A group of eight Harlem teens are changing the complexion of the once exclusive sport of squash. The players are making history by becoming the first all-Black team to perform at the high school nationals in late February.
“Being the only all-Black team, we broke a lot of stereotypes, and it’s deeper than squash,” StreetSquash player Harlem Jones told WCBS.
The teens attend Thurgood Marshall Academy for Learning and Social Change in Harlem, New York. The school is 78 percent Black and 18 percent Hispanic according to Public School Review.
The school integrates the “theme of social change” into the curriculum to reflect the spirit and life of Justice Thurgood Marshall and his commitment to positive social change, according to the school’s website. Marshall was the first Black justice to serve on the Supreme Court.
The teens play wearing black panthers jerseys, the mascot of their school. They are under the tutelage of StreetSquash, a nonprofit after school program designed to introduce middle and high school students in Harlem to the sport of squash at no cost. The program also helps with college preparedness and is funded entirely by donations and grants, according to its website.
Squash is similar to racquetball, but racquetball balls are larger, and the rules of the game are different. “The objective of the game is for players to take turns hitting the ball against the front wall, above the tin and below the out line,” Squash Canada explains. The game is played to 11 points. Points are awarded if the receiver fails to hit the ball before it bounces twice or hits the ball out of bounds.
“Squash in the U.S. has been a predominantly white sport found mostly in country clubs and private clubs. There are not many found within public schools,” StreetSquash spokesperson Mark Wishnia told Atlanta Black Star.
“It was super affluent here, and the rest of the world, it’s not” StreetSquash coach Simba Muhwati said of…
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