Redcar Squash Club

The Veterans

Dominic — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:11:30 +0000

Bill Leaver won the inaugral Over 60s competition with a fine run climaxing in a strong performance against Peter Blair in the final who no doubt let Bill win as he felt guilty about actually being far too young to qualify for this age group. The competition was superby run by Paul Wilson.

The Over 40s was an open affair with pre-tournament bookies favourite Darren Nalton off skiing. Simon Etherington made a welcome appearance, looked very sharp and will be a dangerous addition to the leagues this coming month. The final was a tough old battle with Jim Morrisroe attacking hard and positively levelling the scores after 2 games. The next 2 games were both tight with Dominic just edging away in the latter stages of each to reatin his title.

Jim and Dom Enjoy a Tight One

The next tournament is already up for entries and is the Club Championship..

JUNIORS INTO APRIL

Dominic — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 21:25:02 +0000

Impressive month for the juniors again. Scott Hanson started playing in the junior leagues for the first time this season, looked competitive throughout peaking with his first victory. Jamie Bulman, having chipped in with some cracking team performances this year was also involved in some tight matches, narrowly losing one, 3-2.

Emily continues to invite the pack to chase her and narrowly lungeds beyond the 3 figures for the season. The final league is a huge one though with 8 players in it and therefore a potential whopping 80 points available. Greg, Jack and the pack are still within shooting distance..

And Straight in at Number 10

Dominic — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 20:07:43 +0000

The England Squash rankings have just come out and Joe Dale has just broken into the top 10 lists for Under 13. Now adapting to a new pressure of playing at number 1 in many tournaments, Joe gained this fantastic honour in no small way to a top 25 finish in the British Junior Open – essentially the world title. This finish was the highest of all Durham and Cleveland entrants of whom the county can very proud as entry numbers are severely restricted on ability.

Onward They March

Dominic — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 20:02:56 +0000

The February junior leagues are now up and they show some historic viewing. Joe Dale, Michael Jones and Sam Hill are missing for the first time and that’s for the excellent news that they are all well established in the senior leagues now.

This of course blows the title race wide open for the top three places all of which are trophy-linked. If this had happened last month, Greg Wass would table-topping but Emily McSorley has had a strong month and takes the mantle. Jack Kerr in his first season is handily positioned too but there is still plenty of time for Andrew Pollard, Scott Hanson, Jamie Bulman, Ted Shepherd or Conor Askins to seize third, second or even top spot. Onward to March..

JUNIOR LEAGUES FOR JANUARY 2010

Dominic — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:57:44 +0000

The new monthly leagues are up for end-December / January 2010. All but one of the top division matches were played which was excellent but it would be good to see more games being played in other divisions.

Joe Dale produced a full series of 3-0 wins but thereafter everything was very tight. Sam Hill just nicked Michael jones for second place despite Michael winning their head to head. Emily McSorley, Greg Wass and Jack Kerr were even tighter with each of them beating each other such that Jack just nicked Greg by 1 point who just nicked Emily by 3 points. All the best to all of them for the new year.

Flying High at Aycliffe

Dominic — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:40:48 +0000

The December England Squash competition superbly run again at Newton Aycliffe saw a white-wash of success for Durham and Cleveland in the boys under-pinned hugely by Redcar. Our county proudly took all the age group titles and Redcar were responsible for all but one of these. Joe Dale continued his strong season at Under 13, coming to the new pressures of top seedings. It seems unlikely that Luke Mabbott, long since accustomed to number one seedings, still qualifies for Under 15 but indeed he does and he secured the title too. The only title not taken by Redcar was won by Danny Hockborn so at least another fellow county member.

James Wass played strongly and will move up the senior team nominations after a powerful first half of the season. Greg Wass entered the Under 11 category and featured prominently. This group does not carry ranking points but is an excellent challenging prequel to them. Sandwiched between the two Wass’s was Sam Hill in the Under 13 who had a tidy first round victory before doing himself no disservice in his next round defeat.

Update on the Chase for New Courts

Dominic — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:09:20 +0000

The current scheme is costed at around £240k. It involves the building of 2 new courts to compliment (not replace) the existing ones. Behind each court would be a tiered gallery for viewing then changing rooms. Above the changing rooms and viewing area would be a social area intended as extra viewing and an easy lounge cafe. The submission for funds from England Squash has progressed well to date but nationwide there has been over 40 bids in for funds in excess of £100k (we are looking for £115k). Only 3 bids will be successful.

Of the 40 bids, 16 have been rejected to date. We have been told the decision on our bid, which was to have been made in November, has been delayed until December now for the good reason that they are trying to get Sport England to bring more money forward. In notifying us of this delay, England Squash were clear that our bid was seen as a very strong one.

Should this bid progress well, we will still need to find c£130k so we would be very keen in hearing ideas for extra funds especially if there are companies / revenue streams available to support this. The potential to have more members spending more time in a healthy atmosphere would be excellent if we could realise it…

The Hackers Are Coming

Dominic — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:54:32 +0000

Entry for the Hackers is up on the noticeboard now, to start near the end of November and the final to be on Friday 11th December. Applications are restricted to players in the lower leagues (specific details on the form) and it’s a great competition without the prima donnas from the upper leagues so you are warmly welcomed into it.

November Leagues

Dominic — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:08:48 +0000

The updated leagues are on the noticeboard at the club with contact details. Joe Dale goes marching on with Michael Jones continuing to play well under pressure getting results in the senior leagues as well. A good month for Sam Hill too. Three players move up into the top flight and all very worthy of it. Greg Wass had a very strong month with Emily progressing at a wonderful rate. A very welcome addition to the top this month is Jack Kerr who’s the newest to join the party and a fantastic smiling contribution he’s making.

The county have established the leagues now so team games will start soon too..

BLITZ WINNERS

Dominic — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:31:24 +0000

The Isle of Man format was used for the first time in this year’s blitz following successful runnings of two team tournaments using this format. For those who didn’t play this was a team event for all standards but played to time raterh than to a fixed score. It’s an excellent format but needs the exact player numbers with no dropouts. In the final week, 4 people dropped out but fortunately there was a strong interest in the tournament and there was a waiting list of folk to step in. The format also relies heavily on people being ready to mark and ready to play as there was a maximum of 2 minutes in between games.

In the event, players and markers were absolutely fantastic and it ran to clockwork. After the first 30 minutes the ‘A’ team were dominant but as the last pair of matches came to court, they were the only team of the 4 who couldn’t win it.

For reasons currently under investigation the person who picks the teams, didn’t win it this year but rather that honour went to the fine collection of Gary McSorley, Paul Wilson, John Dale, Jim Morrisroe and Sam Hill. A blurry picture of the winners exists but I’m struggling with memory on the website but hopefully add in the future. Onwards to the Hackers…