Photography by Katharine Calderwood & Mike Bucziewicz
Squash may be an old racket sport dating back to 1830, yet it keeps attracting new talent. Making its Olympic debut in the 2028 Summer Olympics, squash has expanded from its private school and country club origins by offering more accessible facilities and instruction in Fairfield County and beyond. New Canaan and Darien have built thriving youth programs with top-ranked players and, today, both towns’ high schools are highly competitive in FairWest, the country’s largest public school squash league.
President and Founder of New Canaan Squash Liz Schmidt has a creative way to explain the fast-paced sport: “Squash is like playing chess at 100 miles per hour.” She helped grow the sport locally when her oldest daughter Hillary used her passion for squash to start a club at New Canaan High School (NCHS) in 2006 after the family moved from Greenwich.
“The squash club started playing in Stamford with Damian Walker,” says Schmidt. “He was the first coach, and he helped New Canaan and Darien get teams.” Similarly, Darien High School (DHS) squash began as a club team before it became a varsity sport in 2007.
Along with volunteers and public-school support, Schmidt helped formalize the FairWest Public School Squash Association in 2008, which includes teams within Fairfield and Westchester counties. “We followed what private schools had been doing and legitimized our program,” says Schmidt. “We’re proud to have grown and developed it.”
Last year, approximately 500 high school players were part of the FairWest league. Younger students can play at the elementary and middle school levels through the volunteer-led town organizations, which serve as feeder programs.
For Kevin Davis, Board of Directors Chair for Darien Squash and the FairWest Public School Squash Association, it is important to foster the growth of squash and share it with a wider audience. “The goal of FairWest is to promote squash in a way that is attainable within public schools and Squash + Education Alliance [SEA]programs,” says Davis. “We try to create a program that’s affordable and open to people with no experience. Our mission is to get as many kids to play as possible.”
Even in high school, students can start the sport as beginners. Liz Koons, a parent of two squash players and a volunteer serving on the Darien Squash Board of Directors, likes how the school invites every type of player. “The Darien High School team welcomes everyone and doesn’t make cuts,” says Koons. “We’re lucky to have a strong coaching staff who can accommodate every level.”
The DHS squash team is led by Varsity Head Coach Katline Cauwels, who was named “2024 Coach of the Year” by U.S. Squash. She’s a former Belgian National Junior Champion and National Ladies Champion. During her career on the Professional Squash Association (PSA) tour, she achieved a world ranking of 40. Cauwels, who calls squash “a sport that shaped me for life,” is excited about opportunities players have after high school.
“Squash is opening so many good doors to colleges across the country,” says Cauwels. “There are 50 American schools ready to take on athletes who can experience a second dimension to college life.”
DHS graduates have gone on to play for schools such as the University of Virginia, Harvard, Yale, MIT, Stanford, Penn, Cornell, Columbia, Middlebury and Colby. The DHS girls team won the FairWest League for the first time during the 2025 season, while the boys won it in 2023. Both teams have competed nationally as well.
“It is important to build strong, happy people,” says Cauwels. “We make big and small dreams come true. It’s the best job in the world.”
Cauwels is married to famed squash coach Shaun Moxham, and their two children are competitive players who recently made history as the first siblings to win the Belgian National Senior titles in the same year. Maddox Moxham is a 2025 DHS graduate who now plays at Harvard, while Savannah Moxham, a former U.S. No. 1 in the under-17 category, is a high school junior still involved in the college recruiting process. Cauwels and Moxham are the founders of MSquash training academy in South Norwalk and Port Chester, New York. The DHS team practices at MSquash SoNo during the season, and many players train there (and at Chelsea Piers in Stamford) during the off-season as well.
At New Canaan High School, the team is coached by another international talent, Zac Alexander. The Australian pro won 27 PSA World Tour titles and was once ranked No. 36 in the world. He also serves as head pro at Country Club of New Canaan, where the NCHS team trains and competes. The team also holds practices and matches at New Canaan Country School.
According to Alexander, “Squash is a vibrant and enthusiastic community, and it’s been voted the ‘World’s Healthiest Sport’ by Forbes magazine. Both the health benefits and limited financial burden mean that getting kids to play should be a priority for anyone who hasn’t yet tried it.”
Alexander trains players from fifth to 12th grade. “With a decades-long history, New Canaan Squash has been a fantastic competitive, athletic avenue for hundreds of students,” says Alexander. “Seeing our players achieve All-American status and
thrive on college teams is inspiring for our next crop of athletes.”
Since earning the title of “No. 2 public high school team in the country” in 2015, NCHS has maintained a strong tradition of graduates playing at the collegiate level, including at The University of Virginia, Williams, The University of Chicago, University of Richmond, Denison, Northeastern, Notre Dame, Bucknell, NYU and Hamilton.
For more information, visit ncsquash.com, dariensquash.com or fairwestsquash.com.