This past weekend saw a phenomenal start to Squash Alberta's 2016-17 season. The first junior event was held at the Calgary Winter Club, which attracted 60 players from Alberta and Saskatchewan, and provided the opening opportunity for our developing juniors to make leaps ahead in the provincial rankings. Head CWC pro Glenn Stark was happy with the turnout and quality of play at the event, which has attracted top provincial players for the last several years. Check out the full results using the link below, and congratulations to all the winners!

Calgary Winter Club Junior Open Results


This past weekend also saw our Alberta athletes on the senior side in action, as the perennial Nash Cup Open was held in London, ON. The event drew 3 of our top Alberta athletes to its courts in the quest for both men's and women's PSA titles: Andrew Schnell, Danielle Letourneau, and Melina Turk. On the men's side, Schnell made an early exit from the event mid-way through the second game of his quarter-final match due to a piriformis injury. His twitter feed provides more information, but we wish him a speedy and successful recovery!

On the women's side, Melina Turk was also ousted in the quarter-finals of the event, at the hands of fellow Canadian Nikole Todd. Danielle Letourneau had an equally tough draw, facing off against current Canadian Champion, Hollie Noughton, in the quarters. With grit, determination, and persistent aggression, she was able to move through in three tight games. The semis saw her face another Canadian Champion, Samantha Cornett, whose Nash Cup was the first tournament in 14 months, following her hiatus after the 2015 Pan Am Games. Letourneau took advantage of small errors from Cornett to win the match in four games. The finals saw surprise finalists on both sides, as #3 seed Misaki Kobayashi upset #1 seed Christine Nunn on the top, while #7 seed Ms. Letourneau was through with upset wins over the #2 and #4 seeds respectively. The final was the toughest test yet for both players, and was reflected in the score, which saw disparities of only 2 points (the minimum required for a win) in every game, and four out of the five games went into extra points. The fifth and final game finally ending at 18-16 for Letourneau! Full match recap can be found on the NashCup Website but suffice it to say we at Squash Alberta are as proud as Danielle was happy to capture her first PSA 10 title! Congrats Danielle!!!

The next events on Squash Alberta's calendar at the World Health Women's Doubles Open (Sept 30 - Oct 1) and Edmonton Squash Club's Season Opener (Sept 30 - Oct 2). 

Squash Alberta's first fixture event of the season is the Calgary Open, Oct 14-16, at the Calgary Winter Club. Register Now!!!

In its the twelve year, the annual cross-border challenge was one for the books with Team Canada coming out victorious over Team USA 13 matches to 11. The Battle of the Border teams are comprised of the top 4 players from each country in the boys and girls under 13, 15, and 17. The weekend is filled with training, friendly competition, team building, trips around the Niagara region, and of course the Sunday morning battle in which the 24 athletes from each team fight to earn a match for their country. Alberta's Mohamed Kamal represented Canada as part of the team this year! Full results can be found using the link below:

Battle of the Border Results

While for some athletes, summer has been full of international squash competitions, for the provincial and recreational player it has been about relaxing and likely getting out of squash shape! Calgary junior players will heavily benefit from rehabilitative "rust remover" camps put on by the Glencoe Club later this month! Check out the details in the link below!




Junior Rust Remove Camps

The Canadian Team which consists of Michael Mehl (AB), Ravi Seth (ON), Rahul Sehrawat (ON), Noel Heaton (AB) and Matthew Henderson (AB/BC) are currently fighting through the Individual Draw and are gearing up for the team event that begins on Friday.  Their journey commenced well before the Worlds when they arrived in Prague where the team trained for four days at the Hector Sports Centre to acclimatize to the time zone.  The team is now settled in Bielsko-Biala and are getting stronger as individual players and as a team each day. 

17 year old Michael Mehl brings a surplus of experience to the team, “2 years ago I had the pleasure of representing Canada in the Junior World Championships held in Winhoek, Namibia.  Although I wasn’t able to participate in the Team event, I accumulated valuable experience and was exposed to squash at the world class level.  Through this exposure I have adapted my training to ensure that I am fit to represent Canada at this years Junior Worlds.  We have a solid team this time around, and every representative has merit to back that up.” Says Michael who will be leading the team as the number one player and the team captain.

 Although this is the first Junior World Championships for Rahul, Ravi, Matt, and Noel, experience is not absent; the U19 Canadian Junior Open champion Matthew Henderson brings an edge to the team through achieving this international success.  Ravi and Noel both are respective Silver and Gold Medalists at the Canada Games and Rahul is a seasoned player as his international successes have secured him a top position at the Columbia University Team in New York. 

They have shown that they are ready for the world class competition.  Coaches, Jonathan Hill and Andrew McDougall are well aware of the task ahead, but have high expectations for their talented team at the Team Event.  “This World’s has many countries with great depth so there are going to be some very strong pools to fight through” say’s Hill who is hoping to improve on Canada’s 13^th place at the previous World’s in Namibia.

Canadian Men's Junior Team (L-R): Coach Andrew McDougall, Ravi Seth, Noel Heaton, Michael Mehl, Rahul Sehrawat, Matthew Henderson, Coach Jonathan Hill.

World Juniors Site:         http://wsfworldjuniors.org/

Live draws:                   www.bo5.eu

Instagram:                    teamcanadasquash

Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the members of Squash Alberta (the Association) will be held on September 17th, 2016, in the Rosedale Room at the Baymont Inn (formerly Red Deer Lodge), 4311 – 49 Avenue, Red Deer, Alberta at 1:00pm for the following purposes:

1. To adopt the minutes of the 2015 Squash Alberta AGM.

2. To approve the financial statements of the Association for the year ending June 30th, 2016.

3. To approve the auditor for the 2016-17 fiscal year.

4. To elect a Secretary and one Executive Officer for two-year terms.

5. To transact other business as may properly come before the meeting.

The AGM Agenda, Nomination Form, and Proxy Forms can be downloaded using the links below.

Squash Alberta 2016 AGM Agenda

2016 AGM Nomination Form

2016 AGM Individual Proxy Form

2016 AGM Club Proxy Form

Dated at the City of Calgary, in the Province of Alberta, the 29th of July, 2016.

July 13th, 2016

Dear Squash Alberta Members,

Over the past several years members have expressed concerns with the Squash Alberta ranking system which is currently based on a points algorithm. The concerns centered around two (2) main areas:

- Too much downward movement resulting from a loss.
When I lose to someone ranked below me my ranking falls significantly, the lower the ranking of the person that beat me the farther I fall.

- Little or no upward movement resulting from a win.
I have won my last 15 matches but my ranking has not changed, the ranking points of the person directly above me are so large that I would have to beat them 10 times in a row to move above them.

This January Squash Alberta setup a Rankings Committee under the Chairmanship of John de Vries to review the concerns and develop alternative solutions to these concerns. Input to the process came from many sources including the Squash Pros in Alberta.

After careful consideration the Squash Alberta Board has elected to move to a Single Win Ladder Based System beginning September 1st, 2016. In conjunction with this change minor adjustments will be made to the Alberta Teams selection
criteria. A detailed description of the new system is available on our Rankings Page.

We realize this change will not solve all the Rankings Issues but we believe this is a good first step to improving the system for our members.

Regards,


Grant Currie
President Squash Alberta