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Tacoma YMCA Squash Tournament and
Exhibition Match
Evening of Friday, June 19th, 2009
Venue: Tacoma DT YMCA, Market Street
Squash is growing in Pierce
County. New players are popping up in Puyallup, Tacoma, Gig
Harbor and
elsewhere. Here's a chance to come together and get to know each
on and off the court.
What's going on? This
will all be done in 1 evening and we will retire at the Swiss to
re-hydrate.
*** 15-minute lessons with
Ronn McMahon will start at 5:30pm on court 2.
*** Exhibition Match with
Ronn McMahon vs. Latasha Khan will start at 6:30 pm court 2.
Latasha is currently ranked #33 in the world.
*** Random draw
tournament begins at 7pm
• Match pairs are drawn at random
• Match play will be on courts 1 and 3
• Handicaps will be awarded based on
estimated skill levels
• Match will be best of three using PAR 11
scoring (PAR = point a rally)
• Ultimate winner of court 1 will play the
winner of court 3 in a friendly final
• Prizes to be awarded for Finals players
This is relatively
informal, so registration can be done via email to
matteucci.james@gmail.com.
Please include your name and shirt size. An event T-shirt will
be given to all who register and make a suggested donation of
$40 or more to the YMCA Strong Kids Campaign. For those wishing
to make matching grants through their employer, please use Tax #
91-0565562 Tacoma Center YMCA Strong Kids Campaign. We will
collect funds at the tournament.
Please sign-up now so we can
finalize the planning.
Washington Games Squash Tournament
July 24-26, 2009
Venue: PRO Sports Club - Bellevue
Men's, Women's and Junior's Divisions.
PAR-11 scoring (best 3 out of 5)
Only Junior divisions are sanctioned by US
Squash
Click
here to download the
entry form.
(Entry
deadline:
July 10th)
Seattle City Championships
May 1 – 3, 2009
Venue: Columbia Athletic Club
NoctiLuca Essential Wellness
Mac Awards
More about our Sponsors
here.
Thank you for playing and
supporting Seattle Squash. A special thank you to our
host, Columbia Athletic Club, our sponsors, and volunteers.
Click this
link for
Tourney Results
Tell us about your
upcoming Tournament or Event. Send us an
email.
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Seattle
Juniors Making Waves Locally and Nationally
(Author: Phil Nyberg; posted:
11-May-2009)
 For
those of you in Men’s Division A, this year marked the beginning
of what we hope will be a wave of young talent moving into prime
time squash. Chris Jung, still 5 years away from being able to
legally join his opponents for beers, quietly had a pretty
amazing season. Chris won the Seattle Open, was nearly perfect
in League (17 for 17 in matches, losing only a single game)
playing at the #1 slot, leading his team to their first
championship, and less than a month ago, won the US Junior title
in the boy’s under 17 tournament. After the recent SAC in house
tournament, it is official; Chris has now beaten all of the top
players in the Greater Seattle region and is, unofficially,
ranked number one.
I’ve had the pleasure of
watching Chris’s skill and competence progress from the time he
was 11 years old. He’s always been quiet and humble and this
year his mental game has grown to match his physical skills.
Chris admitted that the mental game has been the most
challenging aspect of the game to master. During a recent
interview, he spoke of the fear he felt at the Nationals when he
was up 2-0 in games and 5-0 in the third; he needed four more
points for victory; four difficult points. Whether his opponent
sensed this weakness or Chris tightened up, the result was the
same. He found himself deadlocked at 9 in the fifth game. “It
was important for me to win. The college recruiters put a lot of
stock in your results at this level and a championship looks so
much better on your resume. I’d really like to get my education
at Dartmouth and this helps”. Chris is also a talented tennis
and table tennis player and remarked that squash is the only
sport he’s played that is addictive (none of you would know
anything about that would you?).
As
can be expected, anyone reaching Chris’s level has received a
lot of support. Carol, mother of Chris and Andrew (who is,
according to Chris, possibly more skilled than him), is as
familiar around the courts as her boys are. She and husband
Charlie have willingly invested time, energy and financial
support. They believe “squash represents an opportunity through
which the boys can have a unique ‘set of experiences’ through
which they can grow as people” and they pull rather than push
the boys. Carol reminds me a little of the best hockey moms in
Canada (except she doesn’t have to turn out at 5 am and wear
RBLT’s to stay warm).
Without the expertise and dedication of coaches, Chris would not
enjoy the success he has. The Khan family continues the success
of their famous relatives through playing (Latasha) and coaching
(Yusuf, Azam, Ayub, Latasha and Shabana) at the highest level.
Although the Khans willingly coach and teach adults, where they
really shine is with the kids. Drop in to the SAC any Saturday
morning and you’ll find the courts overrun with eager kids and
at least two of the Khan family working their magic.
Seattle is rich with talented, dedicated kids who are proving
themselves locally and nationally. Over at the Pro Club in
Bellevue, Azam Khan coached Helen Teegan to her first US Junior
title in the Girls under 11 bracket, Reeham Sedky to a 2nd
place in Girls U13, and Yarden Odinak to 4th in the
Girls U19. Yarden, besides having a great year in Men’s League,
A division, was selected as a member of the elite National
Junior Girls team. I’ve heard a rumor that Azam’s boys are a
pretty talented pair as well. His younger son, Salim, placed 6th
in the Boys U11 bracket, a nice start to his junior career.
We
are going to try to do a better job of providing timely
reporting on our local juniors. They are exciting to watch, they
have great personalities, and they are worth getting to know;
after all they may be an opponent (or teammate) sooner than
later.
SSRA League Finale
(posted: 29-Mar-2009)
The SSRA completed another league
season Tuesday evening with Finals played at the PRO Sports Club
in Bellevue. Players and fans were treated to some fantastic
squash competition between the top league teams from all
divisions. Click the links below to see the individual results.
Division 1:
Team Delen (Seattle Athletic Club - DT) def. Team Bilger (PRO)
Division 2A:
Team Williams (Tacoma YMCA) def. Team Rooks (SACDT)
Division 2B: Team Chandler (Columbia Athletic Club) def. Team
Snider (SACDT)
Division 3: Team Miller (PRO Sports Club - Bellevue) def. Team
Wang (PRO)
Claire Rein-Weston Takes First Place at Women's Team Trials
(posted: 09-Nov-2008)
Story courtesy of Bill Buckingham from US
Squash (http://ussquash.com)
11/4/2008 -
Former Princeton University stalwart Claire Rein-Weston
(WA) came back from 2-1 deficits in both her semi-final and
final matches to take first place at the U.S. Women's Team
Trials in New York City. With the win the Seattle native secured
her place on the team that will represent the U.S. at the 2008
Women’s World Team Championships, taking place November
30th-December 6th in Cairo, Egypt. Rein-Weston will be joined in
Egypt by Olivia Blatchford (CT), whom she defeated in a stirring
five game final, 13-11, 7-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-8, and Hope Prockop
(MA) who reached the semi-finals before being dispatched by
Blatchford. Natalie Grainger (CT), the current U.S. Champion and
# 4 ranked WISPA tour player, had already secured the first spot
on the team.
Congrats Claire!
Kristen Lange Takes Women's 2008 U23 Title in NY
(posted: 09-Nov-2008)
Story courtesy of Bill Buckingham from US
Squash (http://ussquash.com)
Five players competed for the title in a round
robin format. Three players, University of Pennsylvania junior
Kristen Lange, Connecticut's Olivia Blatchford and Long Island's
Amanda Sobhy, all finished with identical 3-1 records. By virtue
of the initial "games won" tie breaker, Lange and Blatchford
were still tied, with the title being won by the defending
champion Lange in the secondary "games lost" tie break rule.
Congrats Kristen!
US Squash Membership
(posted:
11-Aug-2008)
The US Squash website is undergoing major
changes and updates. As a part of this update, RailStation
is also being replaced. The updated website is scheduled
to be officially released on October 1st, 2008.
Read more here... <= Click here
If you are interested in joining or renewing
your US Squash membership, please print and mail-in the
application. We apologize for this temporary
inconvenience.
The registration/renal fee for WA-Seattle is
$75 for adults or $55? for juniors. Click the following link to
signup or renew.
Join / Renew Membership...
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