Squash Infographic

A visual guide to participation in the 2010 Canadian Squash Championships held at the Jericho Tennis Club, Arbutus Club and VRC in Vancouver, BC.

Created by Squash Republic in cooperation with Squash Canada.

2010 Canadian Squash Championships!

It's official! Squash Canada's 2010 Canadian Squash Championships are coming to Vancouver May 5-8, 2010. The host club is the fabulous Jericho Tennis Club (Pro: Shauna Flath) with the Arbutus Club (Pro: Larry Armstrong) assisting as a satellite venue.

I'm personally very pleased to announce that The Vancouver Racquets Club (Pro: Steve Lawton) will be hosting the Companion Event which will run concurrently and is open to male and female "B", "C" and "D" players. I've always argued that the companion event is an integral part of the nationals and having the companion event truly allows the squash community to come together to play and celebrate the game they love.

(Speaking of celebrating, I can't wait until Saturday night when both events will come together at Jericho for a party that won't be forgotten for a long time to come!)

The official website isn't quite live yet (should be up and ready for registration to begin by February 1st) but there is a Facebook Fanpage where you can go to for updates and info and post questions that the committee can answer for you.

UPDATE: Tuesday, February 2, 2010: The official website is live. Registration will come online shortly.

Why not comment and let us know what you think of the site and the 2010 CSC logo?

What if you held a National tournament and no one came?

Firstly, all you Canadian squashies need to thank the World Health Club in Calgary for stepping up to the plate and volunteering to host this year's Canadian Squash Championships. If they hadn't it would have most likely been held in Toronto again. Kudos to Jonathan Hill too for being the point guy on what's turning into a touch-and-go kind of event. He returned my call and emails right away. Thanks dood.

The official website is up and you can sign-up right now. $150 CAD gets you two PAR 11 matches, a "player kit souvenir" (?), Thursday night lasagna feast and dinner and dancing on Saturday night. Contact telephone number: (403) 239-4048. Registration deadline is 9:00am April 13th, 2009.

My only beef? Wasn't long ago that the Nationals meant that the glass court would be coming out of hibernation to dazzle us all with it's 360 degrees of viewing. Not this year. It turns out that the show court in Calgary will be one of the four glass back courts at the WHC. Don't get me wrong, playing on a glass court isn't the be all end all but you can sit a lot more people on four sides than you can on one. This is the problem: You can't buy tickets online yet to see the show court matches. Turns out that the WHC is offering the tickets to it's club members before allowing the rest of Canada to purchase them. Apparently they will go on sale to the general public this Thursday, March 26th. I sure hope that there are some left because it may actually be the deciding factor for a lot of us.

Canadian Nationals Host Announced

On January 9th, 2009, Squash Canada finally announced who would host this year's edition of the Canadian Squash Championships. And guess what? It's not in Toronto this year!

It's being held at the World Health Club in lovely Calgary. This bodes well for West Coast representation - at least it better! - and Squash Republic will be doing everything we can to convince people to head to Calgary.

Jonathan Hill, the club pro, had this to say: "I am very aware of the importance of there being a national squash championship. . . We will put on a top-class event!"

Excellent. Now, Mr. Hill, how about adding that companion event that we keep asking for?

VOTE IN OUR NATIONALS POLL!
(It's over there on the left. No, further down. Yep, there you go.)

(Apologies to Matt Giuffre for taking his place in the photo above:)

Read Squash Canada's official announcement here.

Open Letter to Squash Canada

Dear Squash Canada,

How are you?

It’s Robert and I am writing to you as fan of our game and as a past participant of the yearly celebration known as “The Canadian Squash Championships”.

I’m desperately waiting for information for the upcoming nationals. Where is it going to be held this year? I’ve heard rumours about Montreal (fantastique!) but the cynics are grumbling that you’ll probably hold it in Toronto again (yawn). I overheard someone say it could be Ottawa. That could be fun:) I check your website, www.squash.ca, almost every day for news but so far nothing and I’m becoming a bit impatient.

(I’ll grant that you’ve got last year’s event info up but, oh jeez, you still haven’t posted any photos! All the page says is “Information Coming Soon!” - That tournament was in April! What the hizzy? Did someone lose the film?)

I’m worried about you Squash Canada. And I’m worried about our beloved game. We’re talking about the NATIONALS here! Where are the press releases? Where’s the fanfare? The posters? At the very least, where are the posters that are supposed to convince us to come and play? Last year I didn’t see a poster at my club. Check that: I didn’t see a poster in Vancouver. (If you sent out an email reminder to your members I didn’t get it.)

Squash Canada, I did a little research on the number of participants taking part in the nationals and what I found was a little disconcerting. In 2005 the Canadian Squash Championships, in Vancouver, hosted 434 players (which is still a ridiculously small percentage of Canadians playing) but last year the number had dropped to under 300. Ouch. I’d like to think that it’s because the host club (White Oaks) opted out of having a companion event (where A’s through D’s could play instead of being forced to play in age categories) but I’m not sure. The numbers have been shrinking for a while and I bet you're worried that your sponsors may catch wind of this.

So, let’s bring the numbers back up! Let’s invite ALL Canadian squash players to their nationals! Mandate that the next host club include a companion event so that every level of player can participate. Here’s an added bonus: I can guarantee that a lot of the players playing in the companion event will buy tickets to see the Open matches. We love the game so much that we’ll fill the stands in front of the glass court. Your sponsors will love to see that!

Anyway, give it some thought Squash Canada and let me know as soon as you can where the nationals are going to be. Christmas is coming and I want to know how many Air Miles to ask Santa for.

All the best,
Robert

The Nationals are coming. Yah so?

I used to get excited about the Nationals. I don't really anymore and this is why.

When I first got back into squash, in 2004, the Nationals came to Vancouver and I truly felt an excitement within the local community. I was lucky enough to be able to be involved (my father and I designed the event logo and publication) and , as it turns out, I was even more lucky to be able to play.

That year the organizing committee opted to host a companion event which meant that players from all over the country, at all levels, were invited to come together and celebrate the game of Canadian squash. I was a low B player and got creamed but I saw some of the most amazing players play and I really got inspired. I saw (and played on!) the glass court! I cheered on my friends and lent Jonathon Power a bandana. I met players from all over the country which was probably the best part of the event.

In 2005 we went to Toronto for the first time and while the games were spread out across the city centre there was still a sense of community. Again there was a companion event so I played safe in the knowledge that I was going to be matched against a comparable player. I was a high B player that year and even with a Canadian champion coaching me I got creamed again. But it was okay because I was hanging out with my squash buddies and we were ALL playing.

In 2006 the Nationals were held in Toronto again. Hmmm. I remember thinking that I didn't really want to go to TO again but I went and, to be honest, I went because there was a companion event and I wanted to see if I had improved at a national level.

To make a long story short: In 2007 The Glencoe Club decided not to include a companion event and I truly believe that they made a mistake. Their argument (if I remember correctly) was that they wanted to "showcase the best squash that Canada has to offer". What they forgot was WHO they were showcasing it to. It's the new players that need to see it, that will be inspired by it. These new players may one day be playing "the best squash that Canada has to offer" but even if they don't they will remember seeing it and it will

This year the committee at White Oaks, Niagara, have made a concession and included "A's" in the draw, along with open and age categories. I hope it's a sign of things to come and that next year's host will consider reinstating the companion event. It will help squash.

Next week: Everyone wins when losers ref.