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.

Did you see some familiar faces on Good Morning America this week? On Friday, CitySquash 5^th Graders travelled to Central Park bright and early to attend GMA’s Summer Concert Series as a reward for their hard work this year. With their GMA swag and VIP status, students  got to look on as anchors filmed their live segments. Carly Rae Jepsen eventually took the stage, and our kids sang and danced along to “Call Me Maybe.” Afterwards, they ran to get Carly’s autograph and one of them even took a picture with her! A big thanks to CitySquash supporters Laura Trevelyan and James Goldston for making this event possible!

CitySquash celebrated an especially exciting graduation season this year, as our inaugural class of students became the first CitySquash college graduates and the first in their families to receive diplomas from a four-year university. Jose Alvarez and Edgardo Gonzalez graduated from Hobart & William Smith, in Geneva, NY. Jose double majored in Latin American Studies and History while “Eggie” majored in Psychology. Both played on the varsity squash team all four years and were members of Hobart’s Kappa Sigma fraternity chapter. Tanesha Jackson graduated from Wesleyan with a double major in an African American Studies and Sociology, played on the squash team for three years, and was a residential advisor. CitySquash staff, mentors, and team members joined the students’ families to celebrate the graduations at their respective schools. We are immensely proud of these students’ dedication, hard work, and accomplishments over the years. Jose and Edgardo have been offered positions at CityYear, an AmeriCorps national service program where participants pledge a year of service in an underserved neighborhood. Tanesha will be teaching Kindergarten and First Grade at the Waterside School in Stamford, Connecticut, a PK-5th grade independent school serving children and families regardless of limitations in income or circumstance. Good luck Eggie, Jose and Tanesha in your post-collegiate endeavors!!

CitySquash also celebrated the high school graduations of Kingsley Amoako (Canterbury), Andrew Cadienhead (Taft), Darrius Campbell (Blair), Fernando Flores (Trinity-Pawling), and Felipe Pantle (Millbrook). All five seniors will be playing varsity squash in college next year, at St. Lawrence, Middlebury, Bates, and Hobart & William Smith. Congratulations to all of our graduates!!

On Saturday, May 4^th, over 120 CitySquash students, families, mentors and staff got together for the 7^th annual CitySquash Reads. This year’s book was Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The attendees spent the morning discussing the book, creating their own candy for Willy Wonka’s factory and, of course, eating chocolate! One group invented “ICandy,” an app for your IPhone, which would allow you to download any type of candy to eat and even stretch to as big or little as you wanted! Other imagined candies included “Extreme Squash Pop,” designed to give you incredible speed and strength on the squash court, and “Opera Gum,” which would give the chewer instant opera singing ability. Thank you to all of our wonderful mentors and volunteers who came to the event!

Four CitySquash high school seniors won awards at the end of their squash seasons for their impressive contributions to their respective squash teams. Andrew Cadienhead from Taft won the Taft Squash Award for the second year in a row! Andrew played #2 on Taft’s ladder and finished 19-4 on the season, winning integral matches against Brunswick, Choate and Hotchkiss. Andrew also served as the team captain for the second year in a row. Felipe Pantle won the Millbrook School’s Most Valuable Player Award for helping lead his team to a 13-4 season. Felipe played #1 for the majority of the season. Fernando Flores won the Annual Squash Award at Trinity-Pawling for his strong play at #1 and his exemplary sportsmanship. Kingsley Amoako won the MVP award for his impressive 11-6 record playing #1. Kingsley has played in Canterbury’s top three throughout high school and amassed an overall record of 57-27 during his tenure. Kingsley also led his team as a captain in his senior year. All four seniors will be heading off to colleges where they will play on the Varsity Squash teams! Kingsley will be going to St. Lawrence University, Fernando and Felipe both to Hobart College, and Andrew to Middlebury College.

On Saturday, March 16th, 76 team members from third through tenth grade gathered at Fordham University for the annual Project Sunshine community service project. Joined by mentors and staff members, the CitySquashers made encouraging cards (SunnyGrams) and craft kits to send to children with medical challenges. Project Sunshine, a nonprofit, provides the materials to make the cards and kits, and facilitates their distribution. Students decorated the SunnyGrams with stickers, artwork, and silly jokes. The craft kits included hand-made journals (for the children to write in), crayons, stickers, and a personal note. This two-hour community service event was equal parts a fun and creative outlet for our team members as well as a lesson in compassion and helping others. If you’d like to learn more about Project Sunshine, please visit http://www.projectsunshine.org/