When James Dodson asked Makyla Kelley to recall her most memorable squash experience, she returned to a week at MetroSquash during the holidays.

College students were home. Former players came back to visit. People she had grown up watching were together again, catching up and checking in on one another. The gathering brought different generations of the program into the same space.

“It felt like, you know, our family reunion,” she recalled.

That memory says much about what has kept Makyla connected to squash. Through years of training, travel and competition, the people around the game have given her reasons to keep returning. Today, as Squash Director at First State Squash in Wilmington, Delaware, she helps young players begin their own relationships with the sport.

Her conversation with James traced that journey from Chicago to college squash and into coaching. Along the way, she spoke about encouragement, the experience of feeling unwelcome, and the everyday choices that help a player feel part of something.

A reason to try again

Makyla first encountered squash through her school in Chicago. A field trip to watch professional players compete on a glass court introduced her to a sport that looked different from anything she had played.

She knew basketball and had seen tennis. Squash caught her attention through its movement, its unfamiliar racket and the intensity of the players sharing the court. So, she wanted to try it.

Her first attempt to join the program did not result in a place on the team. She tried again, entered through a summer camp opportunity and became part of MetroSquash.

An early away tournament in the Detroit area brought another kind of introduction. Her mother was there, watching her compete in a sport that was still new to the family. Makyla remembers the nerves of facing an unfamiliar opponent and playing in front of people she did not know.

She also remembers losing.

Learning to respond to that disappointment became part of learning the game. On court, she had to work through the pressure herself, find a way to settle and prepare for another match. Around the court, she had people helping her understand that a difficult result did not end the experience.

The people who stayed beside her

Makyla speaks warmly about the women who supported her development.

Her early coach, Jackie, offered reassurance alongside instruction. Having a female coach who understood competitive squash gave Makyla a sense of comfort and trust. She remembers someone who recognized her determination and wanted her to keep going.

Emma Charlton and her mentor, Emily Kraft, became especially important figures. Emma traveled with her, stood outside her court and offered support when she was nervous. Emily’s place in her life extended into dinners, time with family and the knowledge that there was someone she could call.

These relationships gave Makyla room to grow as both a player and a person.

Her family provided its own steady encouragement. Her mother watched her compete, her grandparents attended matches, and relatives followed from a distance when they could not be there. Their support allowed her to keep exploring a sport whose possibilities she was still discovering.

MetroSquash also opened up experiences beyond competition. Makyla recalled traveling to Cartagena, Colombia, where visiting schools and a local squash and education program helped her learn about lives and communities different from her own.

The journey stayed with her because of what she encountered beyond the matches. Squash had given her a reason to travel, meet people and pay attention to how others lived.

Making welcome part of the game

Makyla’s also made space for the environments where belonging was harder to find. As a Black player, she sometimes felt isolated at tournaments. She described arriving in spaces where other players already knew one another, while attempts to start conversations received little response. At one tournament in Ohio, she remembered sitting apart with another young player and wondering why no one was speaking to them.

Those experiences remain relevant to her coaching. She talks with students about unfamiliar environments, the support they can rely on and how to respond to unkindness while holding on to their values.

She also sees a responsibility within the wider squash community. Her suggestions are practical: bring programs together, create clinics where players from different backgrounds can meet, and teach collaboration alongside competition. Give young people opportunities to practice being teammates and to know someone beyond the other side of a match.

For Makyla, how people treat one another belongs within the work of developing the sport.

“It doesn’t take that much effort to be friendly,”

What a team can give

At St. Lawrence University, Makyla experienced the effect of a team that invested in its members.

Older players helped her find her way as a freshman. Teammates watched one another’s matches, called out encouragement and spent time together beyond practice. Shared meals and time on campus during breaks helped deepen those relationships.

One tradition remains especially vivid: before matches, players wrote encouraging notes for one another, sometimes accompanied by a favorite snack. A small gesture on the bus could remind someone that a teammate had taken the time to think about them.

That care existed alongside expectations. Players wanted to improve, and they understood that doing so required a shared commitment. If someone fell behind during a run, others stopped to run with them.

Makyla sees value in making that experience available to more players, through both varsity and club squash. She encourages young people to explore the range of colleges where they might continue playing and find a team suited to their ambitions.

“You don’t have to go to an Ivy League to play college squash,”

The same thinking informed her suggestions for Team Weusi. Asked how the team could become more connected, she proposed staying in touch throughout the year, meeting for lunch and finding opportunities to get on court together. Relationships could grow through those ordinary moments between events.

Creating the next opportunity

At First State Squash, Makyla’s work includes introducing students to the game, coaching groups, supporting individual development and traveling with players.

She wants young people who are eager to improve to have the time and space to do so. More court access, challenge matches and group play are all part of that picture. So is learning from different coaches.

She welcomes opportunities for her students to hear another explanation or encounter a different approach. Her own experience has taught her that development can come through several people, each offering something a player needs.

Her coaching also extends into the Squash and Education Alliance’s high-performance team. She described checking in with players between training gatherings, discussing upcoming tournaments and offering feedback from a distance.

During the conversation, Makyla also shared plans to host an all-women’s PSA Challenger tournament in April 2027. She described the event as a potential stepping stone for rising players, including junior and collegiate athletes seeking opportunities to enter professional competition.

Her ambition is to give more women opportunities to compete, develop and pursue the next stage of their squash careers. The plans carry forward a concern that runs throughout her story: what does a player need around them to keep progressing?

Sometimes it is access to a court or a competitive match. Sometimes it is a coach willing to explain something another way. Sometimes it is a teammate’s note before a difficult day.

Makyla’s holiday memory brings those experiences together. The young players, college students and graduates returning to MetroSquash had taken different paths, but they still had people to come back to.

Now, in Delaware, she is getting on court with another generation, helping them improve, checking in and giving them reasons to return.