As the undefeated Navy squash team prepares for the second half of their regular season, the Navy Letterwinners Association sat down to interview Head Coach Tyler Osborne. After winning the USNA Dean's Award last year for having the highest GPA of any varsity sport, the squash team is pushing towards their ultimate goal, returning back to the CSA National Championship.
Letterwinners: The team is 15-0 and tied the school record for the best start to a season. What do you attribute to the team's recent success?
Coach Osborne: It's all about getting the right people on the roster. We've had some strong recruiting classes recently. We have three plebes in our top 5, in recent tournaments, so it's a pretty young squad. When you bring in that kind of talent, it's going to push the remaining guys on the roster to improve every day.
Letterwinners: Alexander Orr is your team captain and the only 1/C on the team. In a sport that has both an individual and team aspect to it, how has his leadership improved the team dynamic?
Coach Osborne: Alexander has been a great team captain for us. The team struggled through a few tough years when he was younger, but that experience has prepared him to be a better leader now. He's a quiet leader, but when he speaks, people listen. He's improved every year on the team and I believe the younger guys really respect his work ethic.
Letterwinners: With such a solid group of younger athletes, what's your recruiting pitch and tactics?
Coach Osborne: It's a leadership school and that's how we sell it. All of the schools we are competing against are strong academically, but the major difference is that Navy prepares you for a life in leadership. That sets us apart and is appealing to the motivated athletes.
Letterwinners: What lies ahead on the second half of the schedule and what are the goals for this team?
Coach Osborne: The main goal is to finish ranked in the top 12 nationally, which would qualify the team for the national championship. It has been a long time since we made the national championship, so that's been the goal on paper every single year. When we get back from winter break, we have an important road trip, where we play Middlebury, Amherst, and Williams. All three programs are ranked in the 12-16 range, so it will give us a good marker of where we stand. So, the guys have to be ready after the break to compete and we are focused on doing just that.
Letterwinners: Do you have any team mantras or mottos?
Coach Osborne: The one that we came up with maybe five years ago is, "Together in uniform, we are hard to beat, to break down, or to break apart." It focuses on our team-first culture, how we are working toward the same goals, and to have everyone's back when the going gets tough.
Letterwinners: Last year Navy won the US Intercollegiate Doubles Championship, with both Orr and Killinger returning to the team this year. Has that given the team some momentum for the current season?
Coach Osborne: So, doubles is a completely different game: different court, different ball, different tactics. No school has a predominant doubles team. So you're building your doubles program out of the individuals in your normal singles line-up. Doubles competition is important to our school and to our guys. It's a way to compete for a national championship, but it's not easy on the guys having to train singles, train doubles, and be prepared for both. I give them a lot of credit for being able to balance both disciplines and not sacrifice preparation in our singles and team competitions.
Letterwinners: In 2023, you served on the coaching staff for Team Canada at the World Junior Championships. How did that experience help your coaching career?
Coach Osborne: I am so lucky to have great mentors in the coaching ranks and they gave me a chance to represent Canada a number of times at the junior level. I'm grateful for the opportunities they gave me and I want to be able to give back when I am able. It was a great opportunity for coaching development. At any world championship, you are around the best players and coaches in the world, so there is so much to learn.
Letterwinners: What do you want your alumni to know about the current program?
Coach Osborne: We just want the alumni to know how appreciative we are of what they have done for our team. It's amazing to see our alumni at our matches, from New York all the way to North Carolina. We make sure the current athletes understand the history of success and the tradition that is Navy Squash. I know our alumni would be proud of the current team, the work ethic, the men they are becoming, and what they will do in the Fleet. And that experience would not be possible without the support of our alumni.
