Explorations in Sport for Development and Peace

I am conducting an online Indiegogo crowd sourcing fundraising campaign to volunteer and coach at Khelshala this summer. Donations towards this initiative will primarily:

1. Allow Khelshala to spend its exisiting budget directly on the needs of Khelshala children by avoiding to pay administrative costs for officers/volunteers like me.
2. Allow for direct squash teaching, coaching and mentoring of the Khelshala children by me.
3. Allow for setting up a computer lab from our anticipated grant for computer equipment by the State Bank of India.

Priya at Khelshala

Priya, pictured above, is a gifted athlete who is also a gifted student. I will be helping Priya with written and oral English to help fulfill her dream of being admitted to one of the most saught after private schools in Chandigarh called the Sacred Heart School for Girls. I hope you will consider making a donation of any size on Indiegogo.

Today was the last day of classes for the 2012-13 academic year at Concord Academy which meant my evaluations were due for the co-ed intramural squash class that I have been teaching this spring. The course consisted of briefly revisiting the rules and etiquette of squash followed by timed games, conditioned games, offense/defense, round robins and team-based activities.

The Last Day of Class of Spring 2013 Co-ed Intramural Squash at Concord Academy.

At the beginning of each class students also learned warm-up exercises and basic fitness routines. To allow for creativity and ownership of their learning process students also had the opportunity for “free play” to practice among themselves in a manner they saw fit. Furthermore, question and answers were given to students to educate them about the historical, economic and social aspects of the sport.

Overall, I had a few students who have the potential to play at the varsity level next winter. If they chose to enroll in summer squash camps then this will help further their preparation for the winter. At the end of class, I provide a list of resources with information on associations, magazines, books and local squash camps to help them continue their journey with squash. Hard to believe another season is over, but most of all I am blessed to work with such great kids.

It’s been just over 2 months since the end of the 2012-13 winter squash season at Concord Academy. One of the most frequent questions I get asked is “how was your season?” As with most things, looking back there were pluses and minuses, wins and losses and positives and negatives.

As a team, the girls varsity squad had a losing season, but were able to avoid low morale by the players’ ability to act as peer coaches for each other. The girls team maintained a positive dynamic during practices and matches. Meanwhile, the boys squad had a successful winning season.  They earned a place in the B Division at the New England Interscholastic Squash Association’s Championships and performed well with two of seven players finishing in the top 5 in their draws.

Daniel Tsui (left) and Mark Styles (right) with top 5 finishes at the New England Interscholastic Squash Association’s B Division Championships at Avon Old Farms School (Avon, CT).

Even though there were two adult coaches for both the girls and boys teams, it proved difficult to adequately provide feedback to each member of the team in a timely fashion. Nonetheless, both the boys and girls captains and team members stepped up and demonstrated solid teamwork and communication that will bode well for their futures.