Category Archives: Jesters Juniors

2018 Jesters Jericho Juniors Recap

Jesters Juniors, ,

The Jericho Junior Open was another huge success here at the club (Jan. 19th-21st).   We had 120 juniors from around BC competing in eleven events including three ‘Silver’ divisions to encourage competition with developing players in the Boys U17, U15 and Girls U13 divisions.

With your generous donation all of our winners received brand new Salming racquets!  We provided excellent prizes and trophies for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and consolation winners as well as some fantastic draw prizes.  I mention the draw prizes because the juniors will stay to watch the final matches and attend the awards presentation because in order to win they have to be in attendance.

Sam Scivier from Jericho and Alex Brown from SMUS where the overall winners in the boys and girls divisions respectively.  BC has some exceptional 13-15 year old players at the moment as the Boys U17 and Girls U19 were all packed with younger juniors playing up in higher age categories.

Again the Silver categories provided an opportunity for developing players to experience success in full weekend tournaments without having to compete against more established elite level juniors.  These are some of the most enjoyable matches of the weekend as the players are very keen and excited to be at the event.

Thank you once again to the Jesters for your support of our event and other Junior and Adult squash tournaments across BC.  Your contribution really makes a difference to the success of our weekend and impacts the enjoyment and experience of the juniors who compete.

https://www.sportyhq.com/tournament/view/2018-Jesters-Jericho-Junior-Open

Richard Yendell
Head Squash Professional
Junior Girls National Coach

Jesters PNW

2018 Jesters PNW Summary

Jesters Juniors, ,

Without you:

I am proud to carry on the tradition of the 49th Jesters PNW in Victoria BC that Phil Green built. An event that lasts in the minds of the athletes who travel to Victoria each February. Phil’s years of devotion to Junior Squash laid the ground work for our success going forward. This event is run the with 200+ athletes at 3 venues on Saturday (13 courts), comprising a total of 499 squash matches in 2.5 days of play. Our registration deadline was 2 weeks prior to the event but we filled up 1 week before the deadline. It is bad for the squash player who did not get in but good to know that squash is more popular than ever.

If you were able to watch the live stream of this event you would have watched till 12:00am on Friday. We set the record for the latest match at the Friday of the PNW! Brooke Herring and Brianna Jefferson stepped off court just after mid-night from their extra point 5 set Quart-final match. A 5-set match seemed to be the story of the day. The first and 2nd rounds of the main draws needed to be played prior to Saturday. As I entered the results into the draws the number of games going to extra points, or lasting 5 games was a testament to the level of play this year. I kept hoping that we would get back on time…but never quite did.

Once the Friday grind was over we settled into a rhythm for Saturday and Sunday. Longer court bookings and three venues helped the timing for the remainder of the event. That’s not to say the level of competition waned. The boys U19 final had a 5 game match for the winner while the Girls U19 was a fitting domination for her last PNW event. Ryan Picken and Andrea Toth, from BC, both won their events and took home the Gold! To crown Andrea’s win she was voted the George-Morfitt Sportsmanship award.

Now that the fun and games are done we should reflect on the people behind the scene. The team of volunteer’s countless hours to keep things going: Daryl Suen, John Roche, Patty Ballam, and Yennie Yuen volunteered and headed up our venue control, refereeing, food service and tournament detailing. Additionally, 48 volunteers stepped forward to help with court control, registration and food services. I would not have been able to run this event without any of them. If you see a volunteer thank them for their service.

Our sponsors of this event help in countless ways to keep the affordability of the event for the parents who support their kids to play squash.

  • St. Michael’s University School: Providing court time for over 1/3 of the squash matches
  • Victoria Squash Club and Stuart Dixon: hosting their facility all day Saturday and part of Sunday this year
  • Fairways Market: Providing food to be served to athletes and coaches for the weekend
  • Hotel Grand Pacific: They provided a rate, and service that is beyond belief for everyone who stayed at their facility
  • Out of the blue Designs: They helped design and get amazing rates for the tournament souvenir each year
  • Jesters of BC: Their generous support of Junior squash keeps an event of this size in the realm of affordability

I look forward to running this event next year. Registration will open in November of 2018. Visit this site to keep informed of the 2019 50th Jesters PNW!

Thank you
Benjamin Uliana
Tournament Director

For more information on this event please click on the image below or visit http://www.jesterspnw.ca/

Jesters PNW

2017 Jesters Pacific Northwest Junior Championships

Blog, Jesters Juniors,

2017 Jesters Pacific Northwest Junior Championships

Dear Jesters

This year’s event drew a record 233 entries and included many of Canada’s leading players. I’m pleased to report that our BC contingent fared very well. Grace Thomas (Victoria) and Andrea Toth (Richmond) met in the Girl’s Under 19 final with the win going to Thomas in a tight four game match. In the Boys Under 19 semi-final, Ryan Picken (Shawnigan) eliminated top seed Akasham Rajagopaul (Niagra Falls) but was unable to overcome 2nd seed Brett Schille (Calgary) in the final. Additional B.C highlights are listed below.

Over the years, Jester’s sponsorship has helped us to maintain a reasonable entry fee for this event. Additional Jester’s funding in 2017 allowed us to enhance player meals, upgrade the tournament souvenir and to add a third place award in all fifteen divisions.

A volunteer crew of over fifty provided vital services including court control, meal services and registration. In addition, we had 17 local players referee all the Under 19 and Under 17 quarter finals and beyond, plus all the first matches each day.  In total there were 476 matches played at three venues on 13 courts. We gratefully acknowledge and thank St. Michael’s University School and Stuart Dixon at the Victoria Squash Club for the use of their facilities. We also thank Lynne Grass of Shawnigan Lake School who provided an inter venue shuttle on Friday. And finally, a special thanks to John Roche who I believe has assisted at every PNW hosted at Cedar Hill since 1993 – amazing!

The Pacific Northwest Junior tournament was inaugurated in 1969 and has now run continuously for 48 years. In that first year, I was among the participants. I believe it was here where I was introduced to and then thrashed by John Hungerford. Tragic as that was, my occasional glimpses of the front wall cemented a lasting affection for the game and this event in particular. It was my pleasure to run the tournament numerous times from 1970 through to 1982. After a four year stint at Edmonton’s Royal Glenora Club, I returned to Victoria in 1986 and this was the beginning of an unbroken thirty year association with the PNW. How time flies!

In 2018, the PNW will be hosted under new leadership. I am confident that Ben Uliana and his team will continue to enhance the event’s reputation as one of Canada’s most popular Junior tournaments.

To all B.C. Jesters: thank you for your enduring support of Junior Squash in the province
With thanks,
Philip Green

Other notable BC results in Open divisions include:

Boys Under 17  
John Dempsey  2nd
Emilio Carrillo 3rd
Sayeed Mavani 4th

Girls Under 17  
Sarah Cao 1st

Boys Under 15  
Christian Yuen 3rd

Girls Under 15  
Julia Horsey 1st

Boys Under 13  
Joseph Toth 1st

Girls Under 13  
Grace Huang 1st
Maria Min 2nd
Ava Bicknell 4th

Boys Under 11  
Ryan Vest 2nd
Galen Armstrong 3rd

Six ‘B’ divisions were also offered

Boys Under 17/19 B     
1. Lucas Galloway
2. Mark Felea-Motet
3. Amir Djearam

Girls Under 17B       
1. Annika Lakhani
2. Angel Hu
3. Carolina Mees

Boys Under 15B   
1. Ian Heck
2. Cole Parmar
3. Oliver Kerr

Girls Under 13/15B  
1. Bernice Xiao
2. Juliana Angel
3. Ava Galloway

Boys Under 13B   
1. Razaan Lalji
2. Tyler Driscoll
3. Ryan Khakzad

Boys Under 11B    
1. Nathan Campo
2. Anderson Brown
3. Jonathan Gower

> >  Click here to view the draws.

 

 

 

 

  

                                   

2016 Jesters Pacific Northwest Junior Squash Championships

Jesters Juniors

2016 Jesters Pacific Northwest Junior Championships- February 11-14

This year’s event set yet another attendance record with 225 players representing six provinces and two western states. Over the four day event a total of 475 matches were played on 13 courts at Cedar Hill, St Michael’s University School and the Victoria Squash Club.

Since this event was identified by Squash Canada in 2014 as one of four qualifying events for National Junior Team selection, we have hosted some of the country’s best junior athletes. This year’s list of top Canadian ranked players in attendance was impressive:

Boys Under 19
#1 Rahul Sahrawat (Ontario)
#2 Michael Mehl (Alberta)
#6 Matthew Toth (BC)
#8 Matthew Henderson (BC)
#9 Noel Heaton (Alta)

Girls Under 19
#5 Grace Thomas (BC)
#6 Nicole Kendall (Ont)
#7 Hannah Blatt (Man)
#9 Andrea Toth (BC) and
#10 Nour Elhendawi (BC)

There was also great talent in the Under 17, Under 15 and Under 13 events.

Complete draws:
http://www.r2sports.com/tourney/divisions/listAllDivs.asp?TID=16904&sortBy=defaultOrder

Some sixty volunteers were on hand to provide meals, register players, manage court control and officiate some of the main Under 19 and Under 17 matches. On behalf of the volunteers, players, coaches and parents, I would like to express my sincere appreciation of the British Columbia Jesters for your continuing support of this event.

This year’s winner of the George Morfitt Sportmanship Award was Grace Thomas of Victoria. The award was presented on behalf of the Jesters by Urmas Anniko, Cedar Hill Squash Club President

Philip Green

2015 Jesters Pacific Northwest Junior Championships

Jesters Juniors, , ,

Dear Jesters,

This year’s Jesters Pacific Northwest Junior Championships (PNW) drew 220 entries, up slightly from 2014. Included in this number was a record 51 players from Alberta and, for the first time in many years, a group of ten players arrived from Portland, Oregon.

Two years ago, a decision was made to eliminate the Novice divisions and instead, run two separate local events for these players in November and December. We had 148 players registered in ‘Main’ events while the ‘B’ draws attracted another 72 players.

Saturday was our busiest day with 13 courts in full swing at Cedar Hill, Victoria Squash Club and St Michael’s University School. A grand total of 432 matches were run over the weekend. We are very fortunate to have a core of volunteers who are committed to ensuring the success of the PNW every year. This years’ remarkable crew numbered 38 and they did everything from court control, registration, food services, transportation and officiating. Ben Uliana applied his technical skills to setting up live streaming on two courts and the quality of the feed was the best ever.

The George Morfitt Sportsmanship Award was presented by John Roche on behalf of the B.C. Jesters. This year’s recipient was Matthew Henderson of Victoria

As always, we are grateful for the support of the British Columbia Jesters. Over the past few years, the Jesters’ name has become synonymous with the promotion of junior Squash. My first opportunity to chair the PNW came in 1970 at the age of seventeen. The freshly opened Racquet Club of Victoria had three courts and I believe we had about 45 players that weekend. At the time, it seemed like a lot! While that facility is soon to be demolished, the tournament it once hosted there continues to flourish with your help.

On behalf of all this years’ players, parents and coaches – thank you! Your contribution to this event and to junior Squash in the province is very much appreciated.

Regards
Phillip Green

To see RESULTS follow the link and click on the ‘View’ icon for each event: http://www.r2sports.com/tourney/divisions/listAllDivs.asp?TID=13602&sortBy=defaultOrder

 

Pacific Northwest Junior Squash Championships

Jesters Juniors,

This year marked the 45th operation of the Jester’s Pacific Northwest Junior Squash Championships.  With 217 entries, it ranked amongst the largest turnouts for any Junior tournament in Canada this year.  As one of four Squash Canada core events for elite Under 19 and Under 17 players, we were treated to a very high standard of play in the senior events.

Check out the final results here.

Given the large number of matches to be played, we have recently started play at the local level on Thursday and on Friday, at 1:00 pm.  This has helped maintain reasonable evening match times for all players and yet still wind up the tournament by 3:00 pm on Sunday.

In addition to the four courts at Cedar Hill, we used nine additional courts at St Michael’s University School and the Victoria Squash Club.  A total of 439 matches were played!

George Morfitt graciously attended our award ceremonies and presented the sportsmanship award in his name to Michele Garceau of the Evergreen Squash Club.

Once again this year, we are very grateful for the support of the British Columbia Jesters. With George’s assistance, a poster was on display at each venue which we hope has informed players, coaches and parents of the role of the Jesters in our Squash community.

Many thanks to Phillip Green, of the Cedar Hill Squash Club, for the following photos from the successful event.

Boys Under 19 Final
Boys Under 19 final – (L) Carter Robitaille (Toronto) and (R) Jarryd Osborne (Kingston)  Robitaille won 3-1

Girls Under 19 FinalGirls Under 19 final –  Michele Garceau in blue (Vancouver) and Madlen O’Connor (Toronto)  O’Connor won 3-1

PNW Crowd

Sunday finals crowd!

Pacific Northwest Junior Squash Championships