PHILLY SQUASH

July/August 2011, Philly News

SquashSmarts Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary ...video

By Jim Snyder   Tue, Mar 29, 2011

SquashSmarts started out in 2001 with one simply goal:  provide an after school program for students in the Philadelphia School District that would help them excel in school and in life.   Squash with an emphasis on school work, turned out to be the perfect combination.  The program started with just 8 students and some dedicated volunteers.  SquashSmarts now serves over 120 students in their newly constructed Lenfest Center in North Philadelphia and at one of their original location at Drexel University in West Philadelphia.  

This year they will celebrate their 10^th anniversary.  SquashSmarts' accomplishments are many, including 2010 winner of the Robert P. Levy Award for Community Service from the Philadelphia Sports Congress, 2010 Recipient of The Pew Charitable Trust’s Fund for Health and Human Services grant in Philadelphia, 2009 Champion in Action award for Youth Programming from Citizens Bank and NBC10.  Even more impressive, over the last three years, 100% of SquashSmart student have been accepted to college. 

Executive Director Stephen Gregg is looking forward to several events this fall to celebrate their achievements and plan for the future.  To learn more about SquashSmarts go to www.squashsmarts.org  or open  SquashSmarts_-_The_Program.pdf   

By Jim Snyder

Jim Snyder started out in Racquetball over thirty years ago.  During his racquetball career he coached at several clubs in Florida and Pennsylvania including the Healthplex in Springfield, PA.  He also taught indoor racquet sports at Montgomery County Community College.  While Racquetball Pro at the Healthplex, Jim took up squash and has played ever since.  He is now the Director of Squash at Malvern Prep and the Editor of Phillysquash.com.  He teaches squash for Chester County Night Squash and is the coach for the Malvern youth team in the Chestmont Squash League.

Jim is the co-founder of "Everyone Plays" along with Ron Koenig  and is dedicated to keeping young people active and on the squash courts.