NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Yale Athletics mourns the passing of Dave Talbott, the legendary former Brooks G. Ragen Director of Squash at Yale.
 
A six-time National Champion and eight-time Ivy League Champion, Talbott retired in 2021 after a 38-year career with the Bulldogs. He came to Yale in 1983 as just the third head coach for the Bulldog men since 1934. He became Yale's sixth-ever women's squash coach in 2004.
 
Talbott led the Bulldogs to six College Squash Association (CSA) National Championships, helping the men to CSA titles in 1989, 1990, and 2016, and the women to CSA championships in 2005, 2006, and 2011. In addition to his six national crowns, Talbott won eight Ivy League Championships -- six with the men (1989, 1990, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2016) and two with the women (2005, 2011).
 
"We are grateful for Dave's four decades of service to Yale," said Victoria M. "Vicky" Chun, Thomas A. Beckett Director of Athletics. "He was a dear friend to all and a great ambassador for Yale, Yale Athletics, Yale Squash, Squash Haven, and the community. For those who had the great opportunity to meet Dave, we will never forget his kindness, humor, loyalty, and compassion. We will miss him dearly." 

 Talbott coached his first national champion when Hugh LaBossier '86 won the US National Championship in 1986. That set the standard for numerous Yale national champions, All-Americans, and All-Ivy League performers to follow. In 1989 Yale won its first National Championship in 27 years.

Highly regarded throughout the game of squash, Talbott served as secretary and pro tour coordinator for the World Professional Squash Association (WPSA) while he competed on the WPSA through the 1970's until his move to Yale in 1983. Turning professional at 20, Talbott was a touring pro who reached a high of No. 12 on the WPSA Tour. Talbott served in several capacities for the College Squash Association, including President of the Intercollegiate Association in 2003-04.
 
Talbott, a native of Dayton, Ohio, grew up in a squash family, playing his first US National Championship at age 10. His father, G. Douglas Talbott, Yale '45, MD, was an age group champion who played his whole life and won the National 70-75 age group championship held at Yale in 1996. His brother Mark was the No. 1 ranked professional in the US for 15 years before coming to coach the Yale women from 1998 to 2005. Dave continued to compete early on at Yale when possible and won the 1989 and 1990 World Professional Squash Association Legends Championship (35-and-over).

Talbott's wife Ann, also a beloved member of the Yale Squash family and a long-time supporter of both the men's and women's teams, passed away on Sunday. Ann was an incredible steward of the game and had a profound impact on the lives of Yale's squash student-athletes. 
 
Talbott was selected to the CSA Hall of Fame in January 2019. He was joined in the venerable class by one of his own players, Michelle Quibell '06.

A link to Dave's and Ann's obituary can be found here.