Makeda Moshi ’26 is a four-year Senior from Washington, D.C. She has been part of Girls Varsity Squash for four years and is now co-captain. Moshi is committed to play squash at UVA next year.
Teammate Valentina Castro ’26 said, “She is a great captain and extremely inspirational. She is a leader on and off the court and is very supportive of us during games and practices.”
How did you get started with squash?
My dad put me in squash when I was about nine or ten. He’s from Tanzania, and he played back at home.
Why did you decide to come to Hotchkiss?
The coach here was at one of the tournaments I was playing at over the summer before my eighth grade year, and she was talking to my parents about boarding school and the squash program here. Then I came and visited, and I really liked the school.
How has the school helped you develop as an athlete and student?
My experience has been great. As an athlete, I’ve improved a lot because the team is growing a lot and most of us are playing at the championship level. A lot of us are playing in and traveling to the tournaments together, and we’re improving a lot with practicing with one another.
I think academically, Hotchkiss is a lot more challenging than my middle school, so I definitely grew as a student. I also would say coming to Hotchkiss definitely taught me to be more independent, because I was very dependent on my parents with almost everything, and now I know how to manage a lot of my own things on my own.
What are some of your favorite memories here?
I would love to say last year at high school nationals. With the team in the semis match, I had a really crazy match. I was really nervous, and I ended up winning. Then we went to the semis and we placed second. This was the highest that Hotchkiss squash has ever placed. That was one of my favorite memories because I grew closer to the team a lot, and I got to also really see how much I’ve been improving.
What are some lessons you’ve learned playing at Nationals?
Nationals is a four-day, three- night trip, and it’s very fun. The whole team grows closer, especially since we are all rooming together for the whole weekend. We’re competing at the Spectre Center, which is the main squash facility for the U.S and the U.S national team’s training facility. Being able to play there is an amazing experience because we have top-notch players and the best schools from all over the country watching us.
My experience in these past couple of years at Nationals has been really fun, because we’ve been getting to the semifinals, which is where our team can compete on the main court. It’s been a good experience, because I’ve been able to put myself out there and get over my fear of playing in front of a huge crowd.
Can you tell me more about your experience as the captain?
When I was first captain, I didn’t understand what I was supposed to be doing, because I thought it would be weird having authority over people that in the previous years I had just considered as teammates. They’re still my teammates, obviously, but, as captain now, I find myself taking it more seriously.
Now I’m seeing high school nationals as really serious, because I’m a Senior and this is my last chance to be able to take home the title. As captain, I feel like I’m trying to push my teammates to try harder in practice, take everything seriously, and put all their effort in. I also make sure I’m setting a good example for them and staying on top of my stuff. I think I was already doing that, but having the label of captain is motivating to continue doing my best and help them do their best as well.
Could you tell me more about your recruitment process?
You can start recruitment during your Upper MId year and the recruiting process started on September 1. I sent out all my emails the last week of August to get them out early. I received emails from a couple of schools, including UVA, which was one of my top choices, so then I planned to meet with the coach. During that September 1 weekend, there is a junior championship tournament in Greenwich, Connecticut, where most of the squash players, especially juniors, go to play. At that tournament, I talked to the UVA coach more about visiting and other logistics, and then we planned a visit. I visited UVA during the first week of October, and I committed on the final day of my visit.
What are your goals for the rest of your Senior year and at college?
One of my biggest goals is to hopefully take home a national title for Hotchkiss, and or take home the NEPSAC title. Those are my squash goals.
At Hotchkiss in general, I’m looking forward to spending more time with my friends and trying to enjoy the last couple of months I have here. Now that I’m officially into college I want to take advantage of every event happening: every dance, every event, every open discourse forum, and go to all the club meetings that I can.
What advice would you give to younger players?
You play how you practice. With squash, the way you practice can really predict the way you play in a match. I tell the team this all the time to make sure they’re really taking practice seriously and not joking around all the time, because when it comes to an actual match we want to play well against other teams. Some teams aren’t hard to play, but when we do come up against teams that give us a run for money, like Greenwich Academy, we need to make sure we’re practicing the same way we would play a match.
