Trinity College Debuts New Facility for Squash Squads; Winning Tradition Continues

The winning is just beginning - again - for Trinity College Men’s and Women’s Squash, with both squads winning their opening two days of competition, including 9-0 wins over Tufts University on Sunday afternoon.  The action that afternoon took place for the first time in the brand-new Kovas Squash Center on campus in Hartford.

Trinity welcomed donors, alumni, friends, and families for the first home match played in the first-rate Kovas Squash Center In the Scully Center, which opened this past summer. The stands were filled with many of the supporters who helped make the facility possible and who continue to shape the legacy of Trinity College Squash, the school’s winningest athletic programs.

First announced in 2023 with construction concluded earlier this year, the Kovas Squash Center is part of an addition to the Ferris Center, which first opened in 1968.  The new Scully Center also provides modern workspace for many head and assistant coaches. Plans included five new multipurpose rooms, designed to provide opportunities for team meetings and film viewing, as well as additional classroom space for the wider college community.  Two years later, the plans have come to fruition.

Additionally, Trinity students will be able to access the new fitness center including a cardio center, free-weight room, fitness studios, a multipurpose recreation gym, and student gathering spaces.

“The new squash courts will position our varsity teams for the future to continue competing at the highest level each year,” said Elissa Raether Kovas ’93, P’25, co-chair of the Athletics Campaign Committee, when the construction of the new facility was announced in October 2023.  “Additionally, the variety of new spaces available in the wellness and recreation center provide us opportunities to strengthen already existing relationships with community organizations that support wellness for the youth of Hartford.”  (See time lapse video of the construction here.)

After the Sunday opening matches, Athletic Director Gavin Viano, Athletic Ambassador and former long-time Men’s Coach Paul Assaiante, Trinity College President Dan Lugo, and Women’s Head Coach Lauren Patrizio offered remarks on the newly opened Kovas Squash Center and the celebration of the 2025 CSA National Champion Trinity College Women's Squash team.  Members of the 2024-25 Women’s Squash team received their championship rings, to the delight (and enthusiastic applause) of family and friends who were on hand for the occasio.

As the season got underway this month, Trinity College Men's Squash entered the 2025-26 season seated No. 2 in the College Squash Association rankings; Women’s Squash will be defending their national championship. 

Athletic Director Viano traced the national championship-filled recent history of Trinity’s mens and womens squash squads, underscoring the caliber of athletic accomplishment that helped bring him to Trinity this summer.  He was appointed the director of athletics and recreation at Trinity College, effective this past August, bringing significant experience in higher education, most recently as the director of athletics and recreation at Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts.

In her first season at the helm, Coach Lauren Patrizio guided Women’s Squash to a National Championship.  It was the program’s second-straight College Squash Association (CSA) National Championship, and fifth overall National Championship in program history.

"We had a good season last year despite graduating a large class the year before. This required many of our players to step into higher positions and adapt to the intensity. I only wish we could have finished a bit higher for our seniors, who were such a special group. This year, we've brought in a talented incoming class to complement the core of our returning ladder. We're excited to see what we can accomplish this season," commented Men’s Head Coach Moustafa Hamada as last year’s sesaon drew to a close.  Now, after opening the season with back-to-back wins, Men’ s squash heads next to Ithaca, N.Y., to take on No. 10 Cornell University on Wednesday, November 19 at 3 p.m.

On hand for a very special Sunday was Paul Assaiante, universally described as one of the greatest coaches in the history of intercollegiate athletics, who retired in 2023 after a 30-year tenure as the head coach of Trinity College men's squash.  Assaiante guided the Bantams to 13 consecutive College Squash Association (CSA) National titles from 1999 to 2011 and 252 wins in a row, giving Trinity ownership of the longest winning streak in the history of intercollegiate varsity sports.  He remains an athletic ambassador and part of the Trinity program, assisting with both men’s and women’s squash.