Urban Squash Toronto

My family, friends and supporters,

This is my final blog relating to my Camino Trek and specifically Urban Squash Toronto. As promised, I wanted to give you some history of Urban Squash Toronto, how it came to be, what its' objectives are, and how we are now progressing.

If you haven’t made a donation yet, this is your opportunity!
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The concept behind Urban Squash, started 18 years ago in Boston. It was started by a friend, Greg Zaff. He was a graduate of Williams College, and a former Canadian Open Squash champion.

Greg decided he wanted to give back rather than going to Wall Street and he began an organization called Squash Busters. Greg wanted to help children in difficult environments improve their education, life skills, and use the sport of Squash as a vehicle.

Since that day, 18 years ago, he has raised over $12 million, put over 1000 children through his program, and has now developed 15 similar programs throughout the United States, and now Canada.

His graduates, and the graduates of all the programs, have accomplished the following:

-   Supported 500 students starting in grade 6/7 through college graduation

-   Raised approximately $75M since 1996

-   Urban Squash "students" have attained a 94% acceptance rate on their College applications

Urban Squash Toronto (UST), was founded in 2009, by a group of Toronto Squash enthusiasts. I am the Chairman and we put together a Board of Directors who are passionate about children and the game of squash. This includes, former World Number 1 and Canadian squash legend, Jonathon Power.

The mission of the program is the same as that started in Boston as above, to help children with their education and life skills, while using the game of squash as a vehicle to help. It is a registered Canadian Charity.

UST's first full year of operation was in 2010. The program is run at the NSA (National Squash Academy) in Downsview, and its students come from schools in the Jane/Finch corridor, one of the most challenging neighborhoods in Toronto. UST students start at grade 6, and are supported by the program until they finish high school.

We have worked closely with former World #1 Jonathon Power and top Canadian junior coach Jamie Nicholls at the NSA, to help provide UST students with the best facilities and coaching resources in the country.

I would like to thank Harrow Sports for donating uniforms and squash equipment as well as Oxford Learning for their supply of academic materials.

Our objective was the same as the objective started by Greg in Boston - to help children in underserved communities pursue the post-secondary pathways of their choice through squash coaching, academic tutoring and direct mentoring.  Our students enter the program in grade 6, and we continue working with them until they have graduated high school, and beyond.

Over the last three years, we have developed our program to include over 50 children in grades 6-8 whom we work with three times a week on squash, academics and fitness/well being.  We have community service days, field trips and tournaments that the students participate in.

As you know, my Camino Trek was dedicated to raising funds for Urban Squash Toronto and I am pleased to say that with your help, we exceeded my original goal of $100,000 by reaching $110,000. Thank you again for your contributions.

Our Executive Director is Shivani Ruparell and she has done an excellent job raising awareness of UST, working with the students and most recently securing an Ontario Trillium Foundation award to help us grow the program.

Please see a recent article and video from the Toronto Star that interviewed Shivani and explains the importance of the programs focus – it’s not only about the sport but also about academic tutoring, fitness mentoring and emotional support.

http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2013/10/14/urban_squash_toronto_mentors_janefinch_youth_well_beyond_the_court.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&app=noRedirect

The article also explains the importance of our “army” of volunteers and I encourage any of you reading this who have an interest in helping to contact Shivani at Shivani@urbansquashtoronto.org and please visit the UST website http://urbansquashtoronto.org/ for more information.

I was recently interviewed by the CBC Metro Morning Show regarding UST and a recent grant awarded to us by the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Please click here to hear the interview:
http://www.cbc.ca/metromorning/episodes/2013/11/26/squash-and-academics/

Thank you again for your donations, interest and ongoing support of Urban Squash Toronto.

Clive