Seventy CitySquash team members from the Bronx and Brooklyn travelled to Philadelphia over the Martin Luther King Day Weekend for the 14th Urban Team Nationals hosted by the National Urban Squash and Education Association. CitySquash’s teams, ranging from the U13 to the U19 divisions, competed at SquashSmart’s  Lenfest Center, the Ringe Squash Center at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Kline & Specter Squash Center at Drexel University.  The NUSEA sponsored tournament brought together 19 NUSEA programs. CitySquash had an impressive run at the tournament by making it into 5 of the 8 division finals. In the end, CitySquash’s Brooklyn BU13, Bronx GU13 and Bronx BU15 teams came away with National Urban Squash Championship titles. This was the first ever Urban National Championship for our Brooklyn CitySquashers. Team members had a fantastic time at the tournament and played excellent squash. Thank you to NUSEA for running an exceptional event and to our amazing hosts for housing our team over the weekend. Congratulations to CitySquash’s winning teams and to all who participated!

 December 2016

Friends of CitySquash,

CitySquash team members meditate at the beginning and end of every practice and academic session. They participate in a social and emotional learning program, spend an increased amount of time in the outdoors, learn yoga, and take art and music classes. They eat healthy food, and they have opportunities to exercise before school, after school, and on almost every weekend and holiday. Our offices are open late and provide safe places where they can get help with homework and spend time with friends. We work tirelessly to create an environment where our students feel safe and supported in all areas of life.

One of the reasons we do this is because children who grow up in poverty experience significantly more stress than children who grow up in middle class or affluent families. That stress can have a lasting impact on their health as well as on their academic performance. In order for CitySquash to help our students succeed, we must help them manage stress, and we believe that the depth of our program does just that.

We also hope that our outstanding alumni can provide our current students with confidence and direction. Now, in our 15^th year, CitySquashers can meet successful young adults, who were once just like them, and who stuck with our program and defied the statistics that say they are more likely to drop out of school or be forced back into the cycle of poverty than to succeed. Some of the amazing examples are:

Jose Alvarez (Canterbury School ’09, Hobart & William Smith Colleges ’13), who received his Master’s Degree in Education this fall and is a Math Teacher at Harlem Children’s Zone.

Manuela Perez (Blair Academy ’12, Barnard College ’16), who was recognized as a Richard B. Fisher Scholar by Morgan Stanley and is now a full-time Analyst at the firm.

Myriam Kelly (Westover School ’11, Bates College ’15), who provides support for international students and parents as the Global Programs Associate at Westover School.          

There are many, many more. Each CitySquash alumnus and team member has his or her own story, but together they paint a picture of a program that is working. As we enter our 15^th year, 98% of our high school graduates go on to college, and all of our college students have graduated within six years. Our college graduates are employed and leading successful and independent lives in different cities and countries. We are incredibly proud of them—thank you for making all of this possible.

We wish you a happy and peaceful holiday season!

Terence Li  

Executive Director

On December 18th, CitySquash’s fourth grade class was recognized at the second annual Racquet Ceremony for spending over 100 hours on court since joining the program. The ceremony was a culmination of their hard work on court since last December. As a reward, each team member earned their very own squash racquet, shoes, and goggles. Parents, siblings, and CitySquash staff members were in attendance to celebrate the students’ accomplishment. Each student was individually recognized with a short commendation highlighting their contributions to the team on and off the court. Congratulations to our 11 team members who reached this exciting milestone!

Racquet Ceremony Recipients

Emmanuella Bentil

Ali Darabuilwi

Alicia Herrera

Yordi Lucero

Noami Marte

Allison Martinez

Ariana Michaca

Elias Ortega

Gerardo Ortiz

Tania Torres

Giovanni Zamboli

On Sunday, 13 runners completed the 2016 TCS NYC Marathon as part of CitySquash’s Marathon Team. Our runners spent months training to run the 26.2 miles while simultaneously fundraising for CitySquash. In total, the group has raised over $50,000 for CitySquash – a record for the organization. On race day, CitySquash team members traveled to mile 21 in the Bronx to support our runners. Seventh grader Justin and tenth grader Sh-Kyrah got the chance to cheer on their mentors, and all of the team members were excited to give high-fives to the CitySquash Team! 

Congratulations to all of our runners: John Beam, Kathryn Brummer, Alexandra Boillot, David Castellani, Caroline Castellani, Amanda Chen, Omar Corona, Jessica Davis, Catherine Fowler, Joseph Hughes, Peter Kelly, Terence Li, and Keech Turner!  Thank you for your hard work on behalf of CitySquash and thank you to all who supported the 2016 CitySquash Marathon Team!

Over the past few weeks, seven CitySquashers have started their first year at independent day and boarding schools, and six CitySquashers have headed off to their freshman year of college. Since CitySquash’s launch in 2002, 64 CitySquash students have been admitted to selective independent schools, and 56 CitySquashers have been admitted to selective colleges throughout the country. Good luck to these team members as they settle into their new schools!

Independent Schools
Karla Dominguez – Episcopal High School 
Mindy Djindjele – Harlem Academy
Mikey Garcia – Blair Academy 
Vanessa Lucero – Pomfret School
Melanie Pestana – Brooks School
Kesley Tejada – Ethel Walker School
Dainalee Velez – Rectory School

Colleges
Jeremy Carrasquillo – Connecticut College 
Omar Castelan – Utica College
Cristian Escalona – Hobart & William Smith 
Jose Fernandez – St. Lawrence University 
Bryson Grant – SUNY Buffalo
Karina Lazaro – Hobart & William Smith

CitySquashers enjoying their trip to Vermont!

 

When not in the Bronx or Brooklyn, many team members have been off making new friends and exploring new places at different academic, squash, and outdoor camps. This year, CitySquash was able to secure over 100 camp slots for our team members. CitySquashers Tyla McKenzie,Joana Pacheco and Luigi Pasquariello attended the NUSEA Citizenship Tour where they met Supreme Court Justice, Elena Kagan, along with numerous other government officials and professionals in public service and media. Team members Caleb Boateng and Frankie Pasquariello are spending their last month of summer at Camp Keewaydin in Salisbury, VT for the fourth consecutive year and CitySquash sent a record seven students to Camp Becket and Chimney Corners Camp in Becket, MA. Team member Tanya Mendoza even got to travel to Chile for three weeks with Chimney Corners Camp for a Service and Leadership Program.

Other team members have spent time at camps including Boston Summer Lab, Episcopal High School Biotechnology Experience, Westover School Women in Finance and Exeter Summer School. A few students have even been lucky enough to travel abroad to various squash and academic camps in England, Italy, and Germany. For the first time, eight CitySquash team members traveled up to Middlebury College in July for a week filled with squash, hiking, and swimming with Middlebury Squash Coach, Mark Lewis. In August, six students will return to Martha’s Vineyard for the annual camp there run by the Cerullo Family. Thank you to all who make these amazing experiences for our team members possible!

Over the weekend of June 17-19, a record of 70 CitySquash team members competed at Urban Individual Nationals at Amherst and Williams Colleges. CitySquash had an incredibly successful tournament – with 9 players competing in the finals of their divisions and 5 ultimately winning national titles. In addition to these championship winners, Alexis Rios won the B division of the BU13 draw. Overall, CitySquash won a title in each age division, capturing more titles than any other urban program. Congratulations to all CitySquash team members who competed over the weekend and thank you to NUSEA and U.S. Squash for organizing a great event.

2016 City Squash Urban National Champions

GU13 – Lizbeth Barroso

BU15 – Jesse Brew

GU17 – Tyla McKenzie

BU17 – Dylan Ram

GU19 – Joana Pacheco