Athlete of the Week: Philip Chang

Although the small, black rubber ball appears to whiz past him, senior Philip Chang turns around quickly and lunges for the ball, getting it on the back wall and catching his opponent in surprise. With an off-balance opponent barely getting to the shot, he grabs the chance for a kill shot and perfectly executes.Chang has been a dedicated member of the boys’ squash team for the past three seasons. Coming to Exeter as a new lower, but primarily a tennis athlete, he was motivated to join the team at the recommendation of his dorm mate in Knight House, senior Louie Feingold, and quickly fell in love with the sport.“My involvement with squash began my lower winter term. I had never actually played squash before coming to Exeter. One of my dorm mates, Louie Feingold, recommended that I play because I was primarily a tennis player and I didn’t have anything else to do in the winter. I didn’t want to take an intramural sport, and I thought squash was interesting. So I tried it out. I played with him a few times, and I loved it,” Chang said, describing the beginning of his squash career.During his second term at Exeter, Chang bravely tried out for the boys’ squash team, hoping for a spot on the team. However, ironically, he lost in the last round of tryouts to current teammate and senior Tim Wongvibulsin and was cut initially. It was the decision of boys’ varsity squash coach Freddy Brussel to keep Chang, seeing potential in the young squash athlete.“He had good form, good athletics. He just didn't have experience. I had a sense that he'd do well,” Brussel said, looking back on the time when he first met Chang on the courts. Lower year, Chang worked hard on the team. However, because of his relative inexperience and lack of skill, he remained near the bottom third of the ladder.Over the summer between his lower and upper years, Chang practiced nearly every day and found himself on the varsity team, in the top seven, during his upper year—a testament to Chang’s athleticism and diligence.“I enjoy the physical demands of squash, but I think what gets me is the mental aspect of the game,” Chang commented, explaining why he was drawn to the sport of squash so much. “It’s a very multidimensional game, and you have a lot to think about. There are a lot of factors of play. It’s a good mental exercise, and some people call it physical chess. And I really love that.”This year, Chang is currently ranked number two on the competitive boys’ squash ladder filled with athletic, motivated squash players. As the only captain of the team, Chang said he is able to love his responsibilities and role as a leader because of how close-knit Exeter boys’ squash is.

“I love being a captain of the Exeter squash team. I think we have a group of great guys that are all friends that really love playing and playing with each other. The team unity is awesome to see. It makes being a captain that much easier and that much more enjoyable because I have a group of people that I like working with that also like working together, and the environment is very friendly and very open,” Chang said.On the other hand, Chang does realize the challenges of leading a team that does not have much experience compared to the teams Exeter usually competes against.“The difficulty of being a captain of the Exeter squash team is that a lot of our players are inexperienced. With some of the teams we play, their players have been playing for a good seven, eight, or sometimes ten years. So, what we lack in experience, we have to make up in hard work and effort on the court during practice and our own time. That’s hard to inspire, but it’s something that I have to try and do, to get my players motivated to practice and make up ground that we’ve lost because we haven’t played the sport until we got here,” Chang said.Although Chang started off as a new, unfamiliar squash player, many admired his ability to improve so quickly. Upper Will Ettinger, a boys’ varsity squash athlete, believed that this contributed to Chang’s great abilities as the captain of the team.“He gets development. He started as not the best player, and in a short time, he became really great. He understands what it’s like to be in the shoes of guys who are just starting, which I think really says something towards his leadership,” Ettinger said.

“Philip leads us in the warm-up each day, taking us on our runs. He's very encouraging during the practice sessions. He's always there with his high spirits.”

Many picked up on Chang’s optimism on the courts as a positive trait in a captain. “Philip leads us in the warm-up each day, taking us on our runs. He's very encouraging during the practice sessions. He's always there with his high spirits,” lower Darius Kahan said.Upper Jun Park, a manager of the team, agreed. “Usually, he’s the sort of person that goes around the courts and gives feedback. He’s always the one, when you see him, who is screaming the loudest and giving encouragement, sort of leading the cheer. That optimism is a positive trait.”Although boys’ squash is off to a slow start with a winless 0-2 record, both losses against strong teams, Chang was optimistic in his outlook for the season.“My lower year, I thought we had the strongest team initially because we had Hoony Lee ’13 and Justin So ’13, both of whom are phenomenal squash players. My upper year, I was a little bit worried, but we actually finished upper year with a better record than my lower year. I think the same is going to happen this year,” Chang said.“We only lost three seniors from last year to this year, and it feels like we have a much deeper team. We have a much fitter, much stronger, and much more committed team in my opinion. I’m very excited for the season, and I hope to improve further on our record.”