Juniors learn about Sportsmanly Play at Junior Pathways Event
Eighteen keen squashers, ranging in ages from 8 to 15, descended on the
Bentall Centre Athletic Club
(BCAC) on Sunday, Feb 25. They met Squash BC President Natasha Doucas who was present to hand out pink shirts supporting
Pink Shirt Day
, a Canadian-made Via Sport supported initiative that takes a stand
against bullying.
To establish round-robin groupings, the group of junior players from the
VRC
,
Arbutus Club
,
Jericho
,
Evergreen
and
BCAC
clubs started play with timed games (5 minutes/game). Following a 15-minute break, play resumed in round-robin, best-of-3 matches formats.
Players were asked to mark down any examples of good sportsmanship witnessed, the name of the "good sport" and the name of the "nominator". Later the nominees' and nominators' names were pulled out of a hat and read out loud along with the reasons for being nominated
Many positive comments came from parents regarding this focus on good sportsmanship.
All in all, a fun day with lots of squash and some life lessons for participants.
For more information about Squash BC's Junior Pathway Program, click here.
Brooke Herring & Sam Scivier are awarded the Massy Goolden Trophy
Squash BC has awarded the Massy Goolden trophy to Brooke Herring (
Victoria Squash Club
) and Sam Scivier (
Jericho Tennis Club
).
The Trophy, designated to honour junior players for their achievement combined with sportsmanship, was presented at the BC Junior Closed tournament held at the Nanaimo Squash Club from March 2nd to 4th
.
Brooke is on the Canada Winter Games
(CWG) and Provincial Training (PTS) Squads. Not only is Brooke a high-performance athlete, but she consistently demonstrates her great sportsmanship on and off the court. Players and parents alike say she is always gracious during and after her matches, win or lose, and happy to referee when asked.
Sam also plays at the high-performance level on the CWG and PTS squads. He has been either the winner or finalist in each BC Closed Junior tournament since U13. He is also a qualified coach and has coached many younger juniors in the past year.
The Massy Goolden Trophy is named after Captain Massy Goolden, a truly dedicated squash enthusiast, who constructed an English-sized court at his home. "The 'Goolden Court' was in constant use for friendly games and tournament play. He, along with A.E. John Jukes, donated the Jukes-Goolden Challenge Cup, to the winner of the Provincial Championships. The trophy was later renamed and designated to honour junior players for high junior performance combined with sportsmanship.
Brooke and Sam are the 46th recipients of this prestigious award in its current form.
Congratulations Brooke and Sam for receiving this coveted award.
For more information about Squash BC's Awards and Recognition Program, click here.
Adam Terheege is awarded the Kevin Kydd Junior Service Award
Squash BC has awarded the Kevin Kydd Junior Service Award to Adam Terheege (Founder and Owner of the Interior Squash Academy and Head Pro at the Roster Squash Club in Vernon).
The Award is presented to an individual who has unselfishly inspired, coached or mentored Junior squash players.
Adam's unbridled enthusiasm and dedication to develop junior squash in the interior made him a front-runner for the award. It was noted that he always tries to be an example to the kids and is generous with his time.
In considering Adam's nomination, it was noted that over a short time Adam has been in BC, he has managed not only to increase participation among junior players in the interior, but also strengthened the Regional Training Squad (interior) as part of the pathway to develop elite players to compete at the National stage.
One parent commented; "I applaud Adam Terheege for his coaching effort and dedication to our kids! Our Interior Squad is very fortunate to have a coach like him. Adam truly cares for the kids and he only wants the best for them and to see them all continue to excel and succeed!"
Congratulations Adam on winning this award and thank you for your continued dedication to the Junior Development Program.
"Sheila Night" - Ladies Party, Celebrate, and say Hooroo to Bev at the Pacific Coast Open
Each year at the Pacific Coast Open (PCO), a dedicated and enthusiastic group of women organize a fantastic party on the Thursday night for ladies only. This year, in keeping with the 'Australian Send Off' theme of the tournament for Steve and Bev Lawton, they dubbed their Thursday evening party "Sheila Night". Ladies night organizers Bev Lawton, Olivia Maxwell, Giulia Muraca-Muir, and countless other volunteers made sure the night ran smoothly and good times were had by all.
VRC, its dedicated members and volunteers continually show enthusiasm and commitment to the sport of squash, to growing the squash community and in encouraging new women to become involved in the sport through events like this.
This PCO was particularly special because it is the last Ladies Night that Bev Lawton helped to organize before her upcoming move to Australia. Bev organized the first Ladies Night back in 2014 and has been personally responsible for countless hungover Friday matches in the Ladies draws ever since. Jokes aside, Bev has done so much for getting new women involved in and passionate about the sport through events like this.
Bev, you will be sorely missed!
2018 Canadian University and College Squash Championships
Jenna Sherven (University of Victoria) and Megan Picken (Langara College) recently traveled to Montreal, Quebec to represent Team BC and compete in the Canadian University and College Squash Championships hosted by Club Sportif MAA.
There was great squash throughout
the tournament (for results click
here
) and with an upbeat atmosphere at the club, the competition was an incredible experience for our post-secondary
players. Both Megan and Jenna were in the Women's Open Draw and had excellent results with Jenna making it to the consolation semi's and Megan winning the consolation finals.
Squash BC is very excited to support its post-secondary athletes. This coming weekend the BC University Championships are being held at the beautiful UVic courts in the CARSA building and it looks like as much fun will be had there with 30+ entries, Friday night pizza and Saturday night social activities in the works.
The 2018
BC
Sport Leadership Conference presented a Stellar Motivational Speaker Line Up
This past January,
Barry Gifford, the Head Squash Professional at the
Terminal City Club
in Vancouver attended the
held in Richmond.
Barry joined a diverse collection of organizations, teams, and individuals all with the singular purpose of improving the craft of sport.
The BC Sport Leadership Conference is an annual professional development event that presents high level speakers and materials to the organizations, teams, and hundreds of sport dedicated people.
The conference provided an opportunity for Barry to share previous experiences, successes, and best practice with those of a familiar mindset.
Conference Speakers included:
- Australia's 5 time Olympian and beach volleyball gold medalist, Natalie Cook
- Sport Psychologist Dr. Adrienne Leslie-Toogood
- NCAA Volleyball coach and 3-time Olympic coach Terry Liskevych, President of Total Sports Inc.
- Cindy Bristow, Canadian Olympic Softball Team
- Jennifer Botterill 4-time Canadian Women's Hockey Olympian & 3 time Olympic gold medalist
When asked about key take-a-ways from the one-day event Gifford offered many. The following presents three.
"Take charge of your attitude"
"Failure is the opportunity to begin more intelligently"
"You will never get what you want if you never work hard"
