[Complete Draw /Results ]       [Also: Back to Village Open — finals]  

Speech at the Village Open Finals

My name is Chris Fernandez. I am an 8th grade CitySquasher. A little over two years ago, CitySquash came to my class and invited me to tryout for the team.

At first, I didn't plan to try out. But my friend woke me up to the day of the tryout, and we ended up going. Tryouts lasted two months and I got really into it. When I found out I made the team. I was jumping all over the house. You could say I'm pretty glad my friend got me out of bed that morning.

CitySquash takes me to places that I would never go. I still remember my first trip with the team to a picnic in Greenwich It was the first time I have ever gone to a pool.

I've also traveled to many places for squash tournaments. In the beginning I was scared and embarassed because I was worried that my game wasn't good enough and that I would get laughed at. But my opponents were very encouraging and they always told me that I would improve and become a great player. That cheered me up a lot.

The highlights of my CitySquash experience was winning the Boys under-13 National Urban Squash title at Groton at the end of sixth grade. My teammate Ary always said I could do it, but I never believed him. When I did it, it really felt great. I gained a lot of respect from a lot of people. These are the things I will look back on with pride when I'm older.

I've learned that you don't always have to be a great player or athlete to be a good person in life — you just have to have a good heart and personality. For example, some of my teammates are not the best players in the world, but they have showed me how to mature. At tournaments, I've met a lot of kids, and their parents always ask me how I'm doing, and they tell me I can improve, and I always try to take their advice.

My parents have always told me to try my best at everything I do — give it 110%, and be respectful and responsible. In the future, I want to go to college and get a great education because my parents never got a chance to. I want to be a person that helps the community and society because there are a lot of people who have helped me, so I want to be able to give it back to kids like me. With CitySquash, I now have a chance.

Thank you for supporting this event. Thanks for supporting CitySquash, and thank you for supporting me.