On December 16, senior Ava Lin officially signed with the Stanford Women’s Squash team.
Following the squash program’s revival in 2021, Stanford Women’s Squash is ranked fourth nationally, despite having yet to win a championship. To Lin, this is an opportunity to break new ground in the sport. “It’s that underdog mentality of trying to win a championship for the first time and make history,” Lin said.
Lin made the switch to squash from tennis when she was six, following her dad’s and brother’s squash footsteps. She has since accumulated a number of prestigious accomplishments, such as the U.S. GU17 Sportsmanship Award in 2024, the U.S. Squash High School All American Award GU17 in 2023, appearing on WGN, and playing with Team USA since 2020, serving as a captain in 2022 and 2023 for the team. However, Lin’s squash career is hardly limited to the U.S. – while she travels the states for matches, squash has taken Lin to Ecuador and Colombia for the Pan American Juniors, the UK for the British Junior Open, and Canada for the Windsor City Open. An aspect of Lin that has led her to the top is that she is “…very plucky, and never thinks she’s going to lose, even if she’s in a terrible position,” Stu Hadden, Lin’s coach, said.
Off the court, Lin is equally as accomplished. From 2022 to 2024, Lin was a recipient of the US Scholar Squash Athlete Award, which recognizes students talented in both squash and academics. Lin also served as an academic & squash volunteer at MetroSquash, tutoring middle schoolers in reading and writing as well as beginner squash players. At MetroSquash, she succeeded in the 2022 and 2024 MetroSquash Cup Team Champions, personally raising $15,000 in donations for the cause. At Parker, she co-founded the Upper School Squash Club.
In October of her junior year, Lin committed to Stanford. “Most of the top squash schools are all good schools,” Lin said. She wasn’t worried about being able to hone in on her squash and academic capabilities, no matter where she went. Due to her earlier commitment, her experience in College Counseling mainly included “writing essays instead of looking for schools.”
Throughout the school year, Lin’s six-day-a-week routine might’ve included everything from 6 a.m. squash practices to training in the afternoons to accommodate her Parker volleyball and track & field responsibilities. “Sports are important, but it’s not everything in life. It’s important for young people to be able to work in a team,” Hadden said. When she entered high school, Lin had to find a healthy balance between squash and other priorities. Lin advises student-athletes who hope to compete in high levels to know when to cut themselves off, prioritize sleep, and utilize free periods and built-in time throughout the day. Athletics Director Nick Kocsis notices that a commonality between recruited athletes like Lin is that they are “seriously dedicated to investing time in that activity.”
Lin had until September 30, 2024, to decide if Stanford was for her. In the months leading up to the decision, Lin visited a number of college campuses. However, this experience wasn’t the final thing that led her to choose Stanford. The part she viewed as most beneficial was a notes app. “I had this massive notes app of all their [Stanford students’] feedback about the school and that ultimately led me to my decision for Stanford,” Lin said. “I had probably made 20 phone calls the day before I made my decision.” Lin points out how the students on campus during a tour aren’t necessarily the same students that one will spend time with, emphasizing the importance of “just talking to the people that go there.” Kocsis echoes Lin’s sentiment of finding a good fit. “Ava doesn’t play squash. Ava is a squash player,” Kocsis said.
“She got to the top in the country at her sport. She’s the best player in America. To get to that level of anything, you’ve got to be a real outlier in a lot of ways,” Hadden said.
