile nationally and even internationally. Coach
Assaiante, who as a player also won U. S. national age-group
championships in both singles and doubles, has been inducted into both
the U. S. Squash Hall of Fame and the College Squash Association Hall
of Fame in 2016 and 2021 respectively.
Especially at both the Saturday-evening cocktail party --- hosted by
the Raether Family at the Borges Admissions Center --- and the
sumptuous dinner, hosted by the TSAC at the college’s massive
Washington Room at Mather Center, Assaiante was showered with
praise and tributes by a wide variety of Trinity College administrative
figures, friends and supporters of the Bantam squash program, as well
as his legion of former players, a number of whom had traveled from
places as distant as Pakistan, India and South Africa to show their
loyalty and gratitude to their revered coach and mentor, who received
prolonged standing ovations after the speeches he gave during both the
cocktail party and the dinner. There were a number of speeches during
the dinner as well, beginning with Welcoming Remarks by Simba Muhwati
‘08, the President of the recently-formed TSAC.
They were followed with presentations by former College President Evan
Dobelle and mid-1980’s standout JD Cregan ‘86 (who between them
provided perspective on what the Event Program labeled “The Early
Years”), Lefika Ragontse ’01 (“The Foundation”), Sahil Vora ‘07
(“Decade Of Dominance”) and Mohamed Sharaf ’24 “(The New Age”), the
captain of the current team and winner of the 2023 College Individuals
Championship this past winter. Wendy Bartlett, who is entering her
milestone 40th season as the Head Coach of Trinity’s three-time
National Team Champion (in 2002, 2003 and 2014) women’s team, followed
with a moving speech praising Assaiante and reflecting the fact that
their 29 years as Head Coach of Trinity’s squash teams represent by far
the longest shared tenure in the history of college squash, which
marked its 100th anniversary in 2022-23.
The final speech of the night was delivered on a large screen by Marcus
Cowie ’00, who is based in England and was unable to attend the event
in person. It is when Cowie, who was the No. 2 ranked Junior in the
world during the mid-1990’s and who won the College Individuals in both
1997 and 1998,, arrived as a Trinity College freshman in Autumn 1996
that the dynasty really began, and he will always be remembered as the
first Trinity College superstar, the player who, more than anyone else,
launched what became the greatest extended dynasty in the history of
college athletics, and, as such, one of the most impactful protagonists
in the history of college squash. After Cowie had finished speaking,
every former and current Trinity College player in attendance massed on
a large stage at the end of the room for a huge group picture that
culminated the evening.
One of the highlights of the Celebration event was the release of A History Of Squash At Trinity College,
a 324-page book written by Rob Dinerman, who had previously authored
counterpart Histories of squash at both Harvard and Princeton as well.
Anyone wishing to obtain a copy of the Trinity College Squash History
should contact Sean Khosrowshahi at sean.khosrowshahi@gmail.com
