Nayelly Hernandez-Walker is an assistant coach for the Columbia men's and women's squash teams. Prior to serving as a coach at Columbia, she worked as a sports mental performance coach, including work with Professional Squash Association players.
Hernandez-Walker was a two-time First Team All-American and two-time All-NESCAC First Team selection at Trinity College. Among her other collegiate honors was being the recipient of the Virginia C. Kurth Award as the team’s Most Valuable Player. She was also the NESCAC Rookie of the Year in 2007-08.
Hernandez-Walker went on to play professionally over the course of six years, achieving her highest world ranking of No. 57 in 2012. She competed in tournaments all over the world and was based out of National Olympic Training Center CONADE with the Mexican National Team.
On the coaching side, Hernandez-Walker has experience assisting two teams at the Mexico National Junior Olympics, and has also been the head coach of the Language in Squash Program for “Squash and Beyond” in Barcelona, Spain. She also served as the Club Pro and Lead Pro at Chelsea Piers CT over a span of three years, was the Head Squash Professional and Events Manager at Bronxville Field Club, Assistant Squash Professional at The River Club of NY and Head Squash Coach of The Chaplin School varsity team.
A Mexican national, Hernandez-Walker is fluent in reading, writing, and speaking in both English in Spanish. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Trinity in 2010, going on to earn a master’s in sports psychology from UNED in 2018.
