Club news
The women’s weekend wrapped up last Sunday and what a weekend it was! The tournament attracted 134 players from all over Alberta as well as a few from BC and Saskatchewan and, thanks to the organising committee, the weekend went off flawlessly. We would like to congratulate the winners: Melina Turk (Open), Christine Yablonka (A), Tamara Linklater (Div 1), Hilf Thrainsdottir (Div 2), Shannon Rogolino (Div 3), Debbie Sonego (Div 4), Carolyn Kennedy (Div 5), Anna Plato (Div 6), Marilyn Brodeur (Div 7), Maya Jeerakathil (Div 8), Caroline de Vries (Div 9), Heather Sanregret (Div 10), Dael Jarvie (Div 11) and Bayla Braun (Div 12). There was also a doubles tournament where the tandem of Katie Buck and Molli Hay prevailed as the champions.
Thank you to John & Caroline de Vries, Sean Peacock, Jim Soneff, Scott Barker, David Sharp, Anthony Looy, Vince Andrusiak, Rob Music, Rod Pantiony & James Forde who volunteered over the weekend. I appreciate all of you and your support with the Women’s Weekend.
I would like to also congratulate the Edmonton Women’s Committee, their volunteers and sponsors for running an amazing tournament. A special shout out goes to Julie Multamaki & Julia Smith. As always they did a fantastic job coordinating this event.
Lastly, I would especially like to thank Ibrahim Elserafy for coordinating Nour El Sherbini’s visit continuing his tradition of bringing world class players to Edmonton. How he taps into these players and makes it happen is amazing! We are working on editing the video of her match against Victoria Lust and hope to have that on our youtube channel soon. If you are interested in video footage for any of the other exhibition events with Nour from the ESC, then email us at info@edmontonsquashclub.ca and I’ll be happy to share a link with you.
While I am on the topic of videos, we have finally squashed the last few remaining bugs in the PlaySight system, and in order to maintain it we will have to starting charging an access fee to pay for the storage and processing by the PlaySight servers. Starting on March 1st we ask that if you log into the system that you please subscribe to one of our PlaySight subscriptions. The monthly fee will be $15/month for members and $20/month for non-members, or if you wish to purchase an annual plan the fee will be $120/year ($10/month). However for anyone that purchases an annual plan before March 31, the charge will be only $100 and the subscription will be valid until March 31, 2017. As a bonus, you will lock in you price at $100/year for as long as the club is able to offer PlaySight services. Also until March 31st, anybody that refers another member who purchases a 1 year membership will have a $20 credit applied to their account dues.
Upcoming Events
Note – this Monday is Family Day, and we will be operating under reduced staff hours from 10 AM – 6 PM. The club will of course be available to members with a fob from 5 AM – Midnight as usual.
- Friday Drop-in
- Come out for the Friday drop-in! All members of all abilities are welcome. The Friday drop-in is scheduled from 5:15 PM to 7:30 PM. This free drop-in for members is to give everyone the opportunity to come for a hit to burn off the stress of the busy week and to socialise and meet new people. If you’re new to the club this is a great opportunity to find some new opponents to play. Guests of members may also play for the price of a normal drop-in fee.
- Learn How to Play Doubles Squash!
- The Edmonton Squash Club is now offering a free drop-in for double squash on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings from 6:40 PM to 8 PM for the rest of February and for the month of March. Make sure you come down and learn this great game. Doubles squash enhances your regular squash game and will not hurt it. Please remember to bring your eye guards or we will provide some for you, as eye guards are mandatory on the doubles court.
- Box League
- The box league for February is now live. If you have signed up for box league and have not yet received an email, then just log into your Jegysoft account to see who your opponents will be for the month.
Member Spotlight
As many of you have likely seen, we are constantly broadcasting squash matches on a brand new TV just across from the front desk. This TV has been donated to us courtesy of long-time Edmonton squash player Doug Kirillo. A multi sport athlete during his student days (Lacrosse, Wrestling, Football and Hockey among others), Doug turned to squash as a social outlet many years ago at the Harley Club, and has since turned it into a family affair with his partner Heather, his daughters Lauren and Caroline and his stepson Joel. After the Harley Club closed, Doug has been a member at a number of other clubs including the Royal Glenora, the Centre Club and the Riverbend Athletic Club, but this year he’s made the Edmonton Squash Club his home, bringing his long time interclub team the Screaming Penguins with him.
Doug is an entrepreneur with a special interest in recycling and waste reduction. His current business is called GreenVolt (www.greenvolt.ca). For $49 dollars, his company will come anywhere in Edmonton and replace your old dead lead-acid battery in your car, SUV, RV or pretty much anything else you can imagine with a battery which has been reconditioned in a patented eco-friendly way. The reconditioned batteries are tested under severe conditions down to -60 degrees celcius and come with a 1-year, no questions asked warranty. If you ever have a problem with your car battery, you should definitely keep Doug in mind!
The TV is also sponsored by Doug’s good friend and business partner Matthew Kantahil who is the man behind Accounting Force which provides small business solutions to Edmonton and Calgary.
For more details about Green Volt and Accounting Force please visit www.edmontonsquashclub.ca/sponsors.
Squash News
The last week and a half have been busy ones on the squash circuit. The biggest event was the Swedish Open where Karim Gawad took the crown in an epic 5 game match against compatriot Tarek Momen, once again proving that if you have your picture taken at the ESC then good things will happen (he is on the front page of our website)!
The highest profile stop on women’s tour was in Cleveland, Ohio for the 50k Cleveland Classic, where Camille Serme of France (world #5) defeated Alison Waters of England (world #13) in the final.
Closer to home, the Winnipeg Winter Club Women’s Open wrapped up two weekends ago with Emily Whitlock (ENG) prevailing against Nicolette Fernandes (GUY) in the final. The best Canadian result was from Holly Naughton who made it all the way to the semi-finals.
At the same time Sean Delierre made it to his second straight PSA final at Banker’s Hall in Calgary, falling to world #49 Raphael Kandra (GER). The next local PSA tournament will be be in Calgary for the MRU Pro-Am 5k challenge event – registration is still open until February 19th if you’d like to participate.
Right after her exhibition against Nour El Sherbini at the ESC, Victoria Lust headed straight to the airport for last week’s British Nationals. She had an excellent tournament making it to the quarterfinals before falling to eventual women’s champion Laura Massaro. Nick Matthew won the men’s competition.
Next Tuesday the focus will switch to Cartagena, Columbia for the inaugural 115k Columbia Open. It will be broadcast live on Squash TV, so come by and watch it with us at the club.
We have a thriving junior program at the club, but have you ever wondered what kind of racquets are appropriate for your child? Pierre Bastien from Squash Source has some thoughts to share on the topic.
Taking lessons with our club pros is probably the best way to improve your game, but what resources can you draw on between lessons? I like to visit Squash Skills as a go-to source of squash training information. Here is an interview with Squash Skills founder Jethro Binns where he talks about the history of the site and a bit about their new site design.
Keep Swinging!
Jeff Williams
