Transforming Lives Through Sport and Support: MetroSquash’s Impact and Opportunities
Author: Marshall V. King
MSBA Students learning about Metrosquash from Jake Oher, Chief Development Officer
Making an Impact Through Sports
Every sport can make a difference for someone.
ND Sports Analytics students in the MSBA program of the Mendoza College of Business saw how MetroSquash forges partnerships around the sport of squash to help young people.
MetroSquash combines academic support, competitive squash, and enrichment opportunities to empower students. It started in the Woodlawn neighborhood in 2005 and a second location opened in Evanston in 2018. What began with ten fifth-grade students in 2005 has grown to serve 450 young people a year and graduated hundreds of alumni.
Student Development and Success at MetroSquash: Academic, Social, and Career Support
Participants in the program learn how to play squash and get support in academics, social work or supportive services, and college and career guidance. The organization has a 100 percent college acceptance rate, 98 percent college enrollment rate, 88 percent college persistence rate, and 85 percent gain full-time employment rate.
Jake Oher – Metrosquash’s Chief Development Officer
As they arrived at MetroSquash near the University of Chicago in early December, four staff members, including three alums of the program, started playing squash. Many people, including the students the nonprofit serves, haven’t seen squash played often, said Jake Oher, chief development officer for the organization. There are few public courts in the United States and the sport is often played by passionate, devoted athletes in private.
The board of MetroSquash is full of athletes who are successful in their work lives and use the nonprofit to give time and resources to help others.
MetroSquash Empowers Students for Success
As the students toured the facility, they learned about the sport, but also the impact of MetroSquash. “We believe in the power of sport to change lives,” said Oher.
As students learn the sport and play competitively, even in national tournaments, MetroSquash helps middle schoolers get ready to apply for the best high schools in Chicago and then prepare for college.
“Our students get internships at a variety of companies including some of those that our board members work at,” said Oher. “Our students get to take spring break and summer trips to internships around the country and the world. Multiple students went to a squash camp in London this summer. The community really rallies around our students.”
The organization has partnerships with organizations that can use the facility who support the programs or utilize the facility. Oher is hoping a partnership develops with the University of Notre Dame.
Oher, who worked at the U.S. Soccer Federation before MetroSquash, pointed out to the MSBA students that there are a lot of ways to have a career in sports. “If giving back is something that resonates with you, and that’s important to you, there’s a lot of organizations that are using sports to give back,” he said.
More about the MSBA-SA Trip to Chicago:
