Katherine Beinkampen ’19: Two Episcopal Academy students, Eric Kim ‘18 and Elle Ruggerio ‘18, have recently become members of the 2017 World Junior Squash Team. This is a team comprised of the top twelve juniors (six boys and six girls) across the nation who will represent the USA in the World Junior Championships this summer against players from fourteen other countries. This year, the tournament will take place in Tauranga, New Zealand and attending teams are from Australia, Canada, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
Kim explains that the team is chosen through a points system which, “takes into account the six major tournaments in the year.” These tournaments are the Junior Championship Tournaments (JCT) and the US Junior Championship. The top six players from those tournaments were selected to play on the team.
Because Kim had competed in the world championships last year, making the world team for a second year was one of Kim’s goals since the beginning of the season. He explains that, “Playing on this team is a great feeling as it gives me a chance to play for something bigger than myself.”
Kim pinpoints his proudest moment as when he won his first JCT. He recalls, “It was one of the few major tournaments in the year and it was great to see my hard work pay off.”
Kim initially started playing squash when he was transferred to EA in the third grade. His career at the school has continued and he has played for one of the school’s squash teams since Middle School. Varsity Coach John Russell describes Kim as a very hard working player who “reads the game extremely well and is often already moving to his opponent’s next shot before he has even hit it.” Because Kim plays at such a competitive level he constantly has to adapt his game, but Coach Russell assures that he “always gives 100% in both practice and matches.” His teammates view Kim as someone to look up to. Carson Fischer ‘19 says Kim is a, “fluent player, a good leader, and knows how to get the team prepared for all their matches.”
Ruggerio also receives high praise from her teammates and coaches. Grace Szafara ‘19 explains that being in practice with Ruggerio is, “always fun because I can improve a lot by playing alongside her.”
Ruggerio started playing squash at the age of six. She explaains, “my dad and I would try to hit as many consecutive shots as we could to each other,” while her brothers were practicing.
She continued to improve and went on to win Bronze at Nationals when she was seven, which she points out as one of her proudest moments.
Ruggerio credits much of her development to her coaches. She explains that they are more than just coaches to her and are an important part of her life. They have supported her throughout her entire journey. “Besides creating a great training program for me both on and off the court, they have been there for me every day,” says Ruggerio, “and their unwavering support has enabled me to get to where I am today.”
Ruggerio expresses, “I am beyond excited and honored that I get the opportunity to play on this team! It is such a rewarding feeling to know that the hard work I put into training and competing has paid off.”
Although the selection process for the team is over, the training is still rigorous. Both the boys and girls teams will meet three times prior to the tournament to train with the Team USA coaches. “I have competed against the girls on the team during tournaments throughout the years,” says Ruggerio, “so it will be nice to now be their teammates and not competitors.”