Rising Washington University Program Hires Mike Puertas As Head Coach from WU Media
October 24, 2012,
St. Louis, MO – The Washington University in St. Louis squash
club has named Mike Puertas as its head coach.
The squash team finally has a formal coach, Mike Puertas. Luke
Shapiro, a junior at Wash U, started the squash program two years ago
in October, 2010. In 2011, WUSTL won the Hawthorne cup, ending the
season ranked at #50. In 2012, the team moved up to the Chaffee cup and
finished the season ranked at #37. Coach Puertas hopes to bring the
team further up in the rankings in the coming year.
Coach Puertas been playing and teaching squash for almost thirty years.
He represented England, Spain (Captain) and the US (Captain) at the
international level. Captain Shapiro stated, “I am ecstatic
to have Coach Puertas join us as head coach. He is very dedicated to
raising the squash profile in St. Louis. He is also a great coach and
will make this team better tactically and physically.”
During his playing career, Coach Puertas reached a world ranking of #30
and won six PSA events. He won Gold, Silver and Bronze medals at the
Pan-Am games and was the world over 30’s champion in 1998. He has
held a level 4 professional coaching certificate since 1999 and has
coached numerous players from beginner to college level. Puertas
coached top female player, Natalie Grainger, and took her from No.16 in
the world to No.1. In 2006, he started and coached the US U23 team.
Puertas is one of many coaches making the transition from a
professional on the tour to a collegiate coach. Other such coaches
include John White (Drexel), Martin Heath (Rochester), and Mark Talbott
(Stanford). "I am very excited at the prospect of coaching and
mentoring the student athletes at Washington University", states
Puertas. "The team has made great strides in its first two years,
achieving in spite of a lack of facilities. We now have two converted
racquet ball courts to work with and are looking to add to that in the
offseason."
The goal is for squash to transition from club to varsity in the coming
years. Per Puertas, "We are working hard on the court to prove
our case as a viable varsity sport at Washington University. I
think that the stature of the university is a perfect fit for squash,
as academically it is on par with the finest universities in the
country. There is no better addition than squash to put Washington
University in a position to compete with Ivy League universities."