The saying goes, everyone ends up where they are meant to be, and that certainly rings true for senior Omar Hafez of Penn men's squash.
Hafez’s journey begins in his hometown of Alexandria, Egypt. He was five years old and a young soccer player when he first attended his older brother’s squash practice. Tasked with holding his brother’s racket, Hafez began to rally with a wall out of boredom. It was then that his natural talent captivated his brother’s coach, who insisted to Hafez’s dad that he should play squash. So Hafez began to play the sport.
Like most student-athletes, Hafez had to find a way to balance school and play at such a high level of competition. Most tournaments, such as the World Junior tournament that he competed in as a high schooler, were played in Cairo — more than two hours from Alexandria by car. He would travel to Cairo for team practice and then return home to take an exam. It would happen all over again. Two hours to Cairo for a match, and then another two hours back home for yet another exam.
“I felt like it was really challenging balancing both, but I felt like a lot of people were supporting me through it all, and thinking of that made the process easier,” Hafez said.
Hafez’s play was soon recognized by the top collegiate teams in the nation. Multi-time national champions like Harvard and Yale tried to recruit him, but Penn stood out as his dream destination.
“My choice was only Penn. I told my family it’s either Penn or I’m staying in Egypt,” Hafez said. “I needed a team that is a family, not just teammates who are meeting on court. It felt like a family at Penn, and I didn't feel it at other schools. I felt like Penn, while they were not the number one in the country at that time, I wanted what they had, while also being challenged to get us to number one.”
Penn was then in the process of building a powerhouse team, especially with lots of Egyptian prospects. Coach Gilly Lane took a liking to Hafez’s talents after his former teammate and then-Penn squash player, Roger Baddour, recommended Hafez.
“The way he played just fit perfectly for what we did here as a group. But to be honest, during the recruiting process, I didn't really grasp the impact that this young man was going to make on the program,” Lane said.
Playing for the Red and Blue, Hafez quickly cemented himself as a leader and influence on the team in his first year. In the 2022-23 season, he won 16 of his 17 individual matches and was awarded Ivy League Rookie of the Year.
“Growing up in Egypt, he played with a lot of pride and family pride and passion to play for his team, and he brought that to Penn,” Lane said. “When he plays, he's playing for so many people besides himself. It's one of the many things I admire about him.”
Hafez followed up on his impressive year by once again boasting an impressive 14-1 record and notching All-American honors. His efforts proved vital to the Quakers that year, where they tied for first that year in the Ivy League and upset #1 Trinity College in the final of the CSA team national championship tournament to claim the national title for the first time in program history.
During this past 2024-25 season, Hafez received word that his father had passed away on January 3, 2025. He decided to return to Egypt to be with his family during this time.
At that point in the season, the Quakers were set to face their toughest opponents in Trinity College and Yale on Jan. 11 and 12, but without Hafez, a key player and leader for the team, their odds were low. Despite the setbacks and the heavy emotional toll, Hafez returned for that weekend.
“It was a moment where I wanted to play for him. He really loved the team, and he was always proud of me, so I just wanted to make him happy,” Hafez said. “I knew that he was watching me from a better place, and it was really mentally challenging, but I decided to do it for him.”
According to Hafez, the team was “a bit shock[ed]” about the decision, but his return helped the Red and Blue take down both teams, who eventually finished the season with a perfect 20-0 record and yet another national title.
“I was really proud that I won those two matches for him,” Hafez said.
Fast forward to the dawn of his senior season, Hafez looks to give his all to the team one last time and cement his name in program history.
After graduating, he plans on staying in Philadelphia, a city he has come to love and compares to home. He also plans on playing professionally in the PSA Squash Tour at the end of his collegiate career.
Lane believes that it was both fate and luck that he and Hafez have been able to work alongside one another.
“It's a really special thing. I think he was supposed to be at Penn, and I was supposed to coach. And I truly believe that the stars aligned,” Lane said. “People are put in your program who are going to make a massive impact on your life, and he's one of them.”
