Serving success: F&M’s Squash Aces empower local youth

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — Franklin & Marshall College is holding its fifth annual Hamilton Open, and, once again, it held a “Squash Aces Day” as part of its festivities.

The Squash Aces is a youth program pulling from Reynolds and McCaskey seeking to teach kids about squash. 

Kids are “paired with an academic mentor to help them with their academics in school, with the goal of having them graduate high school and go onto post-secondary,” explained Hamilton Open Co-Chairman King Knox. “This is a program that is academic, but the squash courts are their classroom.” 

While youth programs like Squash Aces help grow the sport, they also focus on building well-rounded members of society. 

Franklin & Marshall Women’s Squash Sophomore Ashanti Amastal reflected on her entrance into the sport.

“I started playing squash in 2014 with a program similar to Squash Aces,” she said. “They are experiencing a lot of the same things that I did growing up — playing squash, doing academics and then having college support. It was really nice to see.” 

The best part for those in the Squash Aces program, like McCaskey senior Madison Portello, is “just being around the kids, getting experience with the kids and building those bonds with people younger than me.” 

Portello then added that the program has played a huge part in her life, saying she “gained so much advice and experience from having a mentor in squash, and I’ve also had really fun times bonding with people who are older than me. I always felt really cool telling people I have a college friend mentor.” 

At Squash Aces Day, Franklin & Marshall presented the program with a $17,000 dollar check to help support their efforts, some of which are directly helping their own programs. 

“I started Squash Aces ten years ago, and now, I’m a senior at F&M, and I’m on the women’s squash team,” explained Franklin & Marshall senior Destiny Ponce. “It all started with Squash Aces.” 

Knox added that Ponce “still stays in touch with her mentors, and she considers the people that she met in Squash Aces close friends. It’s what the program is all about. The more [stories like Destiny’s,] the more success we have.” 

Their success is clear for anyone looking at their graduation rates. 

“In the last eight or nine years, everyone in the program graduated high school, and over 70% have gone on to a post-secondary program,” explained Knox.

The goal of Squash Aces isn’t just academic, though. They also seek to instill a lifelong love for the sport. 

“Squash is a game that is not just for young people,” said Knox. “You can play the game almost your entire life, and, hopefully, some of [the Squash Aces players] will stick with it.” 

Portello added that she’ll be able to “use the experiences and memories that I have working with these amazing kids in my future, and I just get to have the best time of my life [being a part of Squash Aces].”

While the Hamilton Open will conclude play on Friday Oct. 25th, the Squash Aces program is ongoing, with more information available on their website.