Santa Barbara School of Squash

November Student of the Month is Jesus Arriaga! Jesus stood out to all of us this past month. He has been a great role model to all of his teammates, has maintained excellent grades in all of his classes at Laguna Blanca School, has great attendance all month (even coming on Team B days sometimes), and has taken a big leadership role in planning a bake sale to purchase new custom sweaters for each member of Team A.

Awesome job, Jesus!

A terrific first round of matches in the SoCal Junior Squash League (B division) yesterday in Orange County saw so many close matches for Santa Barbara’s two teams, SBSOS and Laguna Blanca, including a 3-2 win for SBSOS against Laguna! SBSOS also beat Irvine 5-0 and lost 4-1 to Bishops School of San Diego. Laguna lost 3-2 to both LA Squash Academy and The Pack of LA. A superb effort from all and a lot of fun.

Please consider supporting our Year-End Appeal by clicking on this link - https://www.sbsos.org/donate.html
Thank you!

Annual Reports

Check out our brand new FY2022 Annual Report here -

Annual Reports Every new year is a continuation of a journey for all of us and for all of the SBSOS students. Academics, sports, tournaments, community involvement, camping trips, and more. Please select any of...

Thank you, Penny, from Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, for yet again another successful beach clean-up along West Beach. SBSOS students picked up so much trash off the beach this morning ranging from cigarette butts to pairs of pants. While the beach was cleaner this time around every little bit that we managed to get makes a difference. By the end of our clean-up we were able to get 47 pounds of trash off West Beach!

When you get the SBSOS Year-End Appeal in the mail you can thank these kids (and those in the second shift!) who spent several hours stuffing envelopes and putting stamps and labels on them…it cost me a few pizzas but the help was worth it!!

This weekend 18 students had the opportunity to travel down to Pasadena to compete in a Junior Bronze/Adult squash tournament. For a handfull of them this was their first time playing in a tournament. They got the chance to play against other junior squash players from Southern California and at the same time experience various different levels of squash.

With this being the very first tournament for some students, they still went on court and gave it their best despite being in a new environment.

Congratulations to all of our 1st, 2nd & 3rd place winners!!!🎉

Elias Paredes - 1st place (Men's 3.0)
Kevin Castillo - 2nd place (BU15)
Jorge Gonzalez - 3rd place (BU15)
Sofie Ramirez - 3rd Place ( Men's 2.0)
Daphne Miranda - 3rd Place (GU15)

SBSOS October student of the month is Nancy Elias!

Nancy has been working hard the last few weeks to bring her grades up in all her classes. Despite some struggles she has managed to focus and work hard during sessions to improve her grades and make sure that she is passing all of her classes. She also had near perfect attendance the month of October and sets a good example to her younger teammates.
Keep up the great work, Nancy!🎉

We are delighted to announce Jennifer Sotelo as SBSOS' new Academic Director. We are sad to see Carli leave but excited that we have found a great replacement.

Jennifer grew up in the Los Angeles area and has lived and raised her children in Santa Barbara for the past 16 years. She has a Bachelor's degree in Human Services from the University of Phoenix as well as a special education teaching credential from Azusa Pacific University. Currently a teacher at San Marcos High School, Jennifer has been teaching in the Santa Barbara Unified School District for 11 years including elementary, junior high and high school. Jennifer has worked with students at all types of levels including students with disabilities and challenges. As Academic Director, Jennifer looks forward to helping all students with their learning, while tearing down all walls of limitations students can possibly put on themselves. She also is looking forward to supporting families and students with their future academic, personal, and athletic goals.

SBSOS players continue to impress me at tournaments despite not getting to practice much…this weekend I took Jasmine DeJesus, Monica Paredes, and Elias Paredes, plus my son Marshall, to the LASA silver tournament in Pasadena. They all gave 100% and played superbly. Jasmine was 4th in the GU19, Monica 5th in the GU17, Elias 4th in the BU15, and Marshall won the BU15.

September Student of the Month!

Team A captain Valentino Martinez has started the new school year strongly. He has been a good leader to his peers by continuing to have really good attendance, giving maximum effort at every session, checking in on his teammates to ensure they are doing their best to maintain good grades, and by continuing to ask for help when needed. Keep up the good work, Valentino!

This past weekend - the West Coast Team Classic in San Diego - was without a doubt the best squash weekend our kids have ever taken part in.

Five programs under the Squash and Education Alliance banner from as far afield as New York came together for a team competition on Friday and Saturday, and individual draws on Sunday.

We were so happy to see our kids quickly make friends with kids from other programs - the chaos and craziness on the beach Friday night was awesome with tacos, volleyball, ocean swimming, games, and music and dancing - and we love hearing how they intend to keep in touch.

We also enjoyed meeting staff from other programs, chatting about our programming, issues and situations, and getting to know them all a little more.

We had two 5-person teams taking part in a Div 1 round robin and Div 2 round robin team event. SBSOS 1 finished 4th of 5 and SBSOS 2 finished 3rd of 5.

We had two semi-finalists in the individual draws, and were awarded the event Sportsmanship award.

Despite so much squash the kids were still jumping on court to play "3/4 court" on open courts at every opportunity. By the time we got into the cars to come home late Sunday night the kids could barely walk and most fell asleep within minutes.

We are looking forward to the 2023 West Coast Team Classic!

SBSOS is looking for a new part-time Academic Director. No squash experience necessary.

A strong candidate for the Academic Director (AD) position will have a teaching credential and teaching experience, and knowledge of the college application process. They should be able to form a strong bond with the students, motivate them, organize and run a room of students doing homework, communicate with their teachers, have good interpersonal skills, and "fit in" with our organization.

The AD will oversee every academic session…currently 5.5 hours a week during the school year (Mondays 4:00-5:30pm, Tuesday through Friday 4:30-5:30pm), and 6-8 hours a week for 8 weeks during summer (this year was Monday/Tuesday/Thursday 10:30am-12:30pm).

It is expected that the AD will work 50 hours per month during the school year (September through May) and 40 hours per month during summer (June through August). The hours of office time/admin are flexible in both location and time of day.

For a detailed job description or more information please contact SBSOS Executive Director, Robert Graham, at [email protected].

SBSOS had the opportunity to take 20 students on a week long trip to Yosemite National Park this summer.

We were hosted by another non-profit organization called Naturebridge. Their goal is to bring students to the outdoors to teach them about science of the natural world and how to decrease negative footprints in what we use, discard & activities that we do.

The week long trip was educational but at the same time very fun as lots of the activites/games we played were all related.

The students learned many things about the park, like how the glaciers in Yosemite helped form/shape a lot of the rocks, how trees adapted to fires and now grow differently & about all the different types of wildlife that live in the park that didn't many years ago.

This was an amazing experience as this brought everyone closer as a team and made friendships stronger. For most of them this was their first time in Yosemite and they were able to see the beauty that mother nature has to offer.

Thank you, Naturebridge, for giving our students memories they will remember for ever.

A huge thank you to Chris Iverson, the Director of Engineering of Powell-Peralta, one of the biggest skateboarding companies in the world.

Today, Chris gave SBSOS a tour of their factory in Ventura. We were able to see how slabs of wood are turned into functional skateboards that then get shipped out to different parts of the world.

Who knew that making a skateboard is so complex?!

At the end of our visit Chris gave each one of our students a top quality skateboard to take home, AND 11 more for students who couldn’t make it today!

Thank you for the amazing tour, Chris, and thank you Powell Peralta for the awesome skateboards that our students are already enjoying!

July Student of the Month!

Benjamin is one of our newer students and has been a very nice addition to SBSOS. He has had excellent attendance all year including summer sessions, is very communicative and always prepared to work hard whether in fitness or academic activities. Great job Benjamin. Keep up the good work!

SBSOS is looking for a new part-time Academic Director. No squash experience necessary.

A strong candidate for the Academic Director (AD) position will have a teaching credential and teaching experience, and knowledge of the college application process. They should be able to form a strong bond with the students, motivate them, organize and run a room of students doing homework, communicate with their teachers, have good interpersonal skills, and "fit in" with our organization.

The AD will oversee every academic session…currently 5.5 hours a week during the school year (Mondays 4:00-5:30pm, Tuesday through Friday 4:30-5:30pm), and 6-8 hours a week for 8 weeks during summer (this year was Monday/Tuesday/Thursday 10:30am-12:30pm).

It is expected that the AD will work 50 hours per month during the school year (September through May) and 40 hours per month during summer (June through August). The hours of office time/admin are flexible in both location and time of day.

For a detailed job description or more information please contact SBSOS Executive Director, Robert Graham, at [email protected].

SBSOS is looking for new students (ideally 6-8th grade) to join our program. Students should qualify for the Federal Free & Reduced Lunch Program at their school. No squash experience is necessary but a commitment to us is required. Students and their parents must sign a contract each year agreeing to regular attendance totaling a minimum of 100 hours of squash/exercise, 100 hours of academics, and 15 hours of community service. If you know a potential student who might want to join the "SBSOS family" please have them or their parents reach out to Program Director Miguel Nava at [email protected].

Thanks to the Santa Barbara Rotary Club North three SBSOS students were able to attend a three day residential youth leadership camp in Ojai called RYLA back in May. Jasmine DeJesus, Valentino Martinez, and Jesus Delgado spoke in depth and enthusiastically about their experiences at this amazing camp at the Rotary Club’s lunch meeting this week hosted by Guy De Mangeon at his lovely home in Hope Ranch.

Any lifeguards follow SBSOS who might be willing to donate two hours of their time (or charge a reasonable fee) to oversee a small group of us kayaking for the first time?

June Student of the Month!

Valentino has had perfect summer session attendance and is always prepared to work hard during the fitness hour whether that be playing basketball, spongeball squash or ghosting. During the academics portion Valentino is focused and is constantly the first person to raise his hand to ask/answer questions. Good job, Valentino!

Thank you, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper for hosting SBSOS. It was amazing to see how much sealife lives so close to shore and the importance of kelp forests in our oceans.

We are excited to announce our 5th official College Graduate...Merith Velazquez!

She graduates with a Bachelors of Science in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University.

She will begin her new job at Stanley Black & Decker as an Engineer in their Stanley Leadership program next month.

We are so proud of Merith and all she has accomplished thus far.

Congratulations, Class of 2022!!!

Jimena Lopez & Yaritza Gonzalez graduated from Dos Pueblos High School; Julia Torres, Jessica Pacheco & Daniela Elias from San Marcos High School; Diego Velazquez from Laguna Blanca; and Josue Jarquin graduated a year early from Peak Prep Pleasant Valley home school.

Jimena, Yari, Julia, Jessica, and Josue will be staying in town to attend Santa Barbara City College (SBCC), renowned as one of the best community colleges in the country.

Daniela will be attending California State University Northridge (CSUN) where she will be Majoring in Cell Biology & Microbiology. Diego (see previous post) will be following in his sister’s footsteps and studying Engineering at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.

Congratulations to all of you! Enjoy your summer and prepare for your first semester of college in the Fall.

First week of summer programming was a success. Our summer sessions might look a little different than what we are used to, but they are definitely just as fun and productive. We started the week off by playing some basketball & squash on a sports wall. Our students remain practicing their swings and ghosting to improve their footwork and Racquet skills. In the academics room we had differnt types of team bonding actives where the students had to work in groups. For example, who could build the tallest standing structure using only a certain amount of materials in a 30 min time frame.

Also, what better way to start off our summer programming than with a community service outing. On Wednesday, we met with Penny from the Santa Barbara Channel Keeper to do our first beach clean up in long time! In the span of 1.5 hours we picked up a total of 62 pounds of trash off of West beach!

We finished the week with a cooking class taught by ApplesToZuccini(AtoZ) where our students got the chance to make some delicious pizzas, salads & a fruit crumble.

Congratulations to our final high school graduate of 2022, Diego Velazquez! Diego is heading off to Lehigh University in Pennsylvania to study Engineering.

School of Squash serves up more successful students | News Channel 3-12

SBSOS in the news!

School of Squash serves up more successful students | News Channel 3-12 Santa Barbara's 'School of Squash' is launching more deserving students into post-high school education. The organization held a fundraiser Sunday night at the 11-14 sports bar on State Street.

May Student of the Month!!!

Kevin Castillo is a 6th grader at Montecito Union School. He had near perfect attendance the month of May and has been working really hard on the squash court and during other types of physical activity. When it is time for academics Kevin gets focused and immediately gets to work without distracting his peers.

Viva Las Vegas! - Sunday June 5th 5:00-10:00pm.
Online silent auction is open for bidding! There are some amazing items - check it out!
Tickets are still available!
Click here for tickets, the auction, and more info:
https://paybee.io/quickpay.html?handle=sbsos#campaignList

Come see the final version of our square at the I Madonnari chalk festival at the Mission this weekend! We are right by the fountain entrance. There will be music, food, and some awesome chalk drawings! Here are some teaser photos as day 1 gets underway…

Santa Barbara School Of Squash

Viva Las Vegas! - Sunday June 5th 5:00-10:00pm.
Tickets are on sale now and the online silent auction is open! You do not need to attend the event to bid on auction items!
Click here for tickets, the auction, and more info:
https://paybee.io/quickpay.html?handle=sbsos#campaignList

Santa Barbara School Of Squash Sunday June 5th 5:00-10:00pm Tickets On Sale Now! Please join us at 1114 Sports Bar & Games in La Arcada Plaza downtown Santa Barbara for Viva Las Vegas! ...a fantastic night of entertainment...

Viva Las Vegas! - the return!
Sunday June 5th 5:00-10:00pm
Tickets on sale now!

Please join us at 1114 Sports Bar & Games in La Arcada Plaza downtown Santa Barbara for the return of Viva Las Vegas!...a fantastic night of entertainment with dinner, music, gaming tables, and more!

There will be an online silent auction (opening two weeks before the event on May 23rd), a live auction, and other opportunities to support the Santa Barbara School of Squash. You do not have to attend to bid on auction items or make donations!

Click here for tickets and more info:
https://paybee.io/quickpay.html?handle=sbsos#campaignList

STUDENT OF THE MONTH!!!

For April we picked Sofia Vargas.
She has been an excellent student, maintained Straight A's all year even while participating in extracurricular activities like Color Guard at Santa Barbara High School and various SBSOS events and trips.
Keep up the good work, Sofia!!🎉

Behind the scenes of yesterday’s photo shoot with our seniors…😁😂

Santa Barbara School Of Squash

Save the Date!
Sunday June 5th 5:00-10:00pm

Please plan to join us at 1114 Sports Bar & Games in La Arcada Plaza downtown Santa Barbara for the return of Viva Las Vegas!...a fantastic night of entertainment with dinner, music, gaming tables, and more! There will be an online silent auction (open two weeks before the event), a live auction, and other opportunities to support SBSOS. Tickets will be limited to 150 guests. Look out soon for more details and a link to purchase tickets by email and mail.

Santa Barbara School Of Squash About Events Staff & Volunteers Board of Directors

SBSOS is delighted to announce that Mike Lewis has joined the SBSOS Board. Welcome Mike!

As a high school sophomore Mike was the original founder of SBSOS back in 2005 when he pitched the idea to a few of us from Santa Barbara Athletic Club who could make it happen. His goal is to help find us a dedicated home in the medium/long term, and short term to promote SBSOS to his young professionals networks across the country.

After high school Mike played Div 1 squash at Dartmouth College for four years, and then took a job at Bain Capital Ventures for several years before chasing his dream of playing on the pro squash tour for a couple of years reaching the top 100.

After the pro squash tour he wrote a book called When To Jump, picked up an MBA at Stanford University, and most recently joined Goldman Sachs to help launch sustainable finance and impact investing work globally.

We’re excited to see what Mike can bring to SBSOS!

John, thank you. Thank you for encouraging and pushing our students to always do better in the academics room as well as on the squash court. We are all very thankful to have had a board member so caring and supportive like you. The SBSOS family will miss you, but most importantly we wish you and your family great success in Wisconsin.

This past Saturday for our weekly activity we took a group of students and parents up to Lizards Mouth Rock for a group picnic. Most of the students had not been here before and were blown away by the amazing views overlooking Santa Barbara & Goleta.

SBSOS had the opportunity to take 6 students (Diego, Josue, Jesus, Jimena, Monica, & Jasmine) to the prestigious Jonathan Club in LA to participate in squash clinics with 4 professional doubles players who were playing in the SoCal Pro Open Doubles Championships. Happy to be back on a squash court, they were excited to learn from these wonderfull professional players who had them working on racquet control and various drills. Following that we got to watch the pros play in the semifinals of the tournament. Thank you to Gus Cook, SoCal Squash & the Jonathan Club for inviting us to the event!