Twenty CitySquash students competed in the 2016 U.S. Middle School Team Squash Championships held at Yale University from January 22^nd-24^th.  The CitySquash teams had their most successful Middle School Teams ever, coming away as champions in one division. CitySquash’s Girl’s B team captured the Girls Division II title after beating five other teams to take home the title, including Eastern Greenwich Middle School in the finals. Coached by Bryan Patterson and Chris Fernandez, the lineup included Dalia Hipolito, Fatima Hernandez, Xitlaly Santos, Tita Hicks, and Mikayla Mitil – all CitySquash team members who also attend the Thomas C. Giordano Middle School 45 in the Bronx. Also competing in the tournament were three other CitySquash teams, not all were quite as successful as CitySquash’s Girl’s B team, but all of the team’s played excellent squash. Congratulations to CitySquash’s new champions and thank you to U.S. Squash for a great weekend!

Seventy-five CitySquash team members from the Bronx and Brooklyn travelled to Boston over the Martin Luther King Day Weekend for the 13th Urban Team Nationals. CitySquash’s 12 teams, ranging from the U13 to the U19 divisions, competed at Harvard’s Murr Center and the SquashBuster’s facility at Northeastern University. The NUSEA sponsored tournament brought together 18 NUSEA programs in the largest Urban Team Nationals to-date. CitySquash had an impressive run at the tournament, making it into 5 of the 8 division finals. In the end, CitySquash‘s BU13 and BU15 teams came away with National Urban Squash Championship Titles and the BU19, GU15 and GU13 teams finished second in hard-fought championship matches against Squash Haven. Team members had a fantastic time at the tournament and played excellent squash. Thank you to NUSEA for running an exceptional event and to the Tennis & Racquet Club, the Harvard Club, and Belmont Hill School for hosting CitySquash throughout the weekend. Congratulations to CitySquash’s BU13 and BU15 teams and to all who participated!

On December 20^th, two CitySquashers made their way up to New Haven, CT for the 2016 U.S. Junior Open Squash Championships. The U.S. Open is one of the largest and toughest tournaments on the junior circuit, with over 900 competitors from thirty-seven countries. The CitySquash players who competed at the tournament, Jesse Brew and Victoria Haghighi, stepped up to the challenge and produced some great results against the worldly competition. Jesse had the opportunity to compete against players from Mexico and Egypt, and finished in the top quarter of his division. Victoria also had a strong weekend, making it to the final day of the tournament. Congratulations to Victoria and Jesse on a great tournament!

December 11-15 marked the 7th biennial Briggs Cup, a professional doubles tournament benefitting CitySquash. With a purse of $100,000, the Briggs Cup remains the largest doubles event in the world. This year, the tournament included a professional women’s draw alongside the men’s pro competition and four pro-am draws. On the women’s side, top seeds Dana Betts & Steph Hewitt held off the second seeds to win the title in five. In the men’s draw, legendary duo Damien Mudge & Ben Gould captured their first Briggs Cup in their final professional appearance together.

Since the inaugural event in 2003, the tournament has netted over $1,000,000 for CitySquash and has played an important role in supporting CitySquash’s team members and raising awareness for the organization. Thank you to the Tournament Director and honoree Peter Briggs, and the event’s co-chairs – Tom Clayton, Steve Mandel, Peer Pedersen, Artie Schwabe, and Brian Walsh – for bringing everyone together for such a memorable weekend and supporting CitySquash!