And You Thought Cartagena Was Just a Tourist Town by Larry Heath
photos Nicole Heath
March 25, 2108
Welcome to Squash Urbano - Colombia
Every spring break in our family is an attempt to please the divergent
interests of four people: my wife wants culture, my daughter and I and
usually our son want a beach with activity, but this year our son
requested the ability to play squash so he would not be out of shape
for a tournament at the end of the break.
Enter Squash Urbano- Colombia (http://www.squashurbanocol.org/). While
it was not the primary reason we went to Cartagena, Colombia, the visit
to Esteban Estival’s urban squash program turned out to be one of the
highlights of our vacation.
An urban squash and education program and a member of the The National
Urban Squash Education Alliance (NUSEA), Squash Urbano was founded by
Esteban in 2014 after working as a coach at City Squash, New York for
many years.
The day of our visit, we were greeted by 30 kids who had just finished
their regular school day, and were eager to move on to the 7 court non
air-conditioned facility owned by the Cartagena Municipality.
My son, a member of the Brunswick Varsity team, jumped on court with a
large group of kids and managed a couple of oohs and ahhs from the
younger players. What was remarkable was the rapid transition
from squash chaos to silence as the kids moved from the courts to their
classrooms.
The program’s Founder and Executive Director, Esteban Estival, whom we
have known for many years through his involvement with City
Squash, is a native of Bogota, and started the Cartagena program in
2014 with the help of NUSEA. There are 52 kids between the ages of 10
and 17 in the program. As is true of most urban squash players, they
are modest in means but high in hopes. In addition to training
competitive players, the program hopes to enable the kids to be
graduated from high school (40% of Cartagena youth are not), learn
English and enter the work force. Any one of these accomplishments
could
be life changing in a city where nearly half of the population lives in
poverty surviving on $2/day.
As you can imagine, a facility owned and run by a municipality
can have its issues. Located in the shadow of an affluent
neighborhood’s high rise condominiums, (think Miami Beach), small but
annoying issues tend to linger. A ladder in a court put up to change a
light bulb has been there for over a month awaiting a town authorized
light bulb changer. The courts’ floors, badly in need of a $2,000
sanding job, were like playing in socks. There was not a complaint to
be heard!
For our family spring break, we had a refreshing dose of reality,
thanks to Squash Urbano - Colombia. If you ever find yourself wanting a
South American trip to a beautiful UNESCO World Heritage city with
incredible restaurants, hotels and beautiful islands a short boat trip
away, Esteban would love to show you around. The smiles on the kids’
faces were worth the small inconvenience of the extra weight in our
luggage when we pulled out the donated squash shoes, rackets, balls and
clothes we had collected for them before we left home. For some reason,
the balls were particularly appreciated. There seems to be a shortage
in Colombia! Dunlop?
