Charity helps students find path to better future through squash

At Urban Squash Toronto, playing the game is only the start of a path toward community, belonging and academic success.

Since 2011, the charity has served students in Toronto's Jane and Finch neighbourhood, busing them from school to the courts for an after-school program that includes a healthy meal and free tutoring services as well as squash.

The program serves 113 students, and staff say they can't keep up with demand.

Every student who's gone through it has graduated high school, and 94 per cent have gone on to post-secondary education. In 2018, the Toronto District School Board said 86 per cent of students across the city graduate high school.

"It gives kids a safe place to be in this neighbourhood," said Andrenella Browne, the charity's program director. "There's a lot of gun violence. Things are happening in families. And I don't want to stereotype the neighborhood necessarily, because a lot of this is going on all over the place, but this type of program allows the kids to be somewhere where they can feel welcome, community, at home." 

The program's executive director, Brent Adamson, credits their success to the time they invest in the students. Kids join the program in Grade 6 and are encouraged to stay with it through Grade 12, showing up six days a week during the school year. 

 "You have a huge opportunity to impact a child's trajectory when you have that long period of time," Adamson said. "It's not a drop-in program. It's not a time that you show up for eight weeks and we might see you next year. We want you here every day."

Squash as a tool

The program was founded in 2010 by squash enthusiasts in the city. Adamson said it's funded through individual donations, grants and foundations.

With the focus on squash, students get to experience a sport typically reserved for the affluent because of the high club initiation fees and other costs involved, he said. But the sport is really just a tool to help the charity achieve its overall mission.

"It's kind of an opportunity to provide access to recreation that will get the students in here so that they can really benefit from one of the other aspects of our program — the classroom and the academic enrichment program," he said. 

Naela Shallo has had four kids involved in the program, with her son being part of the original cohort. She said they live in an under-resourced community and Urban Squash Toronto has found a way to bridge the gap between academics and athletics in a way that provides opportunities for children.

"It's been a great help for the parents to know that your child is coming to a program where they really care for the students, where they really care for your child and they want their child to succeed," she said.

'It just makes my day'

Her daughter, Haneen, is going into Grade 9 and is taking part in the program. She said she likes the squash, but her favourite part is the community.

"I've got to make a lot of new friends. Seeing them, it just makes my day, honestly," Haneen said.

With the program currently at capacity, Adamson said they hope to find a long-term location where they can grow. The charity currently operates out of The Hangar, a sports complex in Downsview Park.

He said his organization also hopes to reduce barriers further with a new scholarship fund for every student who completes the program, to help them deal with the financial hurdles that come with post-secondary education. The charity is currently fundraising for the scholarship, which will be called Squash the Barriers. 

"The goal is to have every student that graduates our program, that has given us seven years, will receive $10,000 to go toward post-secondary education," he said. 

"That is a complete difference-maker and moves the needle, and that's the next step."