We got stroked at QBN/Bega Squash Challenge

There was more than one case of Déjà vu as many of the club’s more dedicated players and their partners travelled to Bega for the second (now annual) Queanbeyan /Bega Squash Challenge;

·         assembling at the McDonalds Queanbeyan at the crack of dawn

·         the pink shirt of shame

·         sampling some of the world’s best pies at Nimmitabel

·         Bob Martin’s penchant for BLT’s

·         checking into the Commercial Hotel (although some chose The Bank, just down the road)

·         playing in sweltering conditions

·         and driving home in pouring rain – just to name a few.

Most notably though, the people of Bega are incredible hosts and a great deal of fun was had by all.

A new, but somewhat familiar game was added to this year’s challenge – plastic animals were handed out to all players and fines issued for not showing due diligence protecting said animals. Serious breaches meant the guilty party had to either wear the shirt of shame, or look after a large teddy bear.

Despite the heat, we took out the honours in all four divisions, though there were some challenges.  Bega’s Troy Northey was too strong for our club’s best squash players and few from either side managed to keep a hold of their plastic animals.

In the end, we retained the tournament shield, Tom Rueger was voted Queanbeyan’s most valuable player, Craig Bassett was voted Bega’s MVP and we raised more than $300 for Camp Quality through fines. Other highlights included:

·         Andrew Bomm travelling all the way from Wagga Wagga to participate

·         Gavin’s camera envy when the Bega District News arrived with a bigger lens

·         Witnessing a Lunar Eclipse – the Moon’s disappearing completely on Sunday

All in all it was a terrific weekend and it was great to see so many partners come along for the fun.  Big thanks to Trev and Jeremy from Queanbeyan, Dennis, Dick from Bega and anyone who helped make the weekend such a success.

We hope to see you at the next trip!

Written by Mitch Fox

Photos by Gavin Jackson