This year, CitySquash has 16 boarding school students and 14 college students playing squash for their schools. At Saint Lawrence, senior Chris Fernandez and freshman Kingsley Amoako are having a very strong season with the Saints. The team is on a 7-0 winning streak and has jumped to 4th place nationally, and neither CitySquasher has dropped a match yet! Other undefeated players include Jesse Pacheco, #2 and co-captain of the Cornell women’s team, and Katiria Sanchez, sophomore at Trinity playing #7/#8. Bates Men’s and Women’s teammates Darrius Campbell (freshman) and Myriam Kelly (junior) have each only dropped one match with their teams, to squash powerhouse Trinity College. Freshman Andrew Cadienhead at Middlebury, our first Panther, is already having a strong season in the top three positions, with a 5-2 record so far. Boarding school seasons just began in December, but already we have seen great results. Westover senior and captain Jocelyn McKenzie led her team to victory over the Kent School at the #1 position. Sophomore Jeremy Carasquillo will also be playing #1 for his team, Suffield Academy. Our new freshmen at Taft, Maria Serrano and Billy Fleurima, have each won their first boarding school matches against Groton and Brunswick, respectively. We are cheering for all of our boarders and college students this season, and can’t wait to see how they will do in the new year!

On Friday, November 8th, 30 family members of CitySquash’s boarding school students gathered at the home of Julie Burke in Rye, NY to make care packages for their loved ones away at school. Co-hosts Julia Burke and Cassie Robbins compiled snacks, school supplies and dorm supplies to stuff the care packages and all of the family members made cards and other arts and crafts projects. Care Package Night is a CitySquash tradition that our students and families look forward to all year. We currently have 16 students placed at boarding school, including 2 seniors and 4 first-years. Our first-years Billy Fleurima (Taft School), Alexandra Limas (Canterbury School), Joana Pacheco (Westover School), and Maria Serrano (Taft School), bring our total number of students placed in competitive private schools to 46. Thank you to all who helped make this night a success for us!

CitySquash is proud to be a community charity partner of the 2013 ING NYC Marathon, and this past Sunday eight runners finished the race on behalf of our organization. For all of the runners, it has been a multi-month commitment, training to run 26.2 miles and simultaneously fundraising for CitySquash. In total, the group raised over $24,000. Thank you to our fundraisers and over 275 donors!

On race day, CitySquash staff and students traveled to mile 21 to support (and high-five) our runners in their CitySquash orange as they came by. Seventh graders Alexander Lorenzo and Brandon McKenzie even got a chance to cheer on their respective mentors, Brian Cady and Ben Newton. CitySquash would also like to give special shout-outs to our fastest runner, Nick Synan, who completed the course in 2:56, and to our top fundraiser, Steve Carey, who raised over $6,000!

Congratulations to all of our runners: Brian Cady, Steve Carey, Ben Newton, Dylan Patterson, Valentin Quan Miranda, Tertius Raubenheimer, Corey Rosen, Nick Synan, and thank you for your hard work on behalf of CitySquash!

After 11 years, CitySquash’s Executive Director prepares to step down and Terence Li will assume leadership of CitySquash. Below is the letter that Tim sent to supporters in October.

———————————————————————————————————————————————

October 2013

Dear Friends,

Eleven years ago last month, on a bright Saturday morning, CitySquash held its first tryout at Fordham University’s Rose Hill campus in the Bronx. The expressions of excitement on the faces of the Middle School 45 sixth graders that day were inspiring, and in many ways captured the enthusiasm that I felt about the opportunity I had been given to help launch the organization. I did not know how long I would work for CitySquash, but I believed in the mission and knew that we could make a difference.

I write today to let you know that this will be my last year with CitySquash. In 2012 I took on a part-time position as the Executive Director of the National Urban Squash + Education Association, the umbrella organization for the country’s 15 accredited urban squash and education programs, and I will make a full-time commitment to NUSEA beginning next summer. I look forward to drawing on the lessons I’ve learned in the Bronx to support urban squash across the country and beyond.

When I step down, CitySquash will be in the capable hands of Terence Li, who returned to CitySquash last year as our Program Director. Terence previously worked at CitySquash from 2005 to 2007 as our Assistant Program Director, and we began recruiting him to come back the moment he left for graduate school. For the past year, Terence and I have worked side by side, leading CitySquash together, and he has done an exceptional job. He has the character, skills, and drive needed to take CitySquash to greater heights, and he will do just that. We are very fortunate that he will be our next Executive Director.

CitySquash has wonderful partners and a loyal community of supporters, and it is because of you that the organization’s future is promising. We are also fortunate to have the steadfast support of our Founder and Chair, Sanford Schwartz, our Board President, Kim Huchro, and the 13 others who serve on our Board of Directors. I will remain a Board member, and over the next eight months will work with Terence and the Board to develop a long-range strategic plan that will enable CitySquash to expand enrollment and strengthen the organization.

In May I attended the Wesleyan University commencement and watched Tanesha Jackson, one of the sixth graders who made the team in 2002, become the first member of her family to graduate from college. I sat in the audience with her mother, other members of her family, and a group from CitySquash that included current and former staff, a longtime volunteer, a Board member, and Tanesha’s mentor, who had traveled to the occasion from California. It was a special day, a reminder of how far Tanesha has come and of the role CitySquash has had in her life. It made me think of what our students often say: that CitySquash is like a family.

CitySquash will continue to make a difference long after I’ve moved on, but working here over the past 11 years has been a singular privilege. I am grateful to have had the chance to work with you, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting our students.

Sincerely,

Tim Wyant
Executive Director

Over 130 CitySquash students, parents, mentors, current and new volunteers headed to Fordham on Saturday, October 28 for a day of sports, competition, and fun at the 3^rd Annual Black & Orange! The Black and the Orange teams competed on the squash and basketball courts, in relay races and giant soccer, and on the dance floor. Additionally, teams showed off their creativity and engineering prowess in the Marshmallow Challenge, tasked with building the tallest possible structure out of dried spaghetti, tape, and string that would hold a marshmallow on top- without toppling over! The field day is a fun way to bring together all types of CitySquash supporters, and especially, introduce new volunteers to the organization! Photos from the day can be found in the gallery. Thank you to all who participated for making the event a great success, and congratulations to this year’s winners, the Orange team!

As collegiate teams prepare for the upcoming squash season, two of CitySquash college students are stepping into new roles as captains. Senior Jesse Pacheco will co-captain the Cornell University women’s squad and junior Myriam Kelly will help lead the Bates women’s team for the 2013-2014 season. Jesse and Myriam are the second and third CitySquash team members to captain a college team; last year, Edgardo Gonzalez led the Hobart men’s team that finished 5th in the Conroy cup and 29th in the country. Cornell and Bates, which finished 6th and 10th in the country last year respectively, are expected to be at the top of the rankings again this season.

Myriam is particularly excited to be leading the Bates team alongside another urban squash player, Rakey Drammeh from StreetSquash in Harlem: “I think what is great is that Rakey and I really complement each other as captains. We can’t wait to lead our team to a strong finish this year.” Jesse also has high aspirations for her team this season: “As captain my goal is to have our team work together seamlessly, using effective communication with one another and by constantly motivating each other in order to have another successful season. We have so much potential this year, and our goal every year is to outperform our competitors, especially those teams ahead of us in ranking.”

On Thursday, July 25th, twelve middle schoolers returned for a second trip to the New York Botanical Garden, located in the Bronx, to learn gardening skills and experience the joys of fresh produce. The CitySquashers worked in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden, where they learned how to weed and mulch. They also made pickled cucumbers from scratch! The brine was made using vinegar, water, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, dill seed, dill weed leaves, red chili flakes, and sea salt. At the end of the afternoon, the team members were treated to fresh vegetables from the garden. Thank you to everyone at the New York Botanical Garden who helped make this happen!

Over the weekend of July 13^th – 14^th, more than 65 alumni from StreetSquash, CitySquash, SquashBusters and SquashSmarts gathered at the S.L. Green StreetSquash Center in Harlem, NY for the inaugural NUSEA Alumni Tournament. It was the first NUSEA event organized specifically for alumni, bringing together urban squash graduates from the Bronx, Harlem, Boston and Philadelphia. CitySquash won three out of the four divisions. Andrew Cadienhead won the men’s collegiate draw defeating fellow CitySquasher, Seetreeon Torres, in five games. Katiria Sanchez defeated Ashley Brooks of SquashBusters to clinch the women’s collegiate draw. Manuela Perez won the women’s recreational draw by defeating Monete Johnson of SquashBusters. The event reconnected alumni with their respective programs, as well as old friends and rivals on the squash court. The tournament will continue to grow as more alumni graduate from urban squash programs.

We are so proud of all of our graduating Elementary, Middle, and High School  students. An extra congratulations is order, though, to the following students for winning special awards at their respective ceremonies: Andrew Cadienhead, Fernando Flores, Billy Fleurima, Genesis Lara, Karla Domingues, Eslin Silva, Frankie Pasquariello, Mikael Garcia, Kevin Guadarrama, and Dainalee Velez. Awards ranged from Atheticism to Educational Merit, and all of them were highly coveted.