Ryan Lyons was an 8th-grader at Thurgood Marshall Academy when she first heard about StreetSquash in 2006. Her mother told her she had to find something to do after school, and many of her friends and classmates at the school were already part of the program. So she decided to also give it a try. 

When she first came to the program, she was caught off guard by all the endurance training.

“I told coach, ‘I can’t do all this running,’” Ryan recalled while laughing. “But they told me I would get used to it and I did get used to it.” 

And she enjoyed her time on court regardless of her success level.

“I wasn’t the best player, but I enjoyed playing and was always able to compete,” Ryan said. 

Her first-ever squash tournament still stands out to her. She played at Princeton University and recalls being so upset about losing her first match especially because her opponent was younger than her. 

“Coach said, ‘calm down girl, it’s just your first year, you’ll be fine,’” Ryan said. 

But mostly, Ryan remembers the camaraderie she felt with all of her teammates during her time at StreetSquash. 

“There was a real team environment that squash created,” Ryan said. “At matches, you weren’t only watching people in your age group. It was everybody. It was definitely a loving and warm environment.” 

Academically, she also improved.

“My grades definitely did go up because of tutoring,” Ryan said. 

She says the emphasis on academics was extremely impactful for her.

“They started cutting my squash time because I couldn’t keep my grades up,” Ryan said. “So I started to get serious about my grades and the grades did improve. So I was able to get my squash time back.” 

Perhaps most importantly for Ryan was the staff showing up for her no matter what was happening in life. Unfortunately she was unable to come to StreetSquash in her senior year due to some legal trouble. But she said both squash and academic staff would consistently show up in court for her and check in to make sure she was doing OK. 

Eventually she got on track, graduated high school as a salutatorian, and went to Mercy College. In her second year of school, she had a child. 

That child is now currently enrolled in StreetSquash.

“I told him, ‘I want you to join squash,’” Ryan said. “It was so good to me growing up, keeping me focused, giving me support. You don’t get genuine support like that anymore. But StreetSquash is really genuine. Most programs, you have a troubled kid and they’re just like ‘she’s too much trouble.’ But StreetSquash kept showing up for me. I couldn’t see StreetSquash not being part of my son’s life.” 

Ryan has continued her educational endeavors as well. She received an Associate’s Degree at Hostos Community College. Now she’s working as a Home Health Aide in order to get financial assistance to go back to school and become a medical nurse. 

Through tears of joy, Ryan says the staff at StreetSquash means everything to her.

“They’re just the most loving and caring people,” Ryan said. “You’re not going to get that anywhere else. I’m so thankful for the staff here.”