Joe Raho is in his fifth season as head coach of the Tufts University men's and women's squash teams. Prior to becoming Tufts head coach, Joe was assistant squash coach at Brown University from 2014-17.
In addition to these past 8 years as a college squash coach, Coach Raho brings a wealth of first-hand experience from his years as a junior player where he was a two-time US junior national champion, played for his high school varsity squash team, was a member of the U.S team that competed at the World Junior Squash Championships in Islamabad,Pakistan in 2004, and captained his college squash team at UPenn.
The Tufts Squash program got a huge lift when the school opened its new Tufts Squash Center on campus on February 1, 2020. Coach Raho helped design the $6 million, eight-court facility featuring a glass show court, designed for spectators, and including cameras for webcasting and training review, scoreboards and seating. Because of the pandemic which began shortly after the opening of the new Tufts Squash facility, this is the first season that camps will be held at this outstanding facility and a wonderful opportunity to experience the space and all it has to offer.
The men’s and women’s squash teams at Tufts have been on an upward trajectory since Coach Raho’s arrival on campus with a big boost from the opening of the Tufts Squash Center. During the most recent season which just ended in February 2022, the women’s team finished 12th overall in the College Squash Association rankings, its highest ranking in 25 years, and second in the NESCAC, their highest ranking ever. The men’s team also progressed with a strong finish in the CSA rankings of 18th, the highest since 2008.
Coach Raho will be assisted by some of his colleagues that he has worked with over the past years on the college circuit. The names of the other coaches participating in these camps with Coach Raho will be announced soon.
Alex Grayson joins Tufts University’s women’s and men’s squash teams for his first year as assistant coach.
Alex started his own professional squash career as a 17 year old, representing the New Zealand U19 team, senior men’s team, and playing the PSA pro tour for several years. Alex’s experience with knee and achilles injuries during his career has informed his coaching style—helping to build solid physical & mental foundations early in a player's career to prevent injury and promote well-being.
Coach Grayson looks forward to complimenting the skills of Coach Joe Raho, who has lead the Tufts Squash teams in an upward trajectory since his appointment as head coach in 2017.
Hameed Ahmed has spent the last six seasons as associate head coach and is now in his 11th season with the Harvard squash program in 2023. Ahmed was elevated to his current post of the men's and women's programs in 2018, after five seasons as the assistant coach and communications/alumni relations coordinator.
Both the men's and women's programs have seen great success in Ahmed's ten years with the Crimson. The men's side has amassed 125 wins, six Ivy League titles and five national championships (2014, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023). The 2014 title was the Crimson's first since 1998. The women's side has also been strong under Ahmed, picking up 130 wins, eight Ivy league championships and eight consecutive national titles.
Ahmed came to Harvard in 2013, after spending the previous two seasons at his alma mater, the University of Rochester, as an assistant coach. During his time at Rochester he made a big impact on the squash program, coaching six athletes that earned All-America honors, 10 athletes that were named All-Liberty League and one athlete that was tabbed as Liberty League Player of the Year. Ahmed saw his team win back-to-back league titles and land the No. 5 spot in the national rankings for two consecutive seasons.
During his collegiate career at Rochester, Ahmed was a three time All-America selection and served as team captain for three seasons. The squad moved from the No. 16 spot in the nation to as high as No. 2 during the 2009-10 campaign.
Ahmed has represented the Finnish men’s senior national team at six European Team Championships and three World Team Championships in 2003-2011. He has won seven Finnish Junior Championships as well as three European Junior Grand Prix titles.
Ahmed is an active doubles player on the SDA Pro Tour and finished the 2022 season ranked as #12 in the world. He has been a member of the SDA Board of Directors since 2019.
Ahmed earned a bachelor’s degree in English in 2011, from the University of Rochester. He was one of Finland's 2007 Fulbright Undergraduates who received a scholarship to pursue undergraduate studies in the United States. He holds a master's degree in Business Administration from Rochester's Simon School of Business and he completed his Master of Liberal Arts degree in finance from the Harvard Extension School in 2018.