Access Youth Academy’s Reyna Pacheco was featured on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt Tuesday, January 11. Watch the full segment above or on nbcnightlynews.com.
Pacheco’s journey started as an undocumented immigrant from Mexico as a child, who then discovered squash through the Squash and Education Alliance program Access Youth Academy in San Diego.
Pacheco excelled at Access Youth Academy, earning a place on the Columbia University squash team before pursuing a professional squash career after graduating. Her story inspired “The Rocky of Squash” episode of Little America in 2020.
Access Youth Academy recently opened the Access Youth Academy Community Center–a US Squash Community Affiliate–in July 2021. The 21,000 sq. ft complex features seven singles courts and one hardball doubles court, two classrooms and additional instructional space housed in two wings. The north wing includes a unique row of open air courts that open up into a central courtyard.
