Greatness extends beyond the court

A superstar in the collegiate squash world, senior Yasser El Halaby is a man of modesty and integrity. As captain of the men's team, he brought confidence and composure to a young team that won the Ivy title and lost in a heartbreaking National Championship final this past season. To top it all off, El Halaby also became the only four-time national individual champion in men's squash history.

For all his accomplishments and achievements, for all that he brings to his friends and teammates at Princeton University, El Halaby stands for something more outside the walls of Jadwin Gymnasium and beyond FitzRandolph Gate. He has a profound effect on up-and-coming junior players around the world. Junior squash players that have never before been to Princeton, and some who have not even visited the United States, look to El Halaby as a role model, one who has traveled a path that they too may be able to follow.

The first time I heard about Princeton's new number one player, I was a junior in high school. I was competing in a number of junior squash tournaments throughout the United States and some around the world. My sister was playing squash at Princeton, and she called home to tell me that the men's team had just gotten a "blue-chip" recruit. She filled me in on his credentials — unbelievable credentials, to put it bluntly — and I was excited to see this phenom take the court.

I didn't get the opportunity to see him in action until two years later, when I was a freshman, playing alongside El Halaby on the men's squash team. After all the talk and all the hype, he lived up to every expectation by dominating his opponents and instilling a confidence in our team that he would be victorious every time he was on the court.

I did not understand El Halaby's true impact upon the squash community until this past summer, when I was coaching at the Princeton Summer Squash Camps. All the children were constantly asking questions about him. Mainly just the usual questions, "How good is he? How did he get so good," but the most intriguing questions came from two teenagers from El Salvador.

The pair asked about his squash abilities and wanted to see him play, but what they really were interested in was his journey to Princeton from Cairo, Egypt. This duo was constantly asking about grades, test scores and even the possibilities of taking a year of schooling in America. They viewed El Halaby as a shining example of someone that through hard work, on and off the court, was able to attend one of America's top universities.

The difference between El Halaby and top players in the past is his universal appeal. He is an example not only to American players, but also to a growing pool of international players. This growing contingent of world-class juniors, who want to forgo playing professionally, see El Halaby's successes as an example of someone who has been able to enjoy squash success and still get an ever increasingly important college degree.

Some in the collegiate squash world have looked down upon teams that have filled their rosters with foreign talent, but what they fail to see is the total impact of these world class players. Not only have they helped their teams achieve victory, they have also enlarged the recruiting pool past America's borders and increased the overall level of play in collegiate squash. Some feel that spaces for Americans on these teams are being taken by international talent, but it has forced American juniors to train harder and achieve greater success on a worldwide scope thereby lifting the overall level of American junior and collegiate squash.

During my three years here at Princeton with El Halaby, he has continually strived for wins, on an individual and team basis, and he has led his team through the inevitable ups and downs of the collegiate season. His most impressive work as our leader and captain came this year, when he welcomed in three new international stars to our lineup, all of whom succeeded beyond anyone's expectations, and I can confidently say that it could not have happened without the leadership and the strong example set by El Halaby.

After graduation, El Halaby will take his game from Princeton to the professional level. It is a day that all at Princeton, especially head coach Bob Callahan, have dreaded, but his impact on the collegiate squash world will be felt for years to come.

Preston Comey is a junior on the men's squash team.