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February 2010 |
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StreetSquash held its Second Annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day Celebration on February 6, 2010. The day boasted a squash clinic run by 9 former female collegiate squash players, workshops focused on Strength and Flexibility for Squash Players, Nutrition (with a focus on calcium intake), and Playing Squash in College. Former WISPA player and head pro at the Heights Casino in Brooklyn, Linda Elriani, participated in an interview by StreetSquash’s own Diamond Martin during lunch time, and she shared with the girls her lifetime of experiences involving squash. The day concluded with an exhibition match between two former Princeton Women’s Squash members, after which the StreetSquash girls eagerly jumped on court for about an hour of open squash. Special thanks to our volunteer coaches, our representatives from the Women’s MSRA league, the YLC, the Sophie Davis School, and Linda Elriani for helping to make this day such a great success! |
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January 2010 |
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StreetSquash has always benefited from the Tournament of Champions. This year was particularly successful. 7th and 8th graders got to watch a full session of first round matches. The Young Leadership Committee hosted a fundraiser adjacent to the court in Grand Central. High school students served as ushers virtually every night, ensuring that the tournament went off without a hitch. StreetSquash kids spent so much time there that they befriended some of the sport’s elite. Malcolm Willstrop, a world-renowned coach from Pontefract, England, volunteered to come run a coaching session at the StreetSquash facility, putting the seniors through a professional practice. Malcolm’s son James Willstrop came to visit the morning after his triumph over world #1 Ramy Ashour in the final. StreetSquash pledges to loudly support the Yorkshireman’s title defense next year! |
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Nine urban squash programs competed in Boston over Martin Luther King Day weekend as part of Urban Team Nationals. The tournament was so large that it required two venues: SquashBusters and Harvard’s Murr Center. StreetSquash players won 281 games, meaning the StreetSquash staff will donate $281 to Partners in Health to help with the relief effort in Haiti. To honor the legacy of Dr. King, children wrote essays on adversity as part of the weekend’s events. Read the StreetSquash submissions here. |
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January 9th featured a round robin at StreetSquash. In addition to StreetSquash, teams from The Williams School, CitySquash, and The Pingry School participated, meaning children from three states and two boroughs converged at the courts on 115th Street. Competition was fierce. Pingry prevailed, but all of the teams took home individual victories if not match victories. See more pictures from the event in our photo gallery. |
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December 2009 |
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Rye High School Women’s Squash, one of precious few public school squash teams, showed up in force at StreetSquash, undaunted by the oncoming snow. They faced two different teams of StreetSquash girls. The matches were incredibly close, with StreetSquash winning the first round 10-8 and the second round 10-9. Congratulations to Angelina Nina for winning her first match! This marked the second match between these two teams - quite the rivalry seems to be developing! The Rye women came bearing gifts in the form of books for the StreetSquash library. Thanks Rye! We look forward to seeing you again soon. |
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St. David’s School, located just down the road (that road being 5th Avenue), made the trip for their first ever match. The veteran StreetSquash 8th graders proved to be too much for the rookies from 89th Street, winning almost every battle. |
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The Princeton Women’s Team made the StreetSquash Center a stop on their route to (fingers crossed!) repeating as national champions. The skilled women drilled with StreetSquash and CitySquash children. Coach Gail Ramsay orchestrated the practice with impressive professionalism. The children at the end got to play points with the defending champs, with coach Ramsay prudently resting the numerous injured student/athletes on her team. Thank you Princeton Squash! Special thanks to Richard Hankinson, who both helped with this visit as well as the Team 5 trip to Princeton earlier this season. |
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StreetSquash varsity boys played The Delbarton School, an annual rival from across the river in New Jersey. It is always riveting stuff when these teams face off, and this time round was no less profound, with StreetSquash winning 8-2. The monolithic StreetSquash team won in prolific fashion later in the afternoon against CitySquash. Good form is the norm for the StreetSquash squad as they look on toward 2010 Urban Team Nationals. |
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The boys varsity took the subway until there was no more subway to take en route to Poly Prep. There, they played the Poly Prep B team, using experience to fight through a few tough games and win 9-0. There was no rest for the boys as they turned around and played Poly Prep A. In shortened matches with both sides clearly tired, Poly won 5-2. Look for a possible rematch at home later this season. |
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November 2009 |
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StreetSquash 10th, 11th and 12th graders visited SUNY Purchase, Manhattanville College, SUNY Albany and SUNY Delhi over the weekend of November 22nd. On Saturday, students spent the day in Westchester touring the Suny Purchase and Manhattanville campuses before heading upstate to get a tour of Suny Albany by Jennifer Moses, a StreetSquash alumna, who shared her first semester experiences with the students. On Sunday the group made their way to Suny Delhi where another StreetSquash alum, Joshua Gary, proudly showed off his campus. |
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For the annual Team 5 trip, Jade, Katie, and Sage took the team to Princeton, New Jersey. They went to a farm, played against Princeton Junior Squash at Jadwin Gymnasium, and spent a lot of time walking around campus. The team attended the Yale-Princeton football game, where their enthusiastic cheering landed them on the jumbotron. They were even able to run around on the field after the Princeton victory. Many thanks to Princeton Junior Squash for being such great hosts. The trip couldn’t have happened without you! |
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October 2009 |
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The Squash Haven matches have emerged as the preeminent middle school matches of the year, the equivalent of the Squash Busters match for the high school players. 26 6th, 7th and 8th graders came down from New Haven and took on StreetSquash 7th and 8th graders on Halloween. The matches were exciting, with kids again demonstrating great sportsmanship. The kids from New Haven and Harlem have run into each other several times at various squash events, making the match equal parts rivalry and reunion. |
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CanTeen, the magazine that teaches creative writing as part of the literacy program at StreetSquash, organized a StreetSquash reading for 8th graders at Barnes & Noble in Lincoln Triangle. Selections ranged from poetry to fantasy to presidential acceptance speeches. Each student took the stage confidently and enthusiastically to proudly share original pieces with the audience. |
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StreetSquash 10th and 11th graders visited Hampshire, Amherst, Clark, and Connecticut College over the weekend of October 17th. On Saturday, students enjoyed the foliage while touring idyllic Hampshire, Amherst and Clark. The highlight of the day was spending time with the Black Student Union at Clark University during which StreetSquashers learned about all of the support systems in place at Clark to ensure that students from every background are happy and successful. Though the weather turned sour on Sunday, students still were enthusiastic about visiting Conn College, a tempting destination for those who want to play squash in college. |
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StreetSquash participated in the Million Trees NYC Planting Day on Saturday, then woke up on Sunday and did the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk. Inclement weather didn’t prevent StreetSquash from getting outside and contributing. 60 kids plus staff attended the planting on Amsterdam Avenue and 100th Street. This marked the second time StreetSquash has worked with Million Trees. Their plantings are well-organized and fun. Check out their website. The American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk is a StreetSquash tradition. This year, parents and children rallied to raise $2,100 then walked five miles on Sunday. Click here if you want to get involved with the American Cancer Society. Kudos to all of the parents who were so helpful with the community service weekend! |
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Four StreetSquash middle school girls took part in Girls Going Places, a nationwide conference done this year in New York City. attendees included female entrepreneurs and business women. First Lady Patterson and Jennifer Raab, the President of Hunter College, both spoke. The students played a business game, built a product, and wrote a business plan to present to the group. They also interviewed different female entrepreneurs and heard two teenage entrepreneurs speak. This was the first time that StreetSquash girls attended the conference. Hopefully it will become an annual event on our calendar. |
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September 2009 |
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The first mentoring outing of the new school year saw mentors and mentees gather in Brooklyn Bridge Park. After mingling for awhile and skipping stones on the river, everyone walked across the bridge and enjoyed the lovely fall weather. Once the group reached the other shore, some mentors chose to spend additional time with their mentees at various destinations in lower Manhattan. |
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Team 3 took a team trip to Prospect Park on Yom Kippur because they had the day off from school. The team did a scavenger hunt in Grand Army Plaza and along the nature trails before playing capture the flag. |
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June 2009 |
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Williams College played host to the Urban Individual Championships for the second straight year. Nine programs were in attendance, making it the most geographically diverse gathering of urban players to date. Over 60 StreetSquash kids competed. |
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May 2009 |
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StreetSquash and CitySquash’s middle school teams joined forces on Friday May 22nd to celebrate and promote the sport of squash with a round-robin team tournament in honor of World Squash Day. Instead of square off against each other, the StreetSquash and CitySquash students intergrated to make up four different 12-person teams that played two sets of matches. While team “Chicago” ended up winning the tournament, all the participants enjoyed the opportunity for a some competition and celebrate World Squash Day. |
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79 StreetSquash students, staff, and volunteers participated in a full day of community service at the One Million Trees event in Red Hook, Brooklyn on Saturday May 16th. After a lengthy train ride down from Harlem, the StreetSquash contingent split up into groups of three and immediately began to plant trees as part of New York City’s year long effort to improve the city’s landscape. When it was all said and done, the StreetSquashers managed to plant close to 100 hundred trees. Congradutulations to all those involved for making the day such a great experience. |
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Over twenty college and university admission representatives visited the SL Greene StreetSquash Center on Friday May 1st for the first ever StreetSquash College Fair. For members and parents of Team 2, 3, and 4 the College Fair provided a great opportunity to learn about schools ranging from Ivy League institutions, smaller liberal arts colleges, and several schools in the CUNY and SUNY systems. There were also speakers from the SUNY Student Recruitment Center in the New York City and from the Gates Millenium Scholarship who provided valuable information about options and scholarships for senior year. The Fair also gave many representatives a chance to visit the StreetSquash Center for the first time, and everyone came away impressed by the building and the entire StreetSquash program. Thank you to everyone who braved a rainy afternoon and visited. |
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April 2009 |
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Eight StreetSquashers and Squash Director Tony Maruca traveled to Williamstown, MA to compete in the Brint Coxe Invitational over the April 24th weekend. The students faced local adults and juniors, and the girls played against some of the best college girls from Williams and Trinity. Everyone got to play on the glass court with the stereo system installed especially for the tournament blaring. In addition, everyone took in some very hotly contested professional matches going on at the same time as part of the Berkshire Open. The kids all stayed with host families in the area and enjoyed activities ranging from acapella concerts to trips to Green River to befriending the younger children and pets of our hosts. Thank you to the Schoenbaum, Bernhardsson, Dewey, and Swann families for their generosity and help in making the trip so enjoyable. |
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10 Team 2 and 3 Members visited four colleges in the Ithaca area as part of the last College Prep Trip of the school year. The trip started off with a quick tour of Binghamton University, led by StreetSquash alumni Sonia Gaona and Keith Keith. After a late arrival in Ithaca Friday night, the group visited three different campuses Saturday: Ithaca College, Cornell University, and SUNY Cortland. While all three schools were within 30 miles of each other, each has its own unique characteristics and gave all the students enough distinctions to compare and contrast each school. The students also enjoyed a true college dining experience as they had lunch in the Ithaca dining hall. Before heading home Sunday afternoon, the group continued a College Prep tradition and squeezed in two games of bowling at a local alley. Thank you to all the tour guides and admissions officers, especially those at Ithaca College. |
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On Friday April 4, twenty-five members of International Visitor Leadership Program, Foreign Service Officers, and staff from the United States Department of State came to the StreetSquash Center to meet with a group of high school StreetSquashers. For many of the International Visitors, it was their first time in the United States, let alone in Harlem. In an engaging ice-breaker, participants shared details of their favorite places in their hometowns. In small groups, the International Visitors, students, and staff members then participated in a wide ranging discussion about Youth Leadership and Civic Participation, exchanging a broad range of experiences and perspectives across cultures and nationalities. It was a special afternoon for everyone in attendance, and the StreetSquash students emerged with a greater appreciation for their relationship to the world beyond Harlem, the United States, and what they have learned in school so far. |
