Combo Paddle/Squash event raises over $250,000

December 19, 2016
North Andover, MA

In its fourth year as the primary fundraiser for SquashBusters Lawrence, the MashUp, presented by Anbaric, mixed up paddle tennis and squash players and some of the most generous members of the Merrimack Valley on Sunday, December 11th, for a festive, fun and financially successful outing to help Lawrence students. Both Brooks School and the North Andover Country Club reprised their roles as generous host sites, while more than 100 players, guests, sponsors, and friends contributed to a record setting fundraising total of $285,000.

TEAMS
All four 15-player teams were led by an elite paddle and squash pro, with paddle pro extraordinaire Johan du Randt and South African star Clinton Leeuw heading captain Jon Karlen’s Andover Academics; Genius Chidzikwe and former World no. 7 Wael El Hindi leading captain Bruce Landay’s Merrimack Volley; paddle pro Thomas Nolan and World Champion David Palmer helming captain Henry White’s Essex County Nicks and Scott Staniar and newcomer and former Intercollegiate Champion Ramit Tandon taking the reins of captain Ross Elkin’s Lawrence Legion. Team rosters were filled out by seven fundraising amateurs, a SquashBusters boy and girl, and a player from either Brooks or Phillips Academy, the school partners that host the program during the school year.

Many thanks to the four paddle teams for joining the MashUp this year, representing Concord Country Club, The Country Club, Dedham Country and Polo Club, North Andover Country Club and Weston Golf Club, as well as to event sponsors Anbaric and Dental Dreams, who helped make this year’s event more successful than ever before.

WRAP-UP
Two-time champions Andover Academics returned to the podium after a year’s absence, staked to a nearly insurmountable 12-0 lead after the morning’s paddle play. The Academics glided to a winning score of 27 points while last year’s champions the Merrimack Volley clung to a one point margin to notch second place over a late surging Lawrence Legion which advanced 5 points in the third and last round of squash to settle at 21 points. The Nicks had to bench honorary team member Hope Prockop due to injury, a devastating blow to any lineup, but managed 14 points to finish just short of the bronze medal.

SquashBusters Lawrence Executive Director Dora Lubin orchestrated the highly successful MashUp once again, overseeing a battalion of volunteers and students, two venues and an outstanding youth speaker, Daisy Deleon, who riveted the crowd at the NACC paddle hut with her moving and inspiring remarks about friendship and self-reliance. SquashBusters founder Greg Zaff brought the day to a fitting close by awarding the Merrimack Volley the Golden Mill Award, the team fundraising trophy, and thanking each and every participant, whether as a MashUp player, a volunteer or a donor, for their generosity and passion to see a better future for every student SquashBusters is blessed to embrace.

If you would like to learn more about the MashUp, please visit the event website.