StreetSquash, a non-profit Harlem community program that combines athletics and academics, is looking to change the image of a sport traditionally reserved for the affluent by putting squash racquets in the hands of minority youth.
On Nov. 20, the program’s new building—which took five years to complete—opened its doors at W. 116th Street between Malcolm X Boulevard and 5th Avenue. Encompassing over 18,000 square feet, its facilities include eight regulation-size squash courts, five classrooms, and a library. StreetSquash was founded in 1999, but until two weeks ago, it had been using squash courts at both Columbia’s Dodge Fitness center and the local YMCA.
The building is decorated with African-American and Hispanic art and, though the Columbia Squash team recently started practicing here, it is devoted almost entirely to the 140 middle school and high school students that participate in the program.
“To benefit the kids, I think this is the best site because this is their home. It’s in Harlem,” Squash Director Satya Seshadri said.
The after-school program meets three times a week. On each day, half of the time is allotted to homework help and tutoring, and the other half to squash.
“When I did my homework at home nobody used to check it so it would be wrong. In here I get Jade to check it, and if it’s wrong I can go back and fix it,” said Malaysia Bradley, a sixth grader who started at StreetSquash just over a month ago. “I get 3’s and 4’s on my homework now when I used to get 2’s and 3’s,” she added.
The most important thing that StreetSquash provides is a safe environment for personal development, said Academic Director Jade Elias. “We’re giving them that individualized attention where they know people care about their achievements in school, knowing that they can’t slip through the cracks,” Elias said.
With a staff of 13 people, the program relies on volunteers—including squash players from Columbia—who coach squash, tutor, and serve as mentors to adolescents in the program. There are currently 20 mentors, ranging from college students to doctors to people in finance. Every member of the University’s squash team is committed to coaching 5 hours a month.
“These are kids from the city, a lot of their families haven’t gone to college,” said John Kamfonas, CC ’09, captain of the University’s squash team. “To be helping them to do better in school and maybe go to college is extremely rewarding.”
George Polsky, founder and executive director of StreetSquash, said that although the current economic downturn might impede the non-profit, it currently has enough funds to survive the recession.
In a classroom whose walls were decorated with paintings and hanging masks, Elias worked one recent afternoon with Shellonda Anderson, a Harvard student taking a year off to volunteer. The two helped a group of seven sixth-graders do their math homework. A few of the kids asked if they could finish their homework later so they could go play squash. One girl said she did not want to play squash that day, but was met with gasps of disbelief from her classmates.
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