Anne Marie Horner, Terry Horner and Beth Devine will be honored with the 2018 SquashSmarts Distinguished Service Award at the FS Investments U.S. Open. The ceremony will happen on the glass court at Drexel’s Daskalakis Athletic Center during SquashSmarts VIP Night on Monday, October 8.
SquashSmarts is Philadelphia’s award winning out-of-school time youth squash and education program operating out of Drexel University and The Lenfest Center. Founded in 2001, SquashSmarts is the central community partner and program provider in the recently announced Arlen Specter US Squash Center.
For the past decade, Ann Marie and Terry Horner and their family’s foundation have been innovative philanthropic leaders in the field of youth sports and enrichment. According to Stephen Gregg, Executive Director of SquashSmarts, “the Horner’s support of local initiatives like SquashSmarts is directly shaping young people’s lives while also focusing a spotlight on the powerfully positive impact that data- driven, intentional youth sports programs are having on kids in this city.”
As Board Chair of The Philadelphia Youth Sports Collaborative (PYSC ), Terry works closely every day with PYSC Executive Director Beth Devine. Together, the two are at the heart of local and national conversations about building systems to increase access to quality sports-based youth development programs. In 2017, Terry and Beth helped create and lead a task force on sports-based youth development with Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney. The task force was spearheaded by City of Philadelphia Managing Director Michael DiBerardinis, Chief Education Officer Otis Hackney, and Philadelphia Phillies Chairman David Montgomery. The task force culminated this summer with SquashSmarts 8th grader Angelica Burgos representing the city’s 240,000 school-age youth in June, as she threw out the commemorative first pitch at a sold-out Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park. The pitch marked the official launch of both the task force’s report and PYSC’s Game On! initiative which aims to ensure every child has the chance to play and grow through sports.
“The wisdom, wealth and work that Ann Marie, Terry and Beth are devoting to programs like SquashSmarts and PYSC,” says Gregg, “make them the perfect recipients of SquashSmarts’ Distinguished Service Award”.
Previous honorees include: PYSC co-founders Wendy Palmer and Nancy Peter (2013); alumni coaches Sakora Miller, Kareem Price, Devonte Harris and Mithun Das (2014); founder and President Andrew Nerhbas (2015); volunteers Karen & George Gowen and Judy & John Wisniewski (2016); and Executive Assistant Jeanie Shanahan (2017).
