This weekend (6, 7 August 2011) saw the Valleys Club hold their inaugural junior challenge tournament. The Club put on an excellent tournament and I believe it will become a permanent fixture.

30 juniors from across Canberra and Queanbeyan participated in a number of age based divisions. The Queanbeyan Leagues Club had 7 participants in the following divisions

• Under 15 A Mixed - Tiana Saxby

• Under 15 B Mixed - Connor McDonald and Sarah Keen

• Under 13 Girls - Kathryn Martin

• Under 13 Boys - Alex Carrick and Ryan Martin

• Under 11 Boys - Ben Keen

All of our members played extremely well and seem to have even gained skills over the break.

All players were a buzz when the World #1 players, Nick Matthew and Nicol David  turned up to present winners and runner up prizes, and I'm sure that anything that wasn't tied down was presented for autograph signing.

We had some success with Connor winning his division and Sarah runner up. Connor won a racquet of his choice and I'm sure he will have a great pennant season with his new weapon.

Ben was also runner up in his division. No one should walk away disappointed as everyone played extremely competitive squash. It was a good start to the season and gives everyone something to improve upon. A mention to Tiana and her mum Elissa, who made the trip down each day from Goulburn.

Once a again a well done to all players.

Also special mention to Julian Carrick (Alex’s Dad) who some how was awarded the over 17 division prize (won the raffle) and made sure he got his picture with the world's best players.

The first weekend of July saw four of the clubs junior players compete in the 2011 NSW Juniors Championships at the MAASH Centre in Sydney;

• Connor McDonald
• Kane Lugwig
• Sarah Keen
• Ben Ken

This was the first time in many years that our juniors have played in this tournament, and all gave 100%.  The tournament featured highly ranked NSW and Australian players, and the standard of play was very impressive.

Given our players limited experience, expectations for the weekend were modest, Sarah picked up a game and Connor, Kane and Ben all gave glimpses of their potential and displayed a positive attitude in all their matches. I am sure the experience will stand them in good stead for coming tournaments, and if they maintain their enthusiasm the results will follow.

I should also mention two of the clubs newly signed junior players who were also competing; Matthew Hall and Adam Fleming-Wilkie.  These players are local div 1 juniors and displayed remarkable skills on the court - hopefully some of these skills will rub off on our newer juniors over the coming season/s.

Each week the club will be hoping to have an article in the Queanbeyan Age, giving an update about the previous weeks results and other club matters.

Team Captains are very welcome to send any items for inclusion to jeremy.keen@aph.gov.au

We’ve now had 2 weeks of Juniors competition play, with last Friday (25-3-2011) being the first with all of our players competing.  It was great seeing all the kids wearing the club uniform and  playing with terrific sportsmanship and enthusiasm.  Most rewarding was the fact that they all had huge smiles on their faces at the end of the night.

The Queanbeyan Age has published a really good article following the first weeks play (attached).

After much hard work by those involved in the junior program, the club will be fielding it's first players in junior competition in a very long time.

A big thank-you to all who participated in the weekend club champs, it was very rewarding seeing lots of squash being played in a friendly but competitive sporting manner.  For those that are  playing in GF’s this week, I am sure that the weekend hit will stand you in good stead.

I would like to offer a special word of thanks to Trev for (mostly) organising the event, and for doing all the catering for the Sunday dinner – it was an effort way beyond the call of duty.

Sunday afternoon saw the following finals results unfold;

A Grade – Trev Scorer def Jeremy Keen 3-0.  In a match that hopefully entertained those watching, Trev was a fraction (way) too good.  Upon fear of bursting a lung, I forced a long game in the second – but that was as close as it got.  Trev’s court speed, and tight shots from corner to corner earned him a well deserved victory.

B Grade – Jason Kruyer def Naveen Wijemanne 3-0.  A consistently improving Jason had just the right game plan to topple Naveen.  A good variety of long and short shots saw Naveen on the defensive constantly fetching shots, and not able to get forward.  Jason dominated the court for a confident win.

C Grade – Trent Greentree def Tom Rueger 3-2.  Probably the match of the weekend – both players very evenly matched.  Tom started strong getting up 2-0 but couldn’t put a determined Trent away.  Lots of long rallies, in a mostly error free match that had 3 long games.  Trent victorious in a super come-back.

D Grade – Daniel MacPherson def Lorraine Fitzgerald 3-0.  Dan’s new found fitness and strength, proved too much for Lorraine’s touch game.  Lorraine nearly won the third game, but a tenacious Dan fought back to secure the D Grade Championship.

Juniors – the weekend also saw 2 inaugural juniors events take place.  On Saturday the Viking’s Juniors hosted a Christmas Mini Tournament, and on Sunday the kids played in the Junior Club Champs.  The Vikings event was a mixture of both matches against, and training with the Viking’s kids – giving our kids a hit with both other new, and more seasoned junior players.  The kids had a great time, and we’ll certainly be looking to do similar events next year.

Sunday then saw the kids have a crack at the junior club champs, again a lot of good sportsmanship was shown, and there was a very healthy amount of competition amongst the top  players. All of them gave 100%, and it was great to see the following kids running around and enjoying themselves.

• Lachlan Searle
• Ben Keen
• Sarah Keen
• Kathryn Martin
• Ryan Martin

In the end, the final was between brother and sister, Ben and Sarah Keen.  As with all sibling rivalries, it was a hard and close fought match, with Ben narrowly winning 2-1 (40-37 points) over big sister Sarah.  Mum and Dad were very proud with how they played, and I give myself 5 years (maybe) before they can both beat me!

Written by J Keen