for the report for 2001Report
for the season 2001-2002
At
the outset I must express my thanks to all the members of the junior committee,
without whose hard work and commitment none of the activities would have taken
place. I wish to thank, too, all the many parents who have helped and supported
in different ways, and clubs who have allowed us the use of their facilities,
especially to Bowdon Squash Club, Prestbury Squash Club, Chester Rugby, Grove
Park, Warrington and Manchester Northern who have allowed us their courts on
numerous occasions. We are grateful also to the Senior Committee for their
continued support, both financially and in other ways.
Throughout
the season I have been fortunate to have the constant support of the Junior
Committee members. They are:
Martin Wren, George Williams, Janet Begg, Ali Kippax, John Larmouth,
Steve Hough. I’d like, too, to give special thanks to Dave Easton, who ran the
Junior Closed Championships so well, using Johm Larmouth’s excellent software.
Cheshire
Junior Squash is held in high esteem throughout the country and we have
succeeded this season in maintaining that high regard. Children, today, are
faced with increasing demands on their time and more and more pressures as well
as attractions and we have to work very hard to draw young people into squash
and to keep them playing throughout their teens. When we succeed we have given
them a game for life, and they have acquired through squash many important
social skills which are invaluable as they move on to adulthood.
This
season we have had some successes and some disappointments but there are many
signs of encouragement. Though we are a small team, we remain positive and would
welcome involvement from any enthusiast who wishes to put something back into
the game which we all love.
The County Closed Championships
These were successfully held in January at Warrington Sports Club. Click here for the results
The
County Teams
Under
11
This
season we had an enthusiastic group of young player who enjoyed training
together and one or two more were added as the season progressed. The highlight
of the season was the U11 Festival of squash in February at Manchester Northern.
The Cheshire team did well to come 3rd out of 9, an excellent result considering
that one of the team only joined us in January after the Junior Championships.
It was his first inter county experience.
This
is a promising young squad. 8 Cheshire boys took part in the Inter county matches stage 1
in Nottinghamshire. We were 2nd to Nottinghamshire in the group of 4
In
Stage 2 the team came 4th in the promotion group, but we were without our No 2
and No 4 due to illness.
In
the Northern Cup the U13 boys team were beaten by Yorkshire, but only
narrowly lost to Nottinghamshire on day one. On day 2 they won both matches
comfortably. 7th position overall.
U15 Boys
Team-
1
Nathan Langley - Crewe Vagrants,
2 Robert Begg - Widnes,
3 Oliver Wildig -
Alderley Edge, 4
Adam Murrills- Bowdon
5 Sean Hunter - Widnes,
6 Jade Dudley - Grove Park
Playing
as hosts at Crewe Vagrants to Derbyshire/ Cumbria/ Durham & Cleveland
All
played excellently against some tough opposition, but were pipped for first
place by three points to Derbyshire. This
still gave the team a chance to play in the second stage for promotion into the
Premier League.
Stage
II
Team-
1
Nathan Langley- 2
Robert Begg 3
Oliver Wildig 4
Adam Murrills- 5 Sean Hunter
, 6 Stephen
Fitchett-
Widnes
Playing
this time in Leicestershire against Derbyshire/Oxfordshire/Derbyshire.
Derbyshire once again narrowly were the victors at 3 games to 2.
No promotion this year
Northern
Cup
Team-
1
Nathan Langley- 2
Robert Begg 3
Oliver Wildig,4
Oliver Hudson -
Crewe Vagrants, 5 Sean Hunter ,
6 Stephen Fitchett
Another
year to contend with Yorkshire in the first round.
Losing 3-2 that put us into
the second group. As four counties
were in each section the best we could do after losing to Yorkshire was 5th. We kept this position easily as the second section games were
effortless for the boys. Throughout
the year the boys have supported one another in a positive manner.
They have become friends and hopefully this team spirit will continue.
U15
Girls
Inter
County Stage 1:
Two
counties withdrew and the team, without Franci Kippax, who played in the U19
team lost 2 -3 to Oxfordshire.
At
Stage 2, No game as one county withdrew leaving only Cheshire and
Buckinghamshire.
The
only girls team from Cheshire in the Northern Cup was the U15s. They did very
well and came second to Yorkshire.
U17
Boys
Inter
County Stage 1
The
team was without Thomas Javanaud, injured. They travelled to Brighton and faced
strong opposition and came 4th in the group
Stage
2 at
Leicester, Nathan Langley withdrew from the team, because of an injury, playing
football at school, Tom Wildig replaced Nathan. The team in playing order was,
Thomas Javanaud, Tom Wildig, Robert Begg, Richard Hart, Oliver Wildig and Ben
Howe at No.6. You will note from the team, No.3/5 are from the under 15 squad,
highlighting the problem trying to pick an U/17 team.
Leicestershire,
Essex and Devon were far too strong for Cheshire, this reflected in the final
placing, after only attaining 5 points, we finished bottom of the group. T.
Javanaud won 4 points, while Oliver Wildig won 1 point. On the plus side every
player played to his full potential and could not have tried harder, and were a
credit to the County on and off court.
We
did not field a team at U17 in the Northern Cup this year.
U19
boys
Inter
County stage 1.
Premier Division The team played in Pontefract against strong opposition,
Yorkshire, Leics and SE Wales. 4th in group.
Stage
2
Michael Waight injured his back playing badminton and did not travel
with the team to Middlesex Cheshire came 4th in Group. First division squash
next season The team wasThomas Javanaud, James Larmouth, Daniel Easton, Paul
Driscoll, Matthew Batchelor
Northern
Cup Results
The
U19 boys team narrowly missed going into the top group so were placed in the
middle group for day 2 and were comfortable winners.The team finished 4th.
U19
Girls
Inter
County Stage 1
The
team played well and came 2nd to Derbyshire
At
Stage 2 Due to illness we did not have a full team and therefore withdrew.
We
did not enter a team in the Northern Cup
Junior
Development
George
Williams continues to work hard at encouraging clubs and visiting schools and
introducing young players to squash in Cheshire.
At
club level where 12 clubs showed interest a fixture list was arranged for the
season where each club was to play each other once, making 11 matches in all
when they were encouraged to have as many players as possible. While some clubs
played most of their matches, others did not fulfil their fixtures, or at any
rate did not send results. Please see the website for fixtures and submitted
results. At committee we felt that it is now for the clubs themselves to take
ownership of the leagues, to get together and run them in the way they want. We
will give assistance where we can.
Our
major thrust for next season is to plan efficiently, both financially and in
terms of time and volunteers. To that end we are launching a junior
membership scheme. This will help us target our resources.
We
believe that by doing so we will encourage a wider support and involvement in
county junior squash and will give players of all ages greater opportunities to
meet together and to improve their skills.
Starting
in September there will be 12 monthly training sessions, which members are
entitled to attend. These will be held at different venues, some on a Saturday
and some on a Sunday. Details will be available on the Website when they are
finalised. In case you don’t yet know, the website address is www.cheshiresquash.org.
See the membership application form for details.
Please
encourage all the juniors in your club to register and join with us as we try to
cater for their needs and keep Cheshire as one of the best counties in the
country.
Alan
Batchelor
June
2002
Click
for the report for 2001