Ronin Kaplan ‘23 has been on the Varsity Boys Squash team since third form. This Winter term, he serves as a co-captain. He gives it his all during practice and even more so during matches. As the boys head to Nationals again this year, Ronin prepares for an exciting weekend of team bonding and intense gameplay. Without the opportunity to rally with another player and no interscholastic competition, the Varsity Squash team had no motivation to practice at all. Ronin Kaplan ‘23 was in the Winter term of his sophomore year when he got affected the most by COVID-19 restrictions. Today, he has overcome this lack of motivation he once felt and is now starting the new season as captain of the Groton Varsity Boys Squash Team. He has been on varsity since third form.
What is your most memorable Groton squash moment?
“My most memorable moment comes from my freshman year, when we won the Division Three nationals. If it’s not that moment it’s probably Nationals last year”
What prompted you to start playing squash?
“What prompted me was my dad actually. I started playing in Long Island when I was pretty young, when I was six or seven years old. My dad had played a little bit in college and he started getting into it more as an adult, so he kind of just introduced me to the sport at a young age. From there, I guess, I just kept going.”
Are there any challenges you’ve faced as a varsity squash player?
“I think definitely one of the biggest challenges was my sophomore year when the school was very strict about COVID and that really limited practice time as well as what we could do on the court. For example, we weren’t allowed to rally with each other because of COVID. That honestly had a big effect on the team in terms of motivation because there were no matches. But how the team overcame that challenge was looking ahead towards the future and because we were a young team we knew that there would be seasons ahead. So it was just keeping our heads up and looking forward.”
How do you stay motivated throughout the season and especially during tough matches?
“Now outside of covid how I stay motivated is looking at the sport from a team perspective. If you look at squash outside of the high school lens it’s an individual sport at the end of the day. Outside of highschool squash it’s definitely easy to get wrapped up in personal victories, but here at school what I try to focus on for motivation is more acknowledging the team part; that my match counts towards the team as a whole better than myself.”
Who inspires you the most when it comes to squash?
“I have a coach at home named Supreet and he’s basically been with me since I was in fourth grade. First of all, his story with squash is pretty inspiring. He was able to move to the US because of squash through college recruitment. That kind of story is inspiring to me and also how dedicated he is to teaching younger kids and making the sport more accessible for me is definitely inspiring.”
What have you learned from your time as a Varsity captain/player on the team?
“Not getting wrapped up in results and more so focusing on having fun honestly and enjoying our time as a team especially because it’s my last season at Groton. I’m definitely just trying to enjoy hanging out with my friends on the team and creating memories.”
What advice would you give to younger athletes?
“To younger athletes I would definitely say once you’ve kind of gotten down the technique, in my opinion, the biggest part of sports is staying engaged and making sure that it’s an enjoyable experience. In past experiences, there’s a fine line between sports having a lot of pressure and it being more of a recreational activity. My advice would be to practice hard and engage with the technique, but don’t forget that it’s just a sport.”
What are your aspirations for the future?
“I definitely have hopes of walking on in college wherever that be, and of course, that’s going to depend on where I go. At some of the bigger colleges it’s a lot harder to walk on. That’s definitely an aspiration – just to walk on.”
