Low-cost program aims to help kids through sport of squash

PITTSBURGH — The game of squash used to be thought of as something for students at private schools or elite universities.

In the City of Pittsburgh, there’s a new effort to raise the profile of the sport and make it available to kids in underserved communities.

In Larimer is a brand new state of the art Steel City Squash Community Center. It’s designed to help kids develop skills and opportunities to succeed in their futures.

“It uses the sport of squash as a hook as an incentive to get kids engaged and working towards college completion and career attainment,” director of Steel City Squash, Brad Young, said.

It’s a low-cost program for kids grades 4th through 12th, plus those who then go off to college.

“Our population comes from low to moderate income communities in and around Pittsburgh,” Young said.

Darwin Phillips, 13, said squash has helped him make friends.

“I’m a pretty shy and timid person but ever since I’ve been coming here I’ve been becoming an outgoing person,” Darwin said.

Young said it’s more than just playing teaching the sport. They also provide kids with meals, transportation, college and career readiness, social emotional learning and academic support.

“They help us with our homework, they help us get our grades up and help us study,” Bryce Mosley said.

The program has been around the Pittsburgh area for 10 years. They were working out of the University of Pittsburgh but were limited to only 50 participants, until now.

“In our new space we can grow our academy to about 150 students so we can triple our impact with just this brand new space,” Young said.

The new facility is open to everyone.

For more information on Steel City Squash, click here.

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