"La vie est belle [Life is beautiful]," avows Eben Clattenburg '09 with his trademark goofy grin. Clattenburg, a native of nearby Springfield, Vermont, is the No. 8-positioned player on the Dartmouth men's squash team. Clattenburg speaks French with a native flourish, having lived in France for two years during high school.
The Dartmouth newcomer grew up in Vermont, Senegal and Tours, France. With all the traveling that he completed early in his life, there was little time for squash. "I didn't know much about squash when I was younger," says Clattenburg.
Indeed, Clattenburg was averse to almost all sports when he was a child. "I didn't really like team sports, I like sports where you compete as an individual for a team," he said. "When I found squash, it was a perfect match."
Clattenburg began playing squash during his sophomore year of high school, when a teacher, John Donnelly of Hanover High School, formed a squash club and extended Eben an invitation. The club met at Berry Squash Center once every week, and it was here that Clattenburg was introduced to Dartmouth men's squash coach John Power.
"Coach Power and I got along very well from the very beginning," says Clattenburg. "I co-operated with him, and in turn, he helped me develop my squash technique."
Power was most impressed with Eben's steep learning curve. Clattenburg spent his junior year of school abroad in Tours, France, where he attended a French lycee and played for a competitive French club team, Squash-Central. With Squash-Central, Clattenburg competed against other outfits from all over the French countryside that were in the same division. He was able to exercise his emerging squash skill, and enjoyed the bucolic French landscape.
Following his year in France, Clattenburg returned to the Berry Center a changed man. His squash skill had improved by leaps and bounds, and Power was impressed. Clattenburg worked with Power, and continued to fine-tune his playing capacity.
After graduating from Hanover High School, Eben returned to France to finish his schooling there. "The year after senior year I returned to France where I played on the club team and did the 13th year of school, Terminale, in France," Clattenburg said. "I had the time of my life -- that is, until I came to Dartmouth."
Clattenburg is quick to credit another person for his rapid rise to squash preeminence. "For the last two years of high school, assistant coach David Heath assisted me in vastly improving my game," he said. He is, however, ready to admit that he may need a bit more grooming before he can reach his goal of acquiring a top-five team ranking.
"Look, I'm not gonna lie," states Eben with the same smile on his visage, "My talent is pretty raw. Plus, I've played in a lot fewer matches than most of the other players on the team."
Clattenburg's raw skill and enormous energy are always on display during his matches at the Berry Center. He resembles a graceful gazelle on the hardwood floor, at times simultaneously outplaying and out-hustling his opponents. He is always covered in copious amounts of sweat, but following this weekend's big victory over Cornell's No. 8-ranked competitor, his modus operandi is proving to be extremely potent.
Clattenburg has one major fan in freshman lightweight rower Christian Ogden '09. "I go to all of Eben's home matches when I am here in Hanover," said an enthused Ogden. "He's an amazing player, and watching him is very exciting. Plus, he cracks me up with some of his on-court antics. I'd tell anyone who reads this to go watch him play. It'll be a good use of your hour-or-so on a Saturday afternoon."
The on-court antics that Ogden speaks of so fondly seem to be of a laugh-inducing nature. Whenever Clattenburg loses his concentration on court, he will tap the front of his racket lightly against the glass of the back wall and mutter something barely audible, and usually French.
According to Julia Drury '06, the No. 1-ranked member of the Dartmouth women's squash team, this routine is actually far from being strange.
"Hey, it's cool, my sister [a squash player] does that also," she said. "We all have our own strange habits. It's whatever keeps you playing well during the matches."
Power is noticeably a Clattenburg fan as well. While watching one of Clattenburg's matches, a spectator might discover that while making his rounds through all of the matches that are underway, the coach tends to linger an extra few seconds at Clattenburg's court. It is obvious from the expression on Power's face that he cares about Clattenburg's development both on and off of the squash court.Clattenburg knows that he has a long way to go towards becoming the best squash player he can be, but he also understands that he has come a long way and accomplished a great deal in his life already.
"I think I can handle the pressure," says Eben of his self-imposed desire to raise the bar in his play. "Plus, I love squash and the team has become a part of me. Je vais faire partie des premiers cinq jouers de l'equipe de squash. [I will be in the top five players on the squash team]."
