Hira Humayun ’17
Features Editor
Smith’s head squash coach, Tim Bacon, has retired after 21 years of coaching and teaching. Bacon joined Smith in 1994 as the eighth squash coach in Smith’s history and held the longest tenure in the athletic department.
As both coach of Smith’s varsity squash team and professor of exercise and sports studies, Bacon “poured his heart and soul into Smith since his arrival in 1994,” according to Athletic Director Lynn Oberbillig. In the academic field, he specialized in sports science, mental training, sports psychology and coaching education.
Presented with the Chaffee Award by the Women’s College Squash Association in 2004 and having led the Pioneers to the Epps Cup in the Women’s National Team Championship in 2012, he made some remarkable achievements during his time at Smith. He also coached four athletes who went on to win the Wetzel Award, making him the first coach to have trained that many Wetzel Award winners. Bacon also served in the Women’s College Squash Association and was chair of the Rules and Regulations Committee.
With 139 career victories, more than any other Smith squash coach, Bacon’s achievements and dedication took Smith squash a long way. In 1998 he led the team to 11 victories, and they placed 12th in the country. In addition, seven of the athletes he trained were on the College Squash Association’s (CSA) ranking list in 2004.
Bacon received his M.A. from the University of Western Ontario and his B.P.H.E. from the University of Toronto. He is also a certified mental training consultant and has worked with Canada’s national tennis, squash and racquetball teams since 1987.
He has written numerous coaching education materials, including the chapter on sports psychology in the National Coaching Certification Program Level 3 Theory Manual. His positions on the USSRA Coaching Committee, the Canadian Mental Training Registry, the American Sports Education Program and the National Strength and Conditioning Association are just some of the many ways he was deeply involved in squash beyond Smith.
Bacon holds a U.S. Squash Level 3 certification at the highest level and the highest certification in World Professional Squash Association. His achievements extend to placing in the top ten U.S. Squash 45+ ranking twice and being ranked at number 23 in the World Rackelton Doubles Rankings.
Bacon fostered a close relationship with his team, who will continue to remember his legacy – not only a coach, but also as a professor and a mentor. “The precision, experience and awareness that Tim brought to squash training were crucial in developing the team’s skills,” said Smith’s varsity squash team member Eva Morgenstein ’17. “His attitude towards mental training and preparation for competition strengthened my mindset during matches. Tim was light-hearted at practice. His training perspective and general disposition made him a fantastic squash coach.”
Team captain Carly Melillo ’16 said, “The first time I met Tim, he immediately made a joke. To this day, I have yet to have a conversation with him where he has left his sense of humor at home. This humor of his has served as a unifying factor for our team. It has served as a reminder to not take the competition, or life, so seriously. It has served as an invitation for me and my teammates to be ourselves. Contradictory to his Canadian roots, he is unapologetically Tim. Tim is a punk, with a wardrobe from the ’80s to match. His expertise has turned squash seeds into squash players. Tim may have played up his farce and relaxed attitude, but behind the guise of nonchalance is a man who loves the sport and, whether he dare admit it or not, loves Smith Squash.”
Bacon plans to pursue sports consulting and will be fondly remembered at Smith. Oberbillig concluded, “We wish him well and thank him for his many years of service to Smith.”
