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27/01/11 Happy New Year & Welcome…

To the Hamilton Squash and Tennis Club’s 75^th Jubilee Season.

This season promises to be a very special one for the club, as we work towards our 75^th Birthday celebrations at the end of the year. 75 years is a lot of history and it is exciting to be part of the club as we celebrate this milestone. It is fitting that in July we will play host to the best players in the country (including our own Joelle King!) as they battle it out for National honours in the New Zealand Nationals and Inter-District Teams event.

In reality though, this season is about YOU, our club members. You are the reason our club exists…its heart and soul. We have a lot planned and we want YOU to be part of it!! Senior and Junior Clubnights will begin soon; we will launch the season on Saturday Feb 12^th with a fun tournament and social evening; and our 1^st tournament for 2011 will be the B grade and below held on the last weekend of Feb. Wow, that’s just 3 and a half weeks.

The Reason YOU Should Be at the Club 7.30pm Thursdays…

CLUB NIGHT!!

Come down to the club and have a hit on court, shoot some pool, play some table-tennis, throw some darts and then enjoy a drink in the bar afterwards. Clubnight is our social night of the week and everyone is welcome, including Non-members (for $8.50), so bring your mates down and introduce them to our great game. We can organise games for you with other members of your own ability, so not only will you get good games you might even increase your pool of playing partners. We also aim to have coaching available each week. Club nights will run every Thursday starting from Feb 3^rd.

The Future of Our Club…

IS OUR JUNIORS!!

Junior Club Nights will begin on Thursday 10^th February @ 5pm. This is a chance to introduce the future of our club to the game we all love. Wanita Jackson and Nick O’Leary will be providing a fun and engaging environment to teach kids of all ages the basic skills of squash. Coaching will be provided, as well as the chance to spend plenty of time on court. So for some awesome fun bring the kids down on Thursday afternoons…and their mates and cuzzies too!

2011 Season Launch and Celebration…

Will be held on Saturday 12^th Feb. Lock this in your diaries NOW! A fun tournament will be held during the day, so dust off your racket and blow out the summer cobwebs. This is perfect preparation for our B Grade and below tournament at the end of Feb. All abilities will be catered for…so there are no excuses. Following the tournament we will move into the bar and celebrate the beginning of the season in style. A few bevvies may be drunk and plenty of laughs will be had!! Get your entries into Kay or Kylie in the office now. Please see the attached poster for more information.

B grade and below: Thurs 24^th – Sat 26^th February…

Is our first tournament for 2011 and is always a great way to kick off the competitive season. This year the finals will be scheduled for Saturday evening, followed by evening entertainment…leaving your Sunday free to relax (or to recover from the festivities). This tournament will cater for all grades and abilities from beginners/J5 through to B1. Get your entries to Kay or Kylie now!!

Interclub

Now is the time to start thinking about winter interclub which begins near the end of March. Representing the club by being part of an interclub team is a great way to meet lots of fellow squashies and to have fun at the same time. Men’s interclub is on Tuesday nights and Women’s is on Wednesday nights. We can cater for players of all abilities and teams will have enough reserves so that you are not committed to playing every week. Look out for entry details in the near future.

New Zealand Nationals: July 8^th – 12th

The best players in New Zealand will be on our courts in July battling for the right to be called National Champ…and our own Joelle King will be defending the title she won in 2010. This will be a great chance to see lots of quality squash! But don’t forget that Nationals is open to players of all levels…so pencil this into your diary now and take your chance to participate in NZ’s biggest tournament.

Squash Committee

This season we have a keen Squash Committee who will be organizing and running our club events. These include club nights, social events and tournaments. The committee’s goal is to see as many members as possible involved in our club social events and tournaments. YOU can help us achieve this goal simply by attending events and enjoying the game of Squash we all love!! If you have any ideas or queries feel free to contact me or talk to a member of the committee.

The squash committee consists of:

Mike Martin (Chairperson)

Julie Bunn

Marcus Lynam

Matt Evison

Nick O'Leary

Wanita Jackson

Gareth Moran

Gary Cairns

Brodie Davis

Joelle Watch…

Ok so it happened a little while ago but the most successful NZ athlete at the Commonwealth Games is a member of our club. If that doesn’t give you warm fuzzies I don’t know what will! A gold and a silver medal is an awesome achievement. More recently Joelle has had an extremely successful tournament at Greenwich in New York, beating fellow Kiwi and world #14 Jaclyn Hawkes and world #5 Rachael Grinham on the way to a final meeting with world #5 Kasey Brown. Read more here. CONGRATULATIONS Joelle!!

Long or Short: The History of New Zealand Squash

Released late in 2010, Long or Short is a 370 page, illustrated history of New Zealand Squash written by prominant sports author Joseph Romanos. The book follows the development of New Zealand Squash from the early days all the way to 2010. This is a must read for squash enthusiasts and would look great on the coffee table. We have a copy in the office, so call in and have a look. The book is available for purchase here from SquashNZ and costs $50 + $8pp.

2011 Calendar

Events to put in your diary

Thurs 3^rd Feb 7.30pm Senior Club Night Begins

Thurs 10^th Feb 5pm Junior Club Night Begins

Sat 12^th Feb Season Launch Fun Tourney and Celebration

24^th – 26^th Feb B Grade and Below Tournament

Sat 19th March Junior One-day Tournament

6^th – 8^th May Waikato Open

8^th – 12^th July New Zealand Nationals and Teams Event

15^th - 17^th July Hamilton Open

29^th – 31^st July Waikato Superchamps

In between our club events I plan to use this newsletter to communicate, so if you have any stories or any news you want the whole club to hear about get in touch with me.

Best wishes for the year ahead, its gonna be a good one!

Mike Martin

Squash Chairman

lennymickster@gmail.com

021 02580906

30/07/09 COUSINS SHIELD / MITCHELL CUP 24-26 JULY 2009

COUSINS SHIELD / MITCHELL CUP PHOTOS

The bragging rights have been decided for the next 12 month's following the annual battle for national squash club supremacy in Hamilton at the weekend.

Remuera can claim to have the strongest women's team in the country after taking out the Mitchell Cup while Palmerston North has similar claims in the men's ranks after winning the Cousins Shield.

Remuera's victory in the women's competition was reasonably clear cut, beating Hamilton 3-1 in the final. However, the host clubs chances were not helped by the absence of former world number one Leilani Rorani, who was unavailable to play on Sunday due to her religious beliefs.

Rebecca Borman gave Remuera the early advantage with a straight games victory over Nadine Cull before former New Zealand rep Lara Heta made it 2-0 to the Auckland club with a 3-0 win against Wanita Jackson. That left newly crowned Australian Open champion Joelle King needing to beat world number 16 Jaclyn Hawkes 3-0 to keep Hamilton in the tie. The world number 53 gave herself every chance, storming to a 2-0 lead, but couldn't close the gate and while King eventually won 3-2, it was not enough to prevent Remuera taking the title. Jackie Laurenson then capped off celebrations for the Auckland side, winning the dead rubber 3-0 against Kay Newman.

Meanwhile, the men's competition was a much tighter affair, with Palmerston North edging Remuera 3-2 in the title decider.

Once again Remuera was first on the board, with George Crosby beating Mike McSherry 3-0. But the Palmerston North team was not about to lie down and hand the Auckland club both titles. 18-year-old Joseph Watts levelled the tie with a 3-0 win over Scott Harrison before Josh Greenfield put them 2-1 ahead with a 3-2 victory over Graeme Wilson, fighting back from 8-3 down in the fifth.

That left Glenn Carson to wrap up the tie for the Central club, but inevitably there was to be another twist, with Carson beaten in a five game thriller by Izaac Williams. Palmerston North would not be denied their first Cousins Shield in 50 years though - Ant McLeod finally confirming the victory with a 3-1 win over Mark Dunwoodie in the decider.

Results...

Women's Final – Mitchell Cup

Remuera 3 Hamilton 1

Rebecca Borman 3-0 Nadine Cull 11/5 11/3 11/4
Lara Heta 3-0 Wanita Jackson 11/5 11/2 11/4
Jaclyn Hawkes 2-3 Joelle King 11/9 11/7 6/11 15/17 11/5
Jackie Laurenson 3-1 Kay Newman 11/6 5/11 11/9 11/6

Men's Final - Cousins Shield

Palmerston North 3 Remuera 2

Mike McSherry 1-3 George Crosby 11/6 10/12 11/6 11/5
Joseph Watts 3-0 Scott Harrison 11/8 12/10 11/8
Josh Greenfield 3-2 Graeme Wilson 7/11 8/11 11/9 11/7 11/8
Glenn Carson 2-3 Izaac Williams 11/5 10/12 6/11 11/6 11/9
Ant McLeod 3-1 Mark Dunwoodie 11/6 11/5 9/11 11/7

01/05/09

ASB WAIKATO OPEN COURT BATTLES BEGIN!!!

An intriguing battle of youth and experience is looming at the Waikato Squash Open in Hamilton this weekend. Three of New Zealand's rising stars and a star of the not-too distant past will be vying for the title in the women's open.

The top seed is 20-year-old Joelle King, who has risen as high as 44 in the world rankings this year, while second seeded Amanda Cranston is just 19-years-old. Cranston has been one of the big movers in the world rankings this year, climbing more than 80 places to a high of 86 in February. Completing a youthful looking trio is fourth seeded Lana Harrison, who at 17-years-of age is New Zealand's top ranked junior at 98 in the world.

The odd one out in the top four is former world number one Leilani Rorani. The 35-year-old retired from the world circuit in 2002, but still provides a stern challenge for the new brigade on the domestic circuit.

The men's open should also provide some interesting fireworks, with world number 61 Martin Knight the title favourite. Standing in his way is 62nd ranked compatriot Campbell Grayson, who was New Zealand's second highest ranked player behind Kashif Shuja until Knight overtook him last month. Both players are back home for a break from the PSA World Tour, but that is unlikely to diminish their determination to win should they meet in the final.

Exhibition Match to show case our top players 3rd APRIL 6.30pm

Hamilton Squash & Tennis Club is holding an exhibition match to showcase the clubs top players.

The four players are Leilani Rorani,Joelle King, Allan Crome and Mike Corren, between them these playershave ranked up some awesome world and New Zealand rankings and titles. For example; Leilani Rorani – former world no 1, two time British Open Champion will play the up and coming Joelle King whose current world ranking is 42, Allan Crome formerly ranked amongst the top fifty in the world and was 3rd in New Zealand at time of his retirement and lastly Mike Corren who’s world ranking was 38 before a lengthy lay off due to injury, he has won 35 PSA titles.

Playing format as follows:

Ladies Singles: Leilani Rorani vs Joelle King
Men’s Singles: Allan Crome vs Mike Corren
Mixed Doubles: Leilani/Allan vs Joelle/Mike

The evening will start at 6.30pm with a light meal and match.

Welcome to 2009!!

The Hamilton squash and Tennis B Grade tournament is fasting approaching so now is the perfect time dust of the racket and start training. Tournament dates are 27th Feb 09 - 1 March 09.