To many people squash is a type of fruit, but for those of privilege it is a sport played at your private racquet club. Growing up in Connecticut, I was quite familiar with the phenomenon of rich parents’ forcing their children to play squash in hopes that the kid will get recruited to play in college. The truth is that squash isn’t nearly as easy of an in to the Ivy League as people expect it to be, but that hasn’t stopped parents from signing their kids up. StreetSquash is a non-profit organization that also sees squash as a way to better the futures of young people, but in a very different way. They make squash more accessible to inner-city youths while combining “academic tutoring with squash instruction, community service, and one-on-one mentoring.”

Squash Your Notions About Squash

StreetSquash is based in Harlem, NY and works with 140 boys and girls from ages 9 to 18 “to improve academic performance; to develop an ethic of hard work and commitment; to boost self-confidence; and to increase school attendance.” Assuming things have gone as planned, the Steven L. Green StreetSquash Center should have opened or be opening soon. This is a $13 million project that StreetSquash has been working on, and its essential to improving their capacity to serve. The reason that squash is usually thought of as a sport for the rich is that the equipment can be expensive and most courts are located in high end, private health clubs. The combination of StreetSquash’s programs with this new facility should have some very exciting results.

With the opening of the Center, it looks like 2008 is a big year for StreetSquash. Beyond opening what looks to be a gorgeous facility, they’re also looking to hire for positions that start in September of this year. The StreetSquash Jobs page lists 3 positions, 2 of which look prime for new college grads. The entry-level jobs are Director of Squash & Community Service and Academic Director. Obviously knowledge of squash is essential, as is experience in working with youth in a learning/mentoring environment. Proficiency in Spanish is also a huge plus, although it’s not required. The full description on the StreetSquash Jobs page are quite descriptive, so be sure to take a look at those too.

StreetSquash is a member of the National Urban Squash and Education Association (NUSEA) which includes other similar programs such as Squash Busters (Boston, MA), City Squash (Bronx, NY), Squash Smarts (Philadelphia, PA), and MetroSquash (Chicago, IL). If you like what Street Squash is all about, but Harlem isn’t where you want to work, you might want to see any of these organizations are also hiring.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• StreetSquash.org
• Jobs at Street Squash
• About Street Squash
• Street Squash Programs
• StreetSquash News and Events

Any squash players out there? Leave a comment and say hello.

We've identified StreetSquash as having career opportunities in the following categories:

• all employers
• coaching
• education
• New York
• non-profit
• sports
• teaching

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