(Photo by U.S. Squash)
Seven StreetSquash students were all part of an event that no StreetSquasher has ever participated in before in the organization’s nearly 25-year history. It was the first time that students wore the name of their school on their jersey, rather than that of StreetSquash. It was the first time any StreetSquasher performed at U.S. High School Nationals. And it was the first time this particular event had a team comprised only of Black players.
Placed in Division VI and seeded fourth, the Thurgood Marshall Academy Panthers had a real chance of bringing home a championship.
“This weekend was eye-opening but also very emotional,” Simba Muhwati, StreetSquash’s Squash Director and TMA’s head coach said. “Squash is an individual sport, all the kids are individuals, and so everyone had different individual experiences.”
TMA got into a groove quickly on Friday, defeating Boys Latin, a school from Baltimore, 6-1. Three of the six wins were sweeps, while two other victories went just four games. After the first five matches were played, TMA already advanced, alleviating pressure on the two students in the final two matches. In the blink of an eye, the Panthers were just one win away from the semifinals.
“We didn’t really know how good everyone else was, or how bad everyone else was,” Simba said. “We were there to just play. And then we won our first match.”
On Saturday morning, TMA was back at it against John Burroughs Varsity, a school located in St. Louis. This match was a bit closer. After two matches, the score was 1-1. After four matches, it was 2-2. But then in the next two matchups, with the number two and number four players in the lineup on court, the Panthers took home the victory in both with each player earning a sweep. The final score of the match was 4-3, and later that afternoon TMA was headed to the semifinals.
With only a few hours separating the end of the quarterfinals and the start of the semifinals, there wasn’t much time to celebrate or think. It was go-time, and now the Panthers were pitted against the number one seed in the bracket, Friends Central, a team local to the Philadelphia area. With just one more win, TMA would make it to the championship.
“In the afternoon, there was a lot of pressure on the fact that if we won, we’d be in the final,” Simba said.
At a moment when the lights were the brightest they’d been all weekend, and the pressure at its peak, the Panthers were as hot as they could be. The first four matches played were all sweeps in favor of TMA, and with three matches still to go, the history-making Harlem squash team had already secured their spot in the finals.
“All these matches and the winning were secondary to being there,” Simba said. “Once we got into the final it was about trying to make sure everyone was OK mentally, emotionally etcetera.”
The final round was TMA, the number four seed, against Brookline Boys Varsity, a school from Boston, as the number three seed. And there was full throttle support for TMA.
“The highlight for me was the support we got with the school’s assistant principal coming, [StreetSquash Executive Director] George coming, the parents,” Simba said. “Those instances of support were pretty cool.”
Mohamed D. got a sweep and quickly put TMA up 1-0. Meanwhile David J., on court at the same time quickly fell behind 2-0. But he didn’t let that get him down. David battled to win the next two games 11-8 and 11-6 to force a 5th and final game. It was a test of both mental toughness and endurance in addition to pure skill. Although David mastered the three tests, he fell in a marathon heartbreaker 13-11. This knotted the championship up at one match a piece.
“David was actually so happy after that match,” Simba said. “Just smiling. He felt like he gave it his all and did everything he could do.”
Mohamed’s twin brother Alassane then also completed a sweep putting TMA back on top 2-1. But following another defeat for the Panthers the match was again tied at two. Then it was the two number ones on each team taking the court. Thomas O. in dominant fashion got the sweep putting TMA just one match away from victory. The Panthers needed just one of their final two players to secure a victory to make a journey of significance even more extraordinary. But a resilient Brookline team didn’t allow it to happen.
“It was emotional again because we could have won,” Simba said. But it brought everything full circle to the point that it was good to be there, and play and have the opportunity to compete.”
TMA finished the weekend in second place, a finish that still garnered national attention for all the history that was made. Prior to the tournament beginning, the Washington Post noted it’d be “a milestone for the sport [of squash].” When it was all said and done, U.S. Squash posted to Instagram a carousel of pictures of TMA players with the caption, “one for the books.”
“Anything is possible if you put your mind to it and if you have the guts to try and put a goal down and try to achieve it,” Simba said. “So many people decide not to even put that pressure on themselves. But I’m proud that these kids put themselves out on the edge and were willing to fall.”
