The new face of squash

 
Antar Jimenez is the new face of squash — sort of.
He attends public high school. His parents are Dominican. In September, he plans to be the first of his family to attend college.
It’s not that Jimenez will go to school on a squash scholarship. But in many ways, the sport with a relatively small following, and is more associated with prep schools and the Ivy League, is helping to send him there.
Jimenez is among the first graduates of a Lawrence program that uses squash — a racket sport that is difficult to both learn and play — to give structure and motivation to students in the city.
“I had never heard of it before,” said Jimenez. “The only reason it interested me was I was mortified playing sports, and every other kid that signed up had never played before, either. I wouldn’t look as bad.”
Students in the SquashBusters program commit to an intensive structure of playing, studying and community service three days per week during the year. There are summer activities, as well.
The Lawrence program started six years ago, the outgrowth of an organization founded by Greg Zaff, a former squash professional who began SquashBusters in 1996 with two-dozen students from Cambridge and Roxbury.
His idea was to broaden their horizons and inspire them to work hard and dream big.
In 2012, Dora Lubin, who’d spent three years at a similar program in New York (CitySquash in the Bronx) moved to the Merrimack Valley to replicate Zaff’s model.
She said the eventual goal is to open a SquashBusters facility, with courts, offices and classrooms, catering to more students like Jimenez.
“For me, the whole program is a confidence booster,” said Jimenez, who had ambitions to continue his studies before he ever heard of SquashBusters.
He has since applied to 11 colleges.
“I honestly believe I was going to somehow get out of the projects eventually, and maybe go to college,” he said. “But I believe that this program made me into a better version of myself.”
Growing program
SquashBusters and Lubin couldn’t have gotten him to this point without help from throughout the region.
Following the script handed to her by Zaff, Lubin began the program by connecting with middle schools in the city, Wetherbee and Arlington, to make her pitch for a sport that some outsiders confuse with racquetball but that involves far more complexity and finesse.
With assistance from the Andover Squash Club, she approached Brooks School and Phillips Academy about securing courts and rooms for students to do their homework.
The program provides coaches and tutors.
SquashBusters runs six days a week, Monday through Saturday. Three days are for middle-school students, and three are for high-schoolers.
Students get rides from school to the program, and they return about 3 1/2 hours later.
Six years after starting SquashBusters, which has since added Lawrence High School to its van route, a half-dozen of its players are seniors looking forward to graduation.
All are planning to go to college in the fall.
Ashley Flores, 18, who is bound for Mount Holyoke, said she joined SquashBusters in the seventh grade.
Her sister, Tatonia Hernandez, had signed up and “basically forced” her to go along, too.
“I remember the first day. I wanted to quit,” said Flores. “I couldn’t use the racquet. I couldn’t swing it. It was awful.
“But I remembered going back the second day, and actually hitting the ball. Then I couldn’t wait to go back,” she said.
As Flores has grown, so has SquashBusters.
Renting office space in Lawrence, it now has a staff of seven. This summer it bought four new vans, all of which have “SquashBusters” signs on both sides.
Unlike a lot of other youth programs — particularly those related to sports — SquashBusters will focus not just on getting students to college, but keeping tabs on them while they are there.
“Freshman year is the real important, including grades, study habits and general well-being,” said Lubin. “They are living away for the first time in the lives, on their own. It’s a change. Having small groups will allow us to follow them through college.”
Last month the program benefitted from a fundraiser at Brooks. With New Balance among the lead sponsors, the event featuring professional and amateur squash matches raised $300,000.
Lubin said the role of Brooks and Phillips in SquashBusters’ success cannot be overstated. In one case, a former SquashBusters student Jose Victorino, found his way to Brooks School via the program and is now an honors student and top six player at the school.

"We could not do this if it wasn't both schools," she said. "Their coaches have been great. The students at the schools have helped out, too. Both of their squash facilities are special. They have gone out of their way to help us grow this program and make a difference."
Like family
For her part, Lubin rarely plays squash.
Says the Harvard alumna who has worked in the “business” for nearly a decade, “You wouldn’t want to see me play.”
“But I’ve seen up close what this sport can do for young people in places like Lawrence. The places it can take these teenagers — places they probably wouldn’t ever have gone,” she said.
“And it’s really hard to play,” she added, “which means there is a lot of discipline and hard work needed to improve. These are qualities they can take with them the rest of their lives.”
Students who stick it out from one year to the next form a close-knit bond.
Flores said her SquashBusters peers are like family.
“I love when we travel together and play matches,” she said. “But the best part is going to restaurants afterward, just talking and laughing. For me, I get to be myself.”
Programs that bring squash to city schools have been growing in the United States. SquashBusters is one of 19 across the country.
Every year, more than 20 of the best academic and most civic-minded students from those programs go on an eight-day Urban Squash Citizenship Tour, visiting New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
The sport introduces them to people and places they may not otherwise meet or see.
For example, Raymond Gomez said his oldest daughter, Cynthia, 14, is a high school freshman who has already visited colleges including Colby and Williams.
His other children — daughters Jasmyn, 13, Adrian, 12, and son Antonio, 11 — are also in the SquashBusters program.
“She has been to so many places already that I can’t keep up with,” said Gomez, who also drives a van transporting kids to and from the schools.
But the biggest rewards of the program, he said, are internal ones.
“The core values my kids have learned already — like respect, responsibility and teamwork — at their young age, are special,” he said. “I am so grateful for SquashBusters.”
Bill Burt is The Eagle-Tribune's executive sports editor. Email him at bburt@eagletribune.com
Why squash?
Squash is hard to grasp. The ball doesn’t bounce until it’s been warmed up. It takes weeks, even months, to appreciate the geometry of shots. But there are many reasons to play including:
— The size of the athlete doesn’t matter.
— A match takes only 45 minutes.
— It improves hand-eye coordination.
— Mental skills can be more important than physical skills.
— It can be an individual or team sport.
‘Urban’ squash
A network of city squash programs has spread across the country, now including SquashBusters in Lawrence. Here’s a look at the reach of “urban squash” programs that are part of the national Squash and Education Alliance:
+ 2,000 students
+ 19 members programs in 19 cities
+ 4 international affiliates
+ $17 million invested in students per year
+ 96 percent of students who stay in their programs graduate high school and continue their education
+ 1 in 5 will play college squash
+ Two-thirds will earn a bachelor’s degree within six years, compared to the national average of 24 percent among low-income students
+ 662 students graduated high school
+ $25 million in college scholarships won by students
+ One former urban squash player won a Fulbright scholarship, while two others have been selected as Peace Corps volunteers