Junior forum.

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Contents:

• Programs (2006)
  Spring and Summer Programs at Sport and Health by Connie Barnes
• Schools
  Potomac School Teams Top 20 High School Ranking by Wendy Lawrence
• Other Tournaments:
  Washington’s  Top Juniors Score Big at the US Nationals  by Wendy Lawrence
  Friendly Junior Tournament by Hunt Richardson and Connie Barnes
• Lucky Nick:
   The Director's Cut by Hunt Richardson and Sarah Hammond  
   

Fitzgerald Award 2006

Peter Sopher Wins Fitzgerald Award 2006 

 During the January 2006 Fitzgerald and Lacy Cup matches between teams from Baltimore and Washington, the NCSRA announced the recipient of the annual William G. Fitzgerald Junior Squash Ambassador Award for 2005.  This year’s recipient is Peter Sopher, a 17 year old 11^th grader at St. Albans School.

            Peter began playing Squash competitively at 10 years old.  By the time he was 12, he was a mainstay at national Junior Squash tournaments, and has attained national rankings in each of the last 6 years.  Last year, he was ranked #3 in the US among Boys Under 17 years old – currently, he is ranked #14 among Boys Under 19 years old.  Peter has also been an active competitor in the NCSRA adult leagues for about 5 years.  During the summer of 2003, he led the Sports Club/LA’s championship B League team.  This season, he has been playing #1 for the division 1 leading Senators, one of  the two Results’ Division 1 teams.  Currently, Peter is the #9 ranked player in the NCSRA (including adults and pros).

            Peter’s twin brother, Philip, is also an active participant on the national Junior circuit and in NCSRA competition.

Tournaments

Washington’s  Top Juniors Score Big at the US Nationals 

It was a great showing for the ten Washington area juniors from the Results and The Potomac School programs who qualified ( only the top ranked 32 players in each age group are selected)  for the prestigious US Junior Nationals held in March at Yale.  Their outstanding performances was the culmination of a long seven month season of training, league play and tournaments.

The  DC National’s squad was coached by Brian O’Hora, Natalie Grainger and Wendy Lawrence and Patrick Chifunda.

U-19 Division

David Canner  (Results)   National’s Semi-finalist (David will play for Princeton in the Fall)

Peter Sopher              (Results) –Top 12 
Phillip Sopher            (Results) - Top 24
Tribbie Nassikas        (Potomac School /Results)
Allison McDonough   ( Potomac School/ Results) 

U-17 Division

Mike Maruca              (Results/Exeter)  National’s Finalist
Nick Echeverria      (Potomac School/Results)  National’s Quarter-finalist
Alex Gross – Top 16   ( Potomac School/Results) 

U-15 Division

Andy Maruca   (Results)  National’s Quarter-finalist
Joe Powden- Top 12  (Results)

 Congratulations to all these juniors for qualifying for the Nationals and for their strong performance!

Friendly Junior Tournament (back)

Strength at the top of the lineup and three players on loan from Sidwell were not enough for the Tigers to overcome a fired up squad of Bethesda Bulls.

Matches of note: After a slow start and some fine attacking play by her opponent #4 Graham Copeland (Bulls), Tiger Captain Camille Lanier used a combination of deep drives, delicate drops and slashing kills to recover from a first game loss to victory in four games.

#2 Alex Johnson (Tigers) aced his opponent Campbell Ross (Bulls) five straight times in game one with serves that snuck neatly into the back corners. After dropping the first two games Ross. flipped a turbo switch and began picking up everything that Johnson hit. There were eight rallies with multiple hands out before Johnson scored the first point. Johnson pounded the ball viciously into the back corners, but Ross streaked to and fro and saved balls that appeared to be hopelessly out of reach. 25 rallies into the game, Johnson led 5-2. Then Ross unleashed his own arsenal of airtight drives along the sides that Johnson could not reach. He clawed back to lead 7-6. Johnson leveled at 7-all. Neither player was showing signs of pressure. What coolness under fire, what heart these boys had! Several more blasts and a gentle drop from Ross’s strings won game three for him 9-7. In game four, Ross went up 2-0 and it looked as if he would roll all over Johnson. Johnson went back to the drawing board and began shooting for the back corners again with Ross in hot pursuit. Johnson kept his focus, pulled away from 4-3 and did not look back. He ran off six points in a row to clinch an excellent display of mature squash from two very fine athletes. We are sure to see more great matches between these players in the years ahead.

#1 Ben Rind (Bulls) def. Rob Rasmussen (Tigers) 3-0: 9-6, 9-1, 9-1
#2 Alex Johnson (Tigers) def. Campbell Ross (Bulls) 3-1: 9-5, 9-4, (7-9), 9-3
#3 Robbie Yoskowitz (Tigers) def. Greg Rind 3-0: 9-1, 9-2, 9-5
#4 Camille Lanier (Tigers) def. Graham Copeland 3-1 : (5-9), 9-2, 9-3, 9-3
#5 Thomas Merchkens (Bulls) def. Peter Gandal 3-0: 9-2, 9-2, 9-1
#6 Zach Ginsberg (Bulls) def. Garrett Brown (Tigers) 3-0 : 9-2, 9-1, 9-4
#7 David Mullins (Tigers) def. Ryan Craig (Bulls) 3-0: 9-2, 9-4, 9-7
#8 Viveka Mishra (Bulls) def. Jasmine Kaidbey (Tigers) 3-1: (1-9, 9-4, 9-5, 9-3)
#9 Jacqui Barnes (Bulls) def. Valerie Itteilag (Tigers) 3-0 : 10-8, 9-5, 10-8
#10 Tip Myers (Bulls) def. Heidi Fisher (Tigers) 3-0: 9-1, 9-3, 9-7
# 11 Campbell Kleiforth (Tigers) def. Caitlin Jones (Bulls) 9-0, 9-7, 10-8

FINAL SCORE: BULLS WIN 6-5

Hunt Richardson and Connie Barnes
November 6, 2004

(Connie and Hunt are interested in setting up fun competitions like this with other junior groups. They can be contacted directly or through us at Squashwars (conandrod@earthlink.net)  Ed.)

Lucky Nick Tournament

The Director's Cut (back)

The 2004 McFadden's Lucky Nick Squash Open, held September 24-26 at the Sports Club/LA in Washington, DC, was one of the largest open tournaments ever held in Washington, DC. The $5,000 purse galvanized the best 16-player professional combined male-female draw that the city has ever seen. The participation of the Pros attracted a record-breaking number of amateurs in the skill-level divisions, of which there were eight. (Results posted on the front page of the NCSRA-squashwars.org website)

The Pro Seeds advanced to the Semi-finals as predicted, with PSA #18 Mark Chaloner defeating #19 Renan Lavigne in a spirited five game final. For his effort, Chaloner received not only a check but a Magnum of Moet & Chandon Champagne. On their way to the final, Chaloner defeated #54 Mark Heather, and Renan Lavigne outlasted Paul Price, ranked #20. Quite a win for Lavigne considering that three years ago Price was #4 in the world.

There were 102 entrants in the eight skill level events, with more than 20 people electing to play in two draws. The local talent included several promising juniors who are being guided by Coaches Wendy Lawrence, Brian O'Hora, Connie Barnes and Hunt Richardson. Young stars Rob Rasmussen, brothers Greg and Ben Rind, Camille Lanier, Merritt Moore, Graham Copeland, Ben Jaffin and Alex Johnson (who played six matches) will no doubt make many big splashes in future as they climb the ladders of squash success!

There was a great party on Saturday night at McFadden's Restaurant and Saloon, the title sponsor. A huge raffle left everyone in attendance with a great prize or two, including tickets to see Gil and Orli Shaham at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, free squash lessons with Bethesda Pro Connie Barnes, massages and private training sessions at the Sports Club/LA, free Hi-Tec squah shoes and smart warm-ups and squash racquets from QM Sports-USA.

The tournament was oversubscribed, and organizers Hunt Richardson and Sarah Hammond regretted allowing in so many players that there were not enough courts to schedule consolation matches for those who lost in the first rounds of their events (except the juniors draw, which had a consolation round). To make it up to those who did not play the guarantedd two matches per draw, they will refund $10 per person per draw to all who lost in the first round of their events.

Several procedural changes will take place in future tournaments at the Sports Club/LA which will end any oversubscription issues. The registration deadline will be moved forward by one week. Online registration will be implemented with automatic cut-off after the entry deadline date. There will be only one draw per player. Additional courts at other sites in the area will be secured in advance. It is expected that these measures will enable future Lucky Nick Tournaments to continue to attract and handle large numbers of entrants so that everyone who plays in them will be able to play two matches and have the most enjoyable tournament experience possible.

Sarah and Hunt would like to thank the many sponsors who donated money and raffle prizes, the Pro-host families, the Referees and all the generous individuals who donated valuable time, housing, skills and resources to get the 2004 Lucky Nick off the ground and keep it running. See you on court soon!

Sarah Hammond and Hunt Richardson, Squash Pros
The Sports Club/LA - Washington, DC
10 October 2004