NEW YORK — Columbia and Kenneth W. Torrey Head Coach of Squash Chris Sachvie formally introduced Chris Fernandez as an assistant coach on Tuesday. Fernandez joins the Lions after spending the last two years as the head coach at Chatham University.
"This is a full circle moment having met Chris Fernandez on his recruiting visit while I was a 21-year-old assistant coach at St. Lawrence," Sachvie said upon hiring Fernandez. "I worked with Chris for one year and knew he was going to be a great leader and competitor for the SLU program. We stayed in touch after I left St. Lawrence and I served as a reference for Chris to replace me as Dickinson's head squash coach. Getting someone with Chris's experience is going to help every aspect of our program and we are excited to get started."
Under Fernandez's leadership, the Chatham women were the Most Improved Team in the College Squash Association (CSA) in 2022-2023. The men's program also won the award in 2021-2022. Prior to his time at Chatham, Fernandez served as the head men's and women's squash coach at Dickinson College and was the youngest varsity head coach in the history of the CSA.
Fernandez grew up in New York City, where he attended the Canterbury School in Connecticut. He was recruited as a two-sport athlete in squash and baseball to St. Lawrence University. After graduating, he returned home to New York to work at the same program that introduced him to squash in middle school, serving as the Director of Squash at CitySquash for several years. There, he had the responsibility for the mentoring of over 120 youth athletes through squash. Fernandez also spent time as the head coach of the women's club team at Fordham University in New York.
In his playing days, Fernandez had successful high school and college squash campaigns. He earned a scholarship to the prestigious Canterbury School in Connecticut and set the record for most wins with a career record of 64-6, winning two New England championships in the process. He was then recruited by the coaching staff at St. Lawrence University, where he was a four-year starter and team captain who helped St. Lawrence improve from 15th in the national rankings to achieving three top-10 finishes. His team achieved the highest ranking in school history of No. 2 after making the finals of the 2015 CSA Team Championships.
Aside from squash, Fernandez also walked onto the Saints' baseball team. He led the Saints in batting average, extra-base hits, and hits in his senior season. After college, Fernandez went on to represent the Dominican Republic as the No. 1 player at two Pan American Squash Championships.
Fernandez holds ample leadership experience to supplement his squash expertise. Not only is he currently a board member for Squashwise, an urban program in Baltimore, but he has also served as a committee member for the Squash and Education Alliance. Additionally, he has served as a faculty leader for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and a Title IX Coordinator Committee member.
Fernandez earned his degree at St. Lawrence with a major in performing and communication arts and a minor in sports studies. He holds a Level 1 Coaching Certification.
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