Nine-year-old Eedha Mehta didn’t expect to find herself on a squash court. She’d tried basketball, soccer, dance, and swimming. Nothing clicked. But after watching her younger brother train at the Bay Club in Redwood City and feeling drawn to the sport’s intensity, she decided to give squash a shot — and hasn’t looked back since.
Today, as a senior at Los Altos High School, Mehta is committed to playing squash at Yale University in the fall and is currently ranked tenth in the United States. She competed at the British Open at just 12 years old and at the Egyptian Open last summer. Earlier in her career, she was the top-ranked US Girls Under-15 player.
Squash is a racket sport played in a four-walled court, where players alternate hitting a small rubber ball against the front wall. Despite its growing popularity, with over 1.5 million players in the U.S., Mehta is no stranger to misconceptions about her sport.
“I bring up squash, and [people] are like, ‘Oh, you play a vegetable,’” she said. “But I don’t think they realize how intense the sport really is.”
With the sport gaining traction in the U.S. and its recent addition to the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, Mehta hopes its growing exposure will highlight its unique challenges.
Mehta hit a major roadblock in her squash journey when a stress fracture in her lower back sidelined her for eight months — right as recruiting season kicked off. The timing, Mehta said, couldn’t have been worse, and she felt that she was losing control of her athletic journey. Looking back, she said that the experience taught her invaluable lessons about managing stress and maintaining balance, both on and off the court.
“I’ve learned a lot about raising my hand for help, and that it’s okay to not go through things alone,” Mehta said. “I’ve also learned a lot about how my health is the first priority. Everything else doesn’t matter if your health is jeopardized.”
Even though Mehta primarily plays squash as an individual sport, she credits the tight-knit squash community in the Bay Area for transforming it into a shared experience. The sense of camaraderie and mutual support, she said, creates a family-like bond that extends well beyond the court.
Mehta’s teammates and coaches praised her “super fast-paced” gameplay, calling her “fiercely competitive” and “dedicated, training 20 hours a week.” But beyond her skill, she is known as an even better teammate, “always smiling and laughing.” Mehta was even awarded the U.S. Squash Junior Sportsmanship Award.
“She’s fair, she’s honest, she’s caring. She doesn’t fish for easy points,” said Charlie Johnson, Mehta’s coach for the past three years, who was a professional squash player for eight years before becoming a U.S. National Team Squash coach. “People love her for that. She’s got a good reputation with her peers for always being honest on the court.”
Mehta considers her younger brother, Vivaan, to be her greatest inspiration. Vivaan recently claimed the title of the world’s number one Boys Under-15 player at the England Squash British Junior Open.
Vivaan shared that squash has strengthened his relationship with his sister. They drill together and Mehta drives him to practice — at this point, he adds, they’ve bonded over yelling at bad drivers. He also draws inspiration from his sister, especially after watching Mehta persevere and return to the court after her injury.
“We can always rely on each other,” Vivaan said. “She’s someone I look up to always.”
