Squash News
Squash Calendar
Squash Results
Squash Coaching
Squash Club Nights
Squash Score Card

Feedback

This newsletter addresses the questions which people ask daily and explains what actions the squash committee are taking as a result. I would also like to invite people to raise issues freely so that they can be addressed. I can promise that value is seen in all suggestions and none will be ignored. Feedback to the squash committee can be left at reception.

BLTSC Annual Squash Dinner
24th April 2010.

The Annual Squash Club Dinner was well attended by 60 players and
partners. Unfortunately, 8 were still trapped abroad due to the volcanic
ash cloud. This didn't inhibit the general end-of-season celebration and
the 4-course hot buffet provided by Geraldine of Clifton Caterers was
appreciated by all. The dinner was followed by the captain's speeches
and then the band/disco. Helen, the lead signer of "Wired 4 Sound", was
similarly trapped on holiday topping-up her all-over tan! This resulted
in a reduced set and some hastily re-arranged karaoke where diners were
invited to sing along with the band. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
was the highlight of the evening for some. The disco resumed about
midnight when the band had exhausted its supply of singers and songs.

Hazel Dyke from the Women's C team kindly provided the following
comments:

"The dinner was very lively and there was a great sense of club spirit and friendly banter among the teams. Plenty of food with exception of the tiramisu; I could have eaten everyone's. The band were very professional with a great range of songs. We had a lot of fun dancing and singing along.
I think it was a very reasonably priced, well spent evening" (Hazel Dyke).

BLTSC Squash Closed Tournament Results
24th April 2010.

Mike Martin and Susannah Reynolds

Matt Clark and Erica Howcroft

Matt Clark and Adrian Barnes

The final day started with the ladies main event final between Susannah
Reynolds and Rachel Brindley. The first game was close, with Susannah
winning it. In the 2nd game Susannah changed style, and surged forward
after a very hard hit serve, to go 7 points to nil clear. That game was
closed out, and the same tactics proved themselves in the 3rd, with Susannah winning the match 3-0. Rachel had a good tournament, with a notable win against Harriet Minchin in the early rounds.

The men's final was between Will Rogers-Tizzard and Mike Martin. A battle
between youth and "considerable experience" was won by Mike Martin, a
previous winner of the event some 10 years ago. Mike played a controlled
game and did not allow Will many opportunities to use his short game to any great effect. Will still wowed the crowd with some excellent winners, and was pushing in the 3rd game, until some forced errors following accurate shots allowed Mike Martin to win the match 3-0.

The plate finals were much closer. Adrian Barnes, playing in a another
tournament in Exeter on the Saturday, arranged his final on Friday against
Peter Smith. Adrian, playing in his first Redland Squash Closed, was
matched by Peter Smith, with Peter drawing evens at two games all. Adrian forged a big lead in the 5th game, to the relief of his father watching
upstairs, a lead too hard for Peter to chase down.

The ladies plate final was between Erica Howcroft and Sarah Pritchard, an
all Welsh affair. Having gone 2 nil down, Erica staged a huge come back,
clinching the match 3-2. The game was the longest lasting of the finals.

Thankyou to everyone entered. I would also like to thank Richard Tookey and Alice Clark in help marking some of the finals. We hope to look at next
year arrangements asap and come back to you with a date for your calendars.

Matt Clark, BLTSC Squash Tournament Organiser.

Web Google and Facebook Groups

Join the Google group of online discussions and news etc. The link is http://groups.google.com/group/BLTSC-Squash For up and coming events etc. relating to squash at the club, please use the following link.

http://www.facebook.com

Squash Committee

Squash Chair - Mark Regan
Men's Squash Captain - Richard Tookey
Ladies Squash Captain - Alice Bishop (supported by Claire Kedward & Ruth Drysdale)
Box Organiser - Stuart Harris
Squash Membership Officer - Peter Hilton
Head Squash Coach - Hadrian Stiff
Squash Court Maintenance Officer - Nick Drysdale
Tournament Organiser - Matt Clark
Junior Chair - David Evans

Court Demand

Many changes have taken place over that last six months in an effort to take the pressure off the court demand. Court timings have been adjusted to bring all six courts into line. This has helped us move coaching forward by a short amount during the peak demand time which alone gives us an extra 10 court sessions during between Monday and Friday. Introducing the8:45pm courts (formally 9:00pm) means we have just about full usage of these courts all week worth about 20 additional courts. Completely new 9:30pm courts are now available for those who really cannot get peak time courts. The 9:30pm courts are considered to be off peak and can be used for double bookings (8:00 – 10:15pm) for those who would like a longer session.  We are continuing to apply a 4 court principal whereby block bookings of more than 4 courts should not happen. There are times of exceptional circumstances where this cannot happen.

During the winter, for matches the principal of one court per team and one shared court worked extremely well. In rare occasions where games were running late, extra courts to finish up one are made available and virtually all matches are finished before 10:30. Again more courts were then available for members to book.

Tournaments

The squash committee is committed to bringing larger profile tournaments to the club. This will be done to increase the earnings of the club to generate increased investment in the facilities, but more importantly to increase the profile of the club nationally and develop the club as centre of sporting excellence.

To this end, the squash committee is hosting an England Squash Junior bronze sanctioned event which will take place from the 2^nd to the 5^th of October. Courts will be in short demand over this weekend and the club night will not start until 7:30pm.

Other tournaments in the pipeline are the BAD doubles to be held at Redland for the first time and hopefully the Avon senior and junior tournaments. Internal fun tournaments as well as the club championship are all on the agenda for next year.

Junior Squash

Things are really happening with many of our Youngsters making massive inroads in UK and European squash. We should be really excited about this due to the number of kids doing exceptionally well. A sample of the results are:

Junior squash development at the club is growing substantially. Currently we are boasting several exceptional children who compete successfully all over the county.  (Ellie Epke UK under 13 #2,  Becca Quiney  UK under 17 #3, Peter Joyce UK under 15 #4, Konrad Tyma Polish #2, Roushan Yau UK under 13 #36, Ryan Wilson UK under 13 #26). Total juniors from 4 schools plus public- 100+, 5 group session per week, 1 academy session per month, 8 elite squad training camps per year.

This summer Peter Joyce, Konrad Tyma and Will Tizard-Rogers played for the A team in the Premier A division of the BAD squash league and helped the team achieve a fantastic 2^nd place. These boys are really ready for premier squash in next winters leagues.

Court Renovation

Court renovations have been competed for the time being. Last year's fund raising paid for the floors to be re-sanded and new lines to be put down. The walls have been cleaned and broken plaster made good. Last Sundays working party replaced lighting strips one courts 1 and 2 and replaced the strips in the gym and the aerobics area.  We now have six nice bright grippy courts to play on with the coming season.

Coaching

Adult Coaching

The Saturday kids club is building up nicely. Children who are better players are helping the coaches with the newcomers. The emphasis is on having fun on the courts with a variety of games and activities as well as skill development taking place.

If you have or know children who would benefit and enjoy an introduction to squash send them along on Saturday mornings. £2 for 1.5 hours top class sport development and child minding is a bargain to good to ignore J

Adult Coaching

Although fun and social, some pretty mean players are coming out of Mike Nichols adult coaching classes and are getting involved with the club fully. This is an ideal introduction for anyone wishing to get involved with squash with one of the best coaches in the county.

Team Training

Team Training is on the agenda. The hope is to introduce intense training sessions using our coaches in the format of Hadrian’s elite squash training. These sessions should be both intensive and informative and if there is sufficient interest should run all year long. If interested in taking part please email me (MarkJRegan@GMail.Com) stating when you would prefer to train. Suggested times are Thursday Evening, Saturday PM and Sunday PM.

Club Nights

Club nights are a meeting point for new and existing members.

The Sunday session is an organised social night - Non members are invited to take part in a free session – with over 20 people coming each week, we can always introduce similar standard players.

Beginners are encouraged to come between 5 and 7.

The Friday night session is self running. All members are invited to just turn up and take part to blow away the Friday after work weariness.

Boxes

With 20 boxes and over 100 players taking part monthly all standards are catered for. If you have not joined up, put your name down and enjoy the fun.

·         Number of courts booked = number of home teams +1 (e.g. 3 matches get 4 courts) (Season only). Team training/coaching off season.

Ellie is coached by Hadrian Stiff at BLTSC in Redland. She is one of a number of the elite group of young players being developed at the club and which are making inroads into England squash.

She took part in the Home Internationals in Dublin will be played no2 string for England. Ellie was extremely excited about the tournament and was really please when she got presented her England Kit, though still being young it does rather swamp her!

Successes : Ellie Recently won the Welsh Junior Open (a tournament which had the Irish, Scottish and Welsh number one taking part), She came 15th in The British Open U13 when still only 10 and is currently ranked 3 in the country at Under 13 and ranked 15 at the Under 15 age group. Ellie still has 21 months at this age group. Ellie is currently ranked 12 in Europe at under 13 level. Ellie is to also receive funding (£500) from Sport England to aid her with Coaching costs. Ellie is also fully sponsored by Karakal,Keith at Karakal has been very generous with his support (Kit, Rackets and Advice) and really should get a mention. Hadrian Stiff should also get a mention for his continued support and advice and excellent coaching. I am in no doubt that we are very lucky in Avon to have him here and we will see Avon become a strong force for Squash through his Elite set up. Ellie would not be the player she is without his skill both as a player and a coach.

Court Booking Rules

All courts are to be booked in advance at Reception.

Members and guests will be required to report to Reception to be welcomed and checked in for bookings. The payment of any guest fee will be taken at the time of booking in, i.e. prior to play or coaching session.

In the event of a Rackets member or non-member not booking in at Reception they will be regarded as a ‘no show’ and a charge of £5 will be made unless, of course, the booking is cancelled in advance.

England Squash Silver Charter Award

BLTSC has been awarded the England Squash Silver Charter award to identify that the club is recognised for the quality of the squash infrastructure. To achieve the award BLTSC had to show that the facilities, policies and coaching structure were in place to enable the development of the game of squash.

As well as being a quality mark that's recognised nationwide, the England Squash Club Charter offers a progressive club development programme that can help the club to increase the number of adults and juniors playing squash by improving playing and competitive club programmes, develop coaching and volunteering and provide a club networking infrastructure. The charter also means that the club can go on to deliver the England Squash National Coaching Scheme to its customers.

Achieving the club mark is key to identifying BLTSC as the hub of squash in Bristol.

Squash Rules and Regulations

See worldsquash.org