Senior Richa Patnam will continue her family’s squash legacy next year, competing at Georgetown University as a Division I athlete, following in her father’s footsteps.
Although Patnam played squash throughout her childhood, it was just one of many sports that she played year-round. It wasn’t until around eighth grade that Patnam decided to pursue squash at the collegiate level. “I think I first knew in eighth grade that I wanted to go down the recruiting path,” Patnam said. “Around then is also when I quit all my other sports and really focused on squash.”
From a young age, Patnam competed in competitive squash tournaments, which are divided into four categories: bronze, silver, gold and junior championships. Patnam primarily played in the junior championship competitions, involving the top 32 players in the country.
One challenge Patnam faced was that most tournaments were located on the East Coast, which required a lot of traveling. “I think it’s very different getting recruited from the West Coast because it’s a lot harder for us to go to tournaments,” Patnam said. “However, in my recruiting class, there were around five of us from the Bay Area, so we formed a community together.”
When it became time for Patnam to narrow down schools, she was drawn to Georgetown due to its high academic rigor and location. “I really liked that [Georgetown] was in a city. They also have a good squash program and one of the best undergraduate pre-law programs in the country,” she said.
Patnam said she was especially appreciative of her coaches, who helped direct her through the recruiting process and reached out to different schools on her behalf. “I have two coaches, and they have both helped me through everything. They were the ones communicating with college coaches before they could officially reach out, so [my coaches] had a large impact on my recruiting process,” Patnam said.
