Santa Barbara School of Squash

Our end of year party yesterday was a huge success. With many families in attendance we were able to reflect on yet another successful year. We announced new teams & captains for the 24-25 school year, announced our new schedule, and distributed student awards (see below).

We will be holding our annual student/parent meeting on Monday, August 26th. Until then, we hope everyone enjoys the rest of summer break and we can’t wait to see everyone again in September.

Team Captains:
Team A: Monica & Sofie
Team B: Eddie & Ximena

Awards:
Team A MVP - Jesus A
(Honorable mentions: Monica,Sofie & Daphne)

Team B MVP - Josh G
(Honorable mentions: Roger & Benjamin)

Team A Most Improved - Nancy E
(Honorable mentions: Monica, Elias & Sammy)

Team B Most Improved - Benjamin
(Honorable mentions: Josh G, Ximena & Alan)

Best Attendance - Elias P

Most Community Service - Alan/Zahira

David Farber Math Award - Josh G

Volunteer of the year - David Farber

This summer has been packed with activities and fun so far, and we still have a few weeks to go!
We've enjoyed exciting hikes in beautiful Santa Barbara, visited our local library, the Santa Barbara Mission, and the Presidio; played pickleball, had a pool day, and workouts in the park; spent a great few days at SquashZone's summer squash camp in Redwood City and visiting a wildlife sanctuary and mystery house while there; been kayaking with Penny from Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, exploring peaceful waters and enjoying nature; and had a different educational theme each week for our indoor academic sessions!
These experiences have been both fun and educational for the students, bringing the group closer together and creating wonderful memories for everyone.

We also had a chance to get together with a bigger than expected number of our alumni and college students, and former SBSOS staff over dinner. It was great to catch up and hear how everyone is doing in school/work.

Nancy Elias is our May Student of the Month! A Junior at San Marcos High School, Nancy has been very focussed on her schoolwork in recent months and has been maintaining straight As. She has good attendance at SBSOS sessions and events, good communication, a great attitude both on and off the squash court, and is always fun to be around. Congratulations, Nancy!

Last Saturday's "Magic of SBSOS" fundraiser held at the Courthouse Distillery in La Arcada Plaza saw a little over 100 guests entertained by magic, satiated with great food and wine, and impressed by student speeches. Thanks to their generosity over $30,000 was raised.

When the racquetball courts are out of of use and you only have one squash court you have to get creative!

The Silent Auction is now open for anyone to participate in! Check out the amazing items here - https://paybee.io/quickpay.html?handle=sbsos&ppid=27

For tickets to the event please click here - https://paybee.io/quickpay.html?handle=sbsos&ppid=28

April student of the month is Sandra Gomez!

Sandra, a 5th grader at Washington Elementary, has been a pleasure to have in SBSOS. While she only joined us two months ago, that has not stopped her from always working hard and doing the best that she can, whether that’s playing squash or doing the beep test, which she did an awesome job in for her first time. When it comes to academics, she always has a good attitude and is ready to put her head down and focus. Good work, Sandra!🎉😀

Our annual fundraiser, The Magic of SBSOS, will be held on Saturday May 18th from 5:00-7:30pm at the new Courthouse Distillery in La Arcada Plaza downtown Santa Barbara.

It will be a fantastic night of entertainment with dinner, music, roaming magicians, student speakers, and more! There will be an online silent auction, a live auction, and other opportunities to support the Santa Barbara School of Squash.

For more information or to purchase tickets please click here - https://paybee.io/quickpay.html?handle=sbsos&ppid=28

Love is in the air at SBSOS! Program Director and SBSOS Alum Miguel Nava and his longtime girlfriend Alex Guerrero are getting married next month AND SBSOS Alum Daisy Altamirano and longtime boyfriend and SBSOS Volunteer Daniel Reisman who met at SBSOS in 2009 announced their engagement this week!

SBSOS has 17 players with official US Squash ratings and rankings. Here's the April list with changes from March:

This past weekend 12 SBSOS students participated in a beach clean-up where they managed to collect a total of 37 pounds of trash from West Beach. Thank you to Penny from Santa Barbara Channelkeeper for joining us and treating our students to a post clean-up snack.

March student of the month is Zoe Moreno!

Zoe, a 6th grader at Adams Elementary School, and one of our newest recruits, has been nothing but amazing. From day one she fitted in perfectly with all of our other students, puts in 100% effort on the squash court, and is always ready to work in academics. She comes to SBSOS two extra days a week to get more help in math and is already seeing positive improvements. Zoe's positive attitude and personality have been a wonderful addition to the SBSOS family.

Friday focus…😁

We are absolutely thrilled that three more SBSOS students will be going to Laguna Blanca School next year. We so appreciate our partnership with Laguna Blanca and their support of our students. Josh Gomez and Benjamin Garfias will be entering 9th grade, and Ximena Ramirez will be joining as a 7th grader. This is truly life changing. Thank you, Laguna Blanca.

Four players represented Santa Barbara this weekend in a junior silver squash tournament at the Los Angeles Squash Academy in Pasadena, supported by SBSOS Team A captain and assistant coach for the weekend, Jesus Arriaga.
Josh Gomez was stepping up a level but did himself proud in the BU15s.
Elias Paredes had one win in the BU15s but lost to one of the top 4.
Zahira Jarquin had one win in a strong GU17s draw.
Marshall Graham took second place in the BU17s losing to a very good Canadian in the final.
All in all, a fun time and great squash!

February student of the month is Sam Valencia!

Sammy, a sophomore at San Marcos High School, has been working really hard to bring his grades up this year. He currently has 3 As & 1 B! The extra hour of academics that he gets twice a week is showing positive results for him. Keep up the great work, Sammy!

Team B are thrilled to now be able to use the squash court at the Santa Barbara Family YMCA on Fridays, adding an extra day of squash for them.
Pretty sure Benjamin is saying to Roger “Dude! Can you see where everyone else’s feet are?!” 😂

SBSOS has 17 players with official US Squash ratings and rankings. Here's the February list with changes from January:

A long day of matches in the SoCal Junior Squash League individual draws saw some terrific matches culminating in a 4th and 5th place finish for Sofie Ramirez and Nayeli Castrejon-Peralta in Division 2, and Marshall Graham winning the Division 1 final 11/9 11/9 12/10 against Nathan Cherinet from Access Youth Academy in San Diego! I think there will be a lot of sleeping in the vans on the way home!

The final matches of the day didn’t go our way with SBSOS 2 losing 5-0 to AYA 2 in the 5/6th place playoff, SBSOS 1 losing 4-1 to AYA 3 in the 3rd/4th place playoff (with a good 3-0 win from Elias Paredes at #1), and Laguna Blanca losing 4-1 to AYA 1 in the final (with a good 3-1 win from Marshall Graham at #1). Well done Laguna on a well earned second place, and congratulations to all! We’re patching up some injuries and sore muscles, and will be back tomorrow for the individual tournament!

Following on from SBSOS 1’s great win Laguna Blanca beat Access Youth Academy 3 5-0! They now play each other in the semi final! SBSOS 2 lost 5-0 to a very strong Access Youth Academy 1.

SoCal Junior Squash League…first match of the day was a nail biter! Playing at #1 for SBSOS 1 against Access Youth Academy 2 Elias Paredes had to win 3-0 for SBSOS to win the match on a games count back and he won a really close one 12/10 11/9, 11/9! Fantastic effort!

January student of the month!

Jesus Arriaga, a senior at Laguna Blanca, consistently brings joy to those around him with his humorous and positive attitude which sets a good example to all of his teammates. Throughout his four years in high school, Jesus has demonstrated unwavering dedication, which has resulted in his acceptance to his dream school, Drexel University in Philadelphia. Congratulations, Jesus, and continue to work hard!😀

Introducing our 3 newest students that have joined the SBSOS Family! 😀🎉

Caroline Velazquez, a 5th grader at Crane Country Day School. (Left)

Sandra Gómez, a 5th Grader at Washington Elementary. (Middle)

Zoe Moreno, a 6th grader at Adams Elementary. (Right)

The second round of SoCal Squash Junior Squash League matches at Access Youth Academy in San Diego this weekend saw mixed successes for the three Santa Barbara (5 player) teams...a great time was had by all with wonderful camaraderie, some terrific wins, some close losses, and now the finals weekend next month to look forward to! A full strength Laguna Blanca School team dominated their matches very impressively winning 4-1 against Access Youth Academy 1, 5-0 against AYA 2, and 5-0 against Yellow Dots (also from San Diego). SBSOS 1 lost 4-1 to both AYA 3 and AYA 4, and beat SBSOS 2 3-2. SBSOS 2 also lost to AYA 4 (5-0) and AYA 3 (3-2).

Santa Barbara was well represented at the first planning meeting to discuss how to leverage squash’s inclusion in the Olympics in LA in 2028. 150 local SoCal squash enthusiasts joined US Squash officials on Wednesday night for a mixer and then 20 of us who work in squash met on Thursday to discuss ideas and next steps. It’s exciting times!

Wishing our superstar volunteer and math genius David Farber a speedy recovery from his surgery for a detached retina…in typical dedicated fashion the day after his surgery David is attending our academic session by Zoom and helping with students’ math questions!