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I am happy to report that CitySquashers had the time of their lives last weekend at the 1 st Annual Urban Youth Team Nationals in Boston . Held at the beautiful new 8-court SquashBusters facility on the campus of Northeastern University, the inaugural event brought together 120 youngsters from the country's five inner-city youth squash programs for the two-day competition. The 5-player team tournament provided a wonderful opportunity for the programs to come together and celebrate their common mission of using squash and education to enrich the lives of children from low-income families.
Thanks to the incredible generosity of a whole host of people at Harvard—deans, professors, tutors, students and masters—CitySquash's twenty-three team members and ten chaperones (seven parents and three staff) were given free room and board by the University, sleeping in its masters residences, dormitories, and common rooms. The matches at SquashBusters ran from morning till night, but our team members had enough time to get to know Harvard and soak up the life there; we took a Saturday morning tour of the campus and ate meals with students in the dining halls.
The competition went as well for us as we could have possibly hoped. On Sunday morning our Girls A Team was in the final against our Harlem sister program, StreetSquash, a team that we lost to just a month ago. After falling in the first two matches at the #3 and #5 spots, it looked like we would suffer another disappointing result. Tanesha Jackson, our #1, defeated her opponent in four games, but on the next court at #4 Jesse Pacheco was holding on for dear life. A 6 th grader who has played squash for only half a year, Jesse was up against Gabriel Robinson, an 8 th grader nearly twice her size.
Although Jesse won the first two games, Gabriel came storming back, winning the third and fourth. And when Gabriel jumped to a 7-3 lead in the fifth, it looked like all hope was lost: we were two points away from defeat. But Jesse clawed her way back—even surviving a match ball at 7-8—and somehow managed to win the fifth game 10-8 in the tie-breaker. We were still alive! And with the team match now tied at 2-all with one match to be played, we could not have had a more reliable player to count on than Maylin Colon at #2. Seemingly unaware of the growing crowd behind her court and the pressure of playing in a title-deciding match, Maylin jumped out to a quick lead and never looked back. After the last point was played and she shook her opponent's hand, Maylin's teammates stormed the court to congratulate her and celebrate. We had won!
As if the girls' match was not sufficiently anxiety-producing for yours truly (I could barely watch) and everybody else in the audience, our Boys A Team went the distance as well in its final, also against StreetSquash. Like a seesaw, we lost at #5, then won at #3; lost at #1, then won at #4. When 6 th grader Prince Mensah, our #2, took the court against Ramone Potter, it again looked like StreetSquash had the edge—only a month earlier Ramone had beaten Prince soundly in three games. But Prince was on a mission last Sunday. He made few errors and used his remarkable speed to neutralize Romone's impressive shot-making. When the fourth game started, Prince was leading 2-1, and Ramone was exhausted. Moments later Prince won the match, and, like Maylin before him, was mobbed by his smiling teammates. A second championship!
It was great to see our team members play so well, and to enjoy the satisfaction of achieving a goal. They have been working hard all year long. But it was just as gratifying to witness the high level of camaraderie and sportsmanship that they displayed throughout the weekend, between one another and with their competitors from other programs. Referee calls were rarely questioned. Spectators clapped at the appropriate times. Teammates supported and coached one another. Opponents shook hands at the conclusion of matches.
As always, please let me know if you'd like to join us for a practice or a field trip or a tournament—you name it.
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