The daughter of two squash coaches, Jackie Barnes ’17 picked up her first racquet before she started school, never doubting that she would one day compete in the sport.
Barnes, a freshman who lacks competitive high school experience, began her first season in the No. 1 position for the Big Green Barnes enters each match with the mindset that her opponents will play at her same level, she said.
“It’s a lot of pressure to perform well because I don’t want to disappoint the team or the coach,” she said.
Barnes has shown competitive spirit from the beginning in her matches for the Big Green. She rallied from a 0-2 deficit during the Ivy scrimmages in November to win her next three games, a win which was enough for the team to defeat the Brown University squad.
“She’s passionate about the game and that rubs off on others,” co-captain Melina Turk ’14 said. “She also has a competitive drive that is so important in high level athletics, and she fights hard in every match she plays.”
Barnes was coached by her parents until she joined the Big Green and saw success on the national Junior circuit where she was the two-time U.S. Silver Nationals champion.
She said her interest in the sport developed initially because of the friendships that it offered, rather than the competition.
In her first-ever tournament, she got “bageled” in one game, she said, and scored only three points the whole match.
But she began taking the game seriously in high school, when she realized she could play at a collegiate level. Though her high school did not have a varsity squash team, it offered the sport as an after-school activity. Her mother managed the program, and Barnes played as captain and coached her teammates.
“It was a nice change of atmosphere, since it was playing for enjoyment, whereas usually it’s playing to win.”
After graduating from Walt Whitman High School in 2012, Barnes spent a gap year in Australia, her birthplace. She visited family and friends and played in squash in professional tournaments as an amateur.
Playing the elite, she said, taught her advanced skills that helped her improve.
“I could pick up different techniques and integrate the ways that they beat me into my own game,” she said.
During her gap year, Barnes was approached by former squash captain Corey Schafer ’13, who sparked Barnes’ interest in the College. Schafer told Barnes that she thought she would be a good fit for the team. Soon after, Barnes talked to head coach Hansi Wiens and came to the College on an official visit.
Adjusting to collegiate competition has presented some challenges, Barnes said.
“It has always been natural to be coached by my parents,” she said. “It was a little hard to adjust at first because I had so much individual attention from them, and they knew exactly how I played when I was on court.”
However, Wiens’s coaching style, which includes learning each player’s individual strengths and weaknesses, has helped the adjustment, she said.
Teammates view Barnes as a valuable influence who is determined on the court, but quiet and happy off the court.
“She’s a very good sport and very sweet and fun outside of squash,” co-captain Kate Nimmo ’14 said. “She’s a very impressive seasoned player, but she’ll continue to develop with Hansi coaching her and the Dartmouth program supporting her as well.”
