The fifth-annual Character in Sports Day at the 2018 FS Investments U.S. Open included a clinic for boys from the SquashSmarts program on the courts at the Kline & Specter Squash Center at Drexel. Three PSA players—Alan Clyne, Nele Gilis and Todd Harrity—joined thirty SquashSmarts student athletes at the practice, giving them a first-hand look at life on the professional tour.
The group practiced for an hour and then had an in-depth question-and-answer session, talking about perseverance, match-day nerves and training ideas. Clyne, who attended a similar session last year, spoke about how to handle adversity; Gilis talked about her toughest match ever; and Harrity talked about the players on tour he most admired.
SquashSmarts, now in its eighteenth season, are the official community partner of the Arlen Specter US Squash Center due to open in two years. Founded in 2001, SquashSmarts is a free, intensive out-of-school academic and athletic mentoring non-profit changing the lives of Philadelphia’s public school students. It operates daily out of two facilities—the Lenfest Center in North Philadelphia and Drexel’s Daskalakis Athletic Center.
