Dave Fish Retires After 42 Years

As many of you have heard, Dave Fish ’72 has retired this past summer after 42 seasons as the Scott Mead ’77 Head Coach for Harvard Men’s Tennis.

Dave has played a significant role in the history of Harvard Squash, first as a player and eventually as the men’s team’s head coach in 1976-1989, following in the footsteps of the late Jack Barnaby ’32.

We have received many messages about Dave, his impact on the program, and the many lives he has affected during his career. We’d love to hear from more of you and publish your thoughts and memories of Dave below. You can send them to us using our contact form.

In addition, you can access the Dave Fish Era chapter of Rob Dinerman’s book, A History of Harvard Squash, here.

Our sincerest thank you to Dave for all the work he’s done for our squash program and Harvard Athletics.

Mike Way
Gregory Lee ’87 and Russell Ball ’88 Endowed Head Coach, Men’s and Women’s Squash
Harvard University

“Dave was a tremendous student of the game of squash. In my opinion, no other college coach at that time had as great a command of the technical and strategic dimensions of the game hardball squash. Using this knowledge, Dave always found a way to get the most out of each player. Perhaps more importantly, Dave was an educator and mentor. He took an active interest in everyone’s personal develop beyond the confines of the squash court. I feel very fortunate to have had Dave as a coach and friend.”

– Russ Ball ’88

“I had the luck to be coached by both Jack Barnaby and Dave Fish. One moment crystalized their differences in style, but first a note on context. Often Barnaby would get in the court with us, gray flannels, lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth, peering at you with his owlish face, only to grab the racquet out of your hand to show you the kind of underspin he expected you to impart to your roll-corner. When I first studied under him, I could mistake his passion for anger, but he cackled and exhorted you when he liked what he saw. He was a master tactician. Fish also got in the court with us, but always conveyed a friendliness in his manner, an empathy, and technical mastery. Two very different styles. In my final match as a senior, we squared off against Penn at Hemenway. Fish took me aside before I bowed my head to enter the court. I thought he might give me the tip that could undo my opponent, had spotted a weakness I didn’t see. Instead, he looked me in the eye, and said, “I know this is your last match for Harvard, and the number one thing I want you to think about when you’re out there is the importance of enjoying yourself.” I was floored. Speechless. But he was right.”

– George Bell ’79

“Dave made me feel instantly at home when I got to Harvard, although I was the only squash player who wasn’t from an American prep school.  He had an infectious joy in playing, sparkled with a positive energy and creativity in thinking about the game, and he was also reasonably funny.  As his exceptional career clearly shows, Dave helped make the Harvard experience better for thousands of players and fans.”

– Mike Desaulniers ’80

“As a tennis a team-mate and classmate of Dave’s in tennis and squash, I watched him transform from a talented but underperforming freshman to a savvy sophomore who worked hard and smart to maximize his gifts and reach a new level of competitiveness in both sports (if we’d had Universal Tennis Ratings back then, Dave would have gone from one of the low 12’s to a very competitive 13). After our freshman summer when Dave assisted coach Barnaby at a seasonal tennis club in Duxbury, MA., he returned with the keys from the Kingdom of Oz . From his close relationship with Jack, Dave internalized the Barnaby lessons that Jack poured over all of his team members as liberally as the afternoon libation that Jack looked forward to every day. You couldn’t help but drink some of Jack’s cool-aid even if you preferred his stories, but no one I saw in four years had so thoroughly absorbed and ably implemented Jack’s technical and tactical genius for every aspect of the games. From that summer forward, Dave was a different player and competitor, leading both teams for the next three years with his work ethic, understanding and commitment. We thrived under his leadership as captain, even though by then he had ongoing struggles with tennis elbow.

Just as deliberately, Dave developed many fine qualities off the court which benefited his teams when he became the coach (I won’t mention them, as others have already done so). Operating at the start of a different era, when recruiting and mentoring would become essential, Dave made it his top priority every year to develop or learn and master new teaching and training techniques while sharpening the communication skills he needed to customize his coaching to the demands and abilities of the incredibly diverse Harvard recruits. 

As an alum, I continue to learn from his off-court lessons. He may have retired from Harvard to go on to a new career, but he will always be a coach, par excellence.”

– Rick Devereux ’72

“Dave Fish’s impact at Harvard during his 42 years was simply monumental.  As a  coach, mentor and friend he set a standard at Harvard Squash that continued the Barnaby tradition of developing and demanding the best of players.  In addition to his highly technical coaching of squash-his  lessons on resiliency, work ethic, discipline, dedication, heart and leadership were a staples of his coaching.  I was blessed to be able to play for him for four seasons.”

– Joe Dowling ’87

“Congratulations, Dave, on 42 years of successful coaching of squash and tennis at Harvard! As a walk-on without much experience, I was fortunate to be able to learn from the best teacher of squash technique, tactics, and strategy. Preparation, discipline, fitness, focus, positivity, and self-improvement were all part of the foundation of such a great program and the ability for an individual player to maximize his talent. Dave could plug into each individual to help bring out the best in your game–he could stoke your fire or keep you from overheating. I recall the Silent Crimson cheer, the fables–of how pearls are made and ducks grow up–and the aphorisms on squash and life. In the 80’s at Hemenway, with Dave there and Jack Barnaby and Steve Piltch in the background, it was a Golden Age of squash at Harvard that we were lucky to be a part of. But the lessons learned were important not just for squash but also for life, as I can’t tell you how often I draw on my experiences and teachings from Dave, my teammates, and the program to help me both in my professional and personal journeys. Thank you, Dave, for your Harvard Squash stewardship, your tutelage, and your friendship. I wish you the best in your retirement.”

– Frank Huerta ’89

“Squash, tennis, whether it was on the court or off, for those lucky enough to be his teammates, players, associates, and friends, Dave Fish shared his unparalleled warmth, caring, expertise, and mentoring ability to transform the lives of everyone he touched.  The setting or discipline never mattered.  For Dave, it was always about the relationships, about helping others be the best they could be, about giving more than you take while spreading his infectious enthusiasm so that we all learned the satisfaction of ‘paying it forward’.  Dave will be sorely missed at Harvard but his ability to build tomorrow’s leaders out of today’s top student-athletes will carry on for generations to come.”

– Bill Kaplan ’77

“‘Sometimes, it is during your best shot that you have to pay the most attention’.

Those were the wise words from Dave Fish during the summer of 1986. Dave organized the first International Junior Squash Exchange Program. He brought together some of the top juniors from the US, Canada, Finland, Spain, England, Netherlands, Germany, Singapore, Malaysia and (lucky for me) Mexico for 3 weeks of travel and squash in the Northeast.

In retrospect, between counselors (Kenton Jernigan, Hugh LaBossier), players (Scott Dulmage, John Musto, Rudy Rodriguez) and hosts like Gary Waite, Mark Talbott and John Nimick, I was lucky enough to experience a fantastic slice of squash history.

Dave deepened my love of squash and as a junior, he helped me become a better person and let Rudy and I crash at his house for a few extra days!

Looking back I feel incredibly lucky to have been part of the exchange program and after 30 years, I have nothing but respect, gratitude and admiration for everything Dave shared with me.

Dave, thank you very much. You were a great role model and an inspiration. People like you change the world, one athlete at a time.”

– Manuel Martin

“Besides his strategic, tactical, and, always fun for me, his stroke/mechanical squash insights, Dave’s sheer friendliness always make him a welcome sight wherever encountered.”

– Jay Nelson ’62

“Dave Fish was the best professor I ever had at Harvard: his teaching of the technical aspects of squash was unparalleled.  Despite the toughest job in college sports – succeeding the legendary Jack Barnaby – Fishy took Harvard Squash to a new level of excellence.  I’m forever grateful for the time we spent on court together.” 

– Chip Robie ’82 

“Dave Fish has epitomized the Harvard Athletics mission of education through athletics and has been a tremendous leader with the men’s tennis program. His devotion to Harvard and dedication to his student-athletes speak to his character as a coach, and we will greatly miss him as a leader and role model.”

– Bob Scalise, The John D. Nichols ’53 Family Director of Athletics