When Malachi McCall first learned about squash, he was reluctant to try the racquet sport.
“I didn’t really know what it was,” the high school senior at Parkway Center City Middle College said. “I was kind of iffy about joining, but when I stepped on court, I just loved it immediately.”
McCall stepped on his first squash court before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. While that paused his participation for a while, McCall said eighth grade is when he was fully able to immerse himself in the sport.
“Ever since, I’ve been hooked,” he said.
McCall now has a bright future with squash. He told Billy Penn that he plans to play at the collegiate level and would like to play professionally.
McCall will graduate from the seven-year SquashSmarts program this spring.
The nonprofit recruits children from several partner schools when they are entering middle school, and aims to keep the kids active in the program through high school graduation.
The program focuses on both athletics and academics. Its mission is to put kids on the path to college, careers or unique opportunities post-graduation.
While squash was not something initially on his radar, McCall said SquashSmarts has opened new doors for him.
“Especially for such a lonely sport like squash, if you’re playing a match or training, always having somebody or a big community around you is super helpful,” he said.
Why squash?
Racquet sports have experienced a dramatic rise in popularity the last few years. Pickleball and padel have exploded, while tennis remains a staple.
It may surprise you to know that squash has a relatively strong presence in Philly, at the university and national team levels.
The sport is a great connector, said Stephen Gregg, the executive director of SquashSmarts.
“The squash racket is a passport,” he said. “It can take you anywhere on Earth, and you can meet someone and instantly form a relationship with someone through the sport of squash.”
Squash is similar to padel – both are played inside a box, or four walls, with a small rubber ball. It can be played as singles or doubles. And it’s about to have an international moment, making its Olympic debut in 2028. While the sport is popular in other countries, namely Egypt, its popularity in the U.S. is still evolving.
The sport requires endurance and discipline, as there is lots of running. But, Gregg said, this helps those of all ages learn important life lessons.
“Through the game itself, you learn a lot about yourself,” he said. “You learn a lot about your opponent. You learn discipline, you learn hard work and consistency, and it’s a game that you can continue on.”
SquashSmarts takes the principles of squash and applies it to school students, Gregg said. The organization was created in 2000, and was based on similar groups in Boston and New York City.
“The idea was to bring squash with the combination of academic tutoring to schools that didn’t necessarily have all of the resources they needed, whether that’s academic resources, athletic resources or smaller, more intimate scenarios or settings where you could work with kids in a more intimate space and impart this lifelong sport,” he said. “So through the game itself, you learn a lot about yourself.”
The program hosts 160 students at a time – with 80 children working out of the North Philadelphia program at the Lenfest Center and 80 students in the West Philadelphia Program, which runs out of the Arlen Specter U.S. Squash Center.
The program, which runs three days a week, caters to specific schools in the School District of Philadelphia.
“We are ‘place-based’ in the sense that it’s not an open enrollment model,” Gregg said. “We are going into five specific schools in West Philadelphia and North Philadelphia to recruit and retain and provide programming for boys and girls from those specific schools. So we provide daily transportation. We know their principals and their teachers, so we can really develop deep relationships with not only the children, but the schools as well.”
Students are recruited from several schools – including Carver Engineering & Science Middle School, Esperanza Academy Charter School, E.W. Rhodes Elementary, Morton McMichael Elementary and Overbrook Educational Center. Students can remain in the program even if they switch schools.
“They were checking in”
The program provides a “safe space” for students, said Sierra Jones, who graduated from the program as a student and now works as a community program director for the organization.
“I know when I came into the program that people were going to ask about my well-being,” she said. “They were going to make sure that I had a little bit of food in me to get on court. They were going to make sure that my grades were staying up to par. They were checking in on my personal life.”
Jones now works with younger students in partner schools, hosting clinics for students and identifying children who may be good for the program once they are of age.
Jones graduated from the program in 2022 after seven years, and returned to coach the next year. For her, SquashSmarts is family, and she loves creating this environment for incoming children.
“It’s definitely a wholesome moment seeing our kids grow up, but definitely sad, all in one, because you’re just seeing them navigate different experiences in life,” she said. “You try to set the kids up with as many tools as you possibly can give them, but it’s ultimately up to them to decide which tools that they’re going to use in that moment.”
A typical day
Of the 80 children at each program location, there are 40 middle school students and 40 high school students. Gregg said the program provides transit, offering direct van transport for middle school students and free SEPTA passes for high school participants.
“We’re eliminating the transportation hurdle or barrier,” he said. “That is an incredibly important piece when you think about how frequently families with resources spend driving their children to and from activities.”
At 3:30 p.m. on program days, students receive a free box meal before beginning practice.
“We give a box meal every single day to every single kid, which in the current climate with SNAP benefit reductions and all, is incredibly important and incredibly valuable,” he said. “And honestly, it’s one of the underlying reasons why a lot of kids initially do come back here. There’s food on a consistent basis.”
The 40 middle school students typically attend on Mondays, Wednesdays, and either Friday or Saturday, while the 40 high school students come in on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and either Friday or Saturday.
Each group of students that come in are split in two — 20 from each group go to squash and fitness classes, while the other 20 go to academic support.
“We have two classrooms, so 20 split into 10 kids in one classroom, and 10 kids in another classroom,” Gregg said. “The other 20 kids are split across eight courts, so roughly two to three kids per squash court. Each classroom is overseen by an academic director, and our eight squash courts are overseen by two squash fitness directors.”
The program also allows students to choose whether they’d prefer to focus on academics or athletics, said Robert Jackson, an eighth-grade student at Science Leadership Academy at Beeber.
“I originally didn’t join the program for squash,” he said. “I joined the program for academics. You get a choice, if you want to be focused predominantly on squash or focus predominantly on academics, which I feel is very unique in a lot of programs, because some programs are just strictly for sports or strictly for academics, but the fact that this program does squash and academics is very special.”
Jackson has grown to love squash through the program. He said the nature of the game and social connections have made the program worth it.
“The sport in itself is really fun,” he said. “It’s exhilarating and it gets your blood pumping. My favorite thing taken out of this place, though, is the community. I’ve made so many friends.”
Gregg said the combined focus on academics and athletics helps to keep students involved in school.
“We ask students to maintain 80 percent attendance at all of our practices,” he said. “We track attendance. We track their grades, their GPAs in school, and their school attendance. We know their teachers, and we’re getting involved in their life and in their family in a very meaningful way. You don’t have to be a great squash player or be an A-plus student. We’re looking for commitment, not ability.”
Students also receive summer program opportunities while in the program — that can be everything from trips to rope courses and hikes on the Appalachian Trail, to college prep camps at Ivy League schools and an England trip for two program participants.
“We get free summer programs or reduced-cost summer programs at Temple, and we have a great relationship with Drexel,” he said. “We also run our own in-house summer camps for six weeks. But we also send kids all over the country and all over the city as a part of their effort during the year for the summer programs.”
Impact
SquashSmarts has delivered measurable results for its students, Gregg said, adding that consistency is important in creating these results.
“Our kids are coming to SquashSmarts three to four times more than a lot of our peer youth mentoring programs,” he said. “You don’t have impact without frequency and dosage, or without kids coming repeatedly and having expectations for them.”
The close-knit nature of the group keeps many participants engaged with the program, said Nathaniel Kuriloff, a 10th grader at Science Leadership Academy at Center City.
“We’re a very close team,” he said. “We recently played at a tournament here, and compared to the other teams, we were a lot closer, and it was really kind of awesome to be able to have those experiences.”
SquashSmarts alumni are showing success, too.
“We have 17 seniors who graduated last year,” he said. “Every one of them went on to college. They received just shy of $400,000 in aid for their support for going to college.
“And over the history of the program the last 25 years, 73 percent of our graduates go to college. And 27 percent of our graduates go directly into career or the military or some vocational school or trade.”
He explained the program also supports middle school students in their high school placements.
“To go from an underperforming, low-resource middle school to some of the top high schools in the city is a huge, game-changing transition for them,” he said.
Gregg emphasized that the program has a strong foundation of alumni – many of whom are now volunteers for the program.
Jones said a large part of coming back was the long-term investment and commitment the organization made in her.
“When you join SquashSmarts, you’re joining a family,” she said. “It’s not just another sports team that you come to every so often. It’s more intense. It’s more of a commitment, and it’s more in-depth only because we care so much, and our students realize that.”
“They hold that same standard within themselves, and then they hold each other accountable and ask each other where they are when they’re not at practice. So just knowing that when you come here we’re going to care about you, and we’re going to care hard.”
And, the program inspires positivity and fun for the community, said Ranson Gaymon, another program alumni who now works as a coach mentor.
“Coming back and really being able to serve my community is very big to me,” he said. “I really enjoy interacting with the kids and talking to them about their days, and just having fun with them. I think that’s the biggest part of my job.”
Beyond student programming, SquashSmarts is on a mission to make the sport accessible for every Philadelphian.
“We offer community programs where literally any student or any family can come in and reach out to our staff to find out about the game,” Gregg said. “We offer evening clinics. We’ll have weekend clinics. We also offer summer camp and summer programs as well, and we have programs for people to come in and utilize the space.”
The post “You’re joining a family”: SquashSmarts invests in Philly students long term appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY.
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