Two CitySquash students competed in the Inaugural Westchester County Gold Tournament last weekend. After losing a tight five-game match in the main draw, Billy Fleurima went on to win five straight matches to take home the BU13 consolation title. Robert Williams played his best tournament to date dropping only one game on his way to winning the BU11 division. This was Robert’s first gold level tournament victory. Congratulations to Billy and Robert! We are sure to see big things from both of these players in the future.

CitySquash had a successful weekend of squash at the U.S. Junior Bronze Championships. Of the seventeen CitySquash competitors, four reached the quarterfinals and two went on to win their division. Esmeralda Mejia reached the quarterfinals of the GU13 division before falling in closely fought 5-game battle. Leondre Damil played his way through the 64-man draw to reach the quarters of the BU15 division. CitySquash’s two titles came from Jocelyn McKenzie and Andreina Benedith who won the GU15 and GU17 divisions respectively. Neither Jocelyn nor Andreina dropped a game on their way to the title. Congratulations to all CitySquashers who competed on a great tournament and great squash season!

On Saturday, April 16 CitySquash students, staff and mentors worked together to create craft kits for children in hospital. The event was held on behalf of Project Sunshine – a nonprofit organization that provides free educational, recreational, and social programs to children and families living with medical challenges. The event was a huge success, bringing mentors and mentees together to help make a difference in the lives of other, less fortunate children. At the end of the day, the CitySquash team had put together over 100 craft kits for Project Sunshine. Thank you to all who participated!

CitySquash had a tough, yet rewarding, weekend at the Westchester Silver Tournament.  While some team members played in their correct age division, we decided to play a few team members up a division to gain some important match experience. In the BU11 division the “Three Musketeers” – Hugo Barroso, Axel Michaca and Christopher Lucero – played in their second tournament of the year. Hugo and Axel met in the consolation final with Hugo winning a close fought 5 game battle. Robert Williams played up a division, in the BU13, and did well against his older opponents eventually winning the consolation draw. In the GU13 division, Alexandra Limas’ gritty and tough play helped her reach the finals of the consolation draw. To prepare him for the upcoming National Silver Tournament, Billy Fleurima also played up a division going on to take 2nd place in the BU15. Katiria Sanchez played in the GU19 division. Director of Squash, Bryan Patterson, had this to say about Katiria’s play:
 
“Katiria is a wonderful representative for CitySquash, always supportive of our younger players, a terrific role model, great on court and very sporting. Katiria played some really great squash to reach the final. This final was for me the best match of the day – terrific squash, hard running, sportsmanship and respect. Katiria lost in 5 but what a wonderful match.”

Though we did not win a title, our team members came away with some great experience from a weekend of touch matches. We are now looking forward to this weekend and the Silver Nationals. GO CITYSQUASH!

Last weekend, 20 CitySquash students competed in two tournaments throughout the New York area. Nine team members traveled to Queens to participate in the CityView Silver Open while eleven team members competed in the SportsPlex Bronze Tournament in Stamford, CT. By the end of the weekend, CitySquash had claimed four titles. Three of the four titles were won at the SportsPlex Silver Open. Billy Fleurima overcame fellow teammate, Robert Williams, to win the BU13 division. Andrew Cadienhead, Darrius Campbell, and Kingsley Amoako dominated the BU15 division finishing first, second and third respectfully. The BU19 division also had an all CitySquash final as Seetreeon Torres edged out long time teammate and friend Santiago Moran. Katiria Sanchez had another strong result finishing second in the GU19 division. At the SportsPlex Bronze tournament, Miguel Betances won the BU15 division handly. Alexandra Limas had a fantastic weekend as well, finishing second in the GU13 division. All of our students played their hearts out and represented CitySquash well. Congratualtions to all on a great weekend of squash!

CitySquash team member Andrew Cadienhead helped the Taft squash team win its first New England Interscholastic Squash Championship in eight years when he won the #4 flight of the A division on Sunday, February 27th. Having placed second at the National High School Championships earlier in the season, the Taft team were favored to take home the New England title. Andrew breezed through the bracket only dropping one game before reaching the finals. Playing against his Brunswick rival, Andrew battled back from two games down to win the final and help secure Taft’s overall victory. Other CitySquashers were in action over the weekend playing for their respective schools including Chris Fernandez, Kingsley Amoako, Seetreeon Torres, Fernando Flores, Alija Hogans, Santiago Moran, Felipe Pantle, Myriam Kelly, Jocelyn McKenzie, Cris Margaret Frias, Andreina Benedith and Doris Amoako. Doris finished second in the #1 flight of the C division. Congratulations to all our team members for a great season!

Over February break, fifteen CitySquash students and three staff members made the trip from the Bronx to upstate New York and Cleveland, Ohio for our annual Mid-Winter Tour. The four day trip was packed with squash and sight seeing. The team’s first stop was Buffalo, NY where we practiced at the Buffalo Seminary School and had a match against the Buffalo juniors at the Buffalo Tennis & Squash Club. After a brief stop at Niagara Falls, the team traveled to Cleveland where we were able to play two matches against the Cleveland juniors at the Cleveland Racquet Club. While in Cleveland we were given a tour of the Indians Stadium and learned about the history of rock at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A special thanks to our host families and the club pros who made this trip possible!

Tenth grader Andrew Cadienhead recorded the most significant win of his high school career on Saturday, January 29th as he helped The Taft School earn a 4-3 victory over long-time rival Brunswick. Cadienhead, who joined CitySquash as a sixth grader in 2006, played in the #4 position on Taft’s varsity boys lineup. With Taft down two matches to three and with only two matches left to be played, Andrew and Taft captain Andy Cannon both needed to win to pull off the victory. Andrew’s match went back and forth and eventually came down to the final points as Andrew won 11-9 in the fifth. Both Andrew and his captain prevailed in five games to hand Brunswick their first defeat in eleven years. As the youngest player on the Taft team, Andrew handled the pressure superbly and used his cool head and deft touch to win a match he will not soon forget. The victory for Taft was celebrated in the CitySquash office as former employee Supriya Balsekar and current Assistant Program Director Michael Shrubb are both squash alumni of Taft. Congratulations to Andrew!

CitySquash had its most succesful showing to date at the 2011 Nusea Urban Team Championships on January, 14th – 16th.  CitySquash team members won three squash titles and one academic essay competition.  The CitySquash BU13 “A” team, consisting of Billy Fleurima, Jeremy Carrasquillo, Bryson Grant, Cristian Escalona and Robert Williams, won its division without losing a match.  The GU13 division was dominated by CitySquash as our “A” team defeated our “B” team in the final.  The winning team consisted of Mellba Hasani, Esmeralda Mejias, Karina Lazaro, Alexandra Limas and Maria Serrano.  The terrific results by all of our under 13 players bodes well for the future of CitySquash.  The third squash title came from the BU15 team who won a very close final against a talented SquashHaven team.  The BU15 team was made up of Michael Kelly, Gabriel Garcia, Leondre Damil, William Pantle and Markel Nunez.  The fourth title of the weekend came in the essay competition.  Helen Avila’s essay describing three things that represent her was selected as the best essay for the GU17/19 division.  These four titles are the most ever won by a CitySquash team at the Urban Team Championships.  We congratulate all of our team members on their exceptional performance on the court and in the essay competition.

On December 18th, nine CitySquashers made their way to the Murr Center at Harvard University for the 2010 U.S. Junior Open Squash Championships. The U.S. Open is one of the largest and toughest tournaments on the junior circuit with nearly 650 participants from 21 countries. The CitySquash team, comprised of Robert Williams, Billy Fleurima, Michael Kelly, Katiria Sanchez, Jesse Pacheco, Andrew Cadienhead, Kinglsey Amoako and Leondre Damil, stepped up to the challenge and produced some great results. Notably, Robert Williams won the BU11 consolation plate draw. In the GU17 division, Katiria Sanchez lost in the finals of the plate draw. Battling illness throughout the weekend, Jesse Pacheco showed some true grit making it to the quarterfinals of the GU19 consolation draw. All of our team members played well and went home with at least two victories each. Congratulations to all of our team members for another great tournament!