BC Junior squashies are golden.

I'd like to give another big shout out to the boys and girls who traveled to Halifax last week to represent my province in the game that I love. They did us and the game proud:) The girls brought home gold and the boys brought home silver and I couldn't be prouder of them.

Congrats again!

Front row: (L-R) Zachary Leman, "Big" Mac Foster, Tyler Olsen and Michael Thompson.
Back row: (L-R) Assistant coach Rebecca Fouchard Vassilakakis, Nicole Bunyan, Brynn Daniels, Lindsay Seginson, Abbey Foster and head coach Jeff Boag.


(Photographed in front of the Manta Glass Court.)

I heart copy cats.

The original heart shaped logo designed for Valentine's day by Squash Republic.

The ripoff. Used in a poster for Valencia squash. Nice.

The original logo designed by Squash Republic for Squash Canada's 2010 National Championships:

This ripoff is particularly amusing as they spelled "squash" incorrectly. Love that.

A squash player's Christmas wish list

I realize that I'm putting this out a little late but it's a well known fact that squash players are procrastinators: Ask any pro and they'll tell you that everyone signs up for a tournament just before the deadline:) There are still a few shopping days left.

1. Because we like to read when we're not on court: A copy of "Run to the Roar" by the winningest coach in college sports history, Paul Assaiante and James Zug.

Just one of the many great quotes: "Today is the present. They call it the present because it is a gift."

2. One for the boys: The new WISPA calendar:) 'Nuff said. PURCHASE HERE.

3. More reading! How about a subscription to Squash Magazine?


















4. Lessons. And more lessons! Your local squash pro can do wonders for your game and it's about time you realized that your practice-to-games ratio needs to be flipped on it's head if you're ever going to win an "A" tournament. (Okay Pacey?)

5. Some new gear. Style is sometimes more important than substance and your team could probably use some help:) Check out Squash Republic: Their growing catalogue of shirt designs is quickly earning them a reputation as the #1 online clothing store for squash players.

Pictured here wearing the "Drop Shots Not Bombs" design (L-R): Christian Coufal, Birgit Coufal (Austria’s # 1, WISPA ranking 70) and Gerald “Hasi” (which means bunny) Hasslacher (Austrias no 125).






6. For the gamer: Check out the new version of "Racquet Sports" from Ubisoft.

Dood, you can play underwater and you don't have to ask for lets! Nice.









7. Club photo! At our squash club, the Vancouver Racquets Club, we're lucky enough to have a great crew of players playing singles and doubles and a great photographer to help us document it all:)

Photo © 2010 Chad Forbes.













8. A new MANTA racquet!
Available at S.C.R.U. Squash

9. A subscription to SQUASH TV

Squash makes PTI's "Turkeys of the Year"

Just when you thought the world had forgotten about Baset Chaudhry and his much-lamented outburst,  Pardon The Interruption placed him on their "Turkeys of the Year" sports clip montage. They call Chaudhry the "Squash-Taunter" and describe him as "a big hairy bully." Ouch.

Check the video here and skip to 1:26 for the "Squash-Taunter".

PSA World Series Squash Finals Graphics

The ATCO PSA World Series Squash Finals takes place January 2011 and I'm giving a big thumbs up to the group responsible for the graphics. Hopefully this is just a teaser and there's more to come.

I don't have confirmation but a little detective work makes me believe that Fleishman Hilliard Public Relations is responsible for branding of this tournament and the one page website with the trippy purple video.

Anyone know what the "Z-Court" is that they mention? Wouldn't it be cool if it was the squash court equivalent of the "Z-Pool Table"? Throw some extra corners in there to hide the drop shots?

First one to send me a photo of the "Z-Court" wins a Squash Republic t-shirt.

UPDATE: Squash Zag has pointed out that Fleishman Hilliard is the public relations firm for the ATCO PSA WSSF while Greenspace is the design firm behind the branding. Check out the work they did for the 2009 edition. Nice.

Taking it to the streets: Squash that is.

Click on the image on the left to check out this hilarious video of French prankster/comedian Rémi Gaillard playing squash in a phone booth. Check out his site: www.nimportequi.com. Thanks to Nicola for the link:)

Squash 360 talked about doing this a while back and I think it's time to take squash to the streets of Vancouver. Pacific Centre mall? How about a few "No lets" at the The Bloedel Conservatory! Conduct warnings at the Wall Centre!

Send us some ideas and if we use them in our video we'll send you something cool. Promise.

Squash Shortlisted for 2020 Olympics? Yah so?

Here we go again.

You may have heard that our game has been shortlisted for the 2020 Olympics but did you hear the real reason we didn't get in last time? Mr. Ramachandran, president of the World Squash Federation, was quoted as saying that Rugby Sevens beat us out previously because, at that time, the "IOC was going through a bad phase because of recession in Europe and they needed additional revenue. Thus, rugby was included." Hmmm. So it wasn't because of poor ball visibility or the perceived impropriety of players arguing with referees? It was about the money? Duh.

(As an aside, the NBA has instituted a new policy meant to curtail complaining by players because, according to Commissioner David Stern, "that's not a good thing.")

The IOC hasn't decided where the 2020 Olympics are going to be held yet as they're still hyping the 2012 games in London, but I'm loathe to start getting excited so soon. Instead, I'm going to look forward to World Squash Day because it's only 10 days, not 8 years, away!