Helping Young People Achieve 

When JJ’s grades started to dip his freshman year, his mentors at Squash Haven noticed.

"I was struggling a lot, mentally and academically," he remembers. It was the height of the pandemic, and JJ’s fourth year playing squash after school, plus, receiving some of the tailored tutoring that can include at Squash Haven.

"Squash Haven was always there to help me through it."

After at-home tutoring and focused goal setting, JJ’s grades recovered. He is now a sophomore at Connecticut College, along with some of his longtime Squash Haven teammates.

"Squash became an outlet and an escape at the same time," says JJ. "It gets my mind off of things. But then, because we didn't only just do squash; there's help for homework and tutors who give you academic support, which really helped me. It was good to have that outlet for me to just work on things and get things done."

"A 2024 grant enabled us to successfully 'do more' in two critical areas of our program," says Squash Haven director Julie Greenwood. "First, we were able to serve our highest number of students ever, at 172. We were also able to successfully provide individualized support to a senior class of 22, our biggest ever."

Squash Haven is just one of the nonprofits focused on sports access supported by The Community Foundation.

At the New Haven Heat Basketball Family program, 50 young players went to out-of-state tournaments during the 2024 season thanks to grant support from The Foundation.

"Many of our participants have never been out of the state, and with the help of The Foundation not only are they able to travel but they have been able to see celebrity players, meet college coaches and set long-term goals for themselves," says Heat assistant coach Kanayah Smith-Jackson, who also is parent to a player.

"I see from many angles how New Haven Heat has helped the youth," she says. "Some children don't have ideas of what they want to do in the future and letting them see outside of the inner city and the state of Connecticut the opportunities that are out there helps them start a vision. Many of them have been successful with putting their plan into action."

When five women’s field hockey teams from across the Northeast competed in the 2024 Yale Series, it was the largest interstate tournament hosted by the James Vick Foundation to date.

"It blows my mind that some of the best athletes in the country, some of the most respected sporting directors in America, are partnering with our little foundation," Executive Director Christian Vick told the Courant in advance of the tournament. "Hundreds of young women from Connecticut, New York and New Jersey are going to transcend our mission, accessibility to sport, and won’t pay a dime to do it."

The organization, now in its eighth year, is focused on families with young athletes who may not be able to afford a team membership or equipment. With grant support from The Community Foundation, they hosted this tournament and several others, expanded into younger age groups, and are preparing to relaunch soccer and basketball programs – all without charging families.

"I started the tournament as a tribute to the Connecticut Open, to continue the work that Anne Worcester did, creating a world class women's sporting event in New Haven," says Vick. "It warmed my heart that the MVP of the 2024 Yale Series was an international from Germany."

The organization has since staged a 2025 edition, and is preparing for 2026 this spring.

"What began as a small, scholarship-based effort to bring fairness to youth sports has evolved into something much bigger. With The Community Foundation’s support as an early community partner, the JVF is now becoming a regional force – building national-caliber programming on a foundation of access, equity and belonging," says Vick. "It helped us create a new stage for women's sports in New Haven."