666 squad training a rip roaring success!

Six groups of six Comberton players were invited for three hour intensive squad training this weekend with Level 3 coach Andrew D'Alessandro. Andy worked the squads hard and there was an amazing energy on court despite the heat. We worked on efficient court movement and hitting to a length. In fact Andy instituted a money-back challenge where any participant could win back their coaching fee by doing a solo rally of ten consecutive shots to a length behind the service box (floor then back wall only - and no volleying!). In the whole weekend only Tiaki Loza (who was visiting from St Ivo for the most advanced session) managed to win the challenge.

In each interval we enjoyed snacks and drinks kindly provided by Mike Macnamee. And we watched a short England Squash coaching presentation with Nick Matthew demonstrating the best technique for forehand and backhand strokes. This was projected larger than lifesize onto the wall of court 2. As was a demonstration game between Thierry Lincou and Lee Beachill.

After the break each group stepped up a gear to play more competitive conditioned games. This showed just how well matched the players in each of the three groupings were.

Well done all 18 of the 666 squads. And thanks again to Andy D'Alessandro for organizing the sessions so well - and keeping the focus on quality squash.

There will be more squad training for other groups - especially our girls - over the summer.

Saturday Junior Coaching (27th June)

This Saturday we will be running three coaching sessions. The first session is from 9.00 to 10.00 for beginners and the second is from 10.30 to 11.30 for more advanced players. And the final most advanced session is from 11.30 to 1.30pm.

Today we will be starting our special coaching sessions (codename '666') to be held today and tomorrow. Don't worry if you don't get invited this time - we will be holding more of these 3hr sessions through the summer and aim to get through everyone. If you are coming along to the 666 squad 1400 session then you don't need to turn out for your usual Saturday session.


Remember that eye-protection must be worn for all junior sessions.

9.00 - 10.00 session. Coaches: Keith Maloney and Ashok Babbar
10.30 - 11.30 session. Coaches: Mike Macnamee, Martyn Symmons, and Ashok Babbar
11.30 - 13.00 session. Coaches: Martyn Symmons and Mike Macnamee

Junior Report to the Club AGM

Our Club Annual General Meeting met last week to discuss our successes last season and our plans for the future. Juniors are a big big part of both these things. Here is what the meeting heard in a report given by Tom Blair - winner of the Cilla Fuller Award for most improved junior.


"Comberton Juniors have had an excellent season with perhaps their best ever performances in County competitions:-

1. County Closed September 2008: Jeremy Harris was winner of U-13. And Tom Symmons successfully defending his county U15 title with Tom Blair as runner up. Tom Symmons also won the U17 boys plate with Comberton player Chris Shaw as runner up. Jack Murphy won the U15 boys plate with Will Collett as runner up.

2. Area Academy Tournament Ipswich: This was the first year for a new Area set-up which brings Essex and Herts into the Academy region this meant much harder matches for our juniors. However our U15 boys were well placed.


3. England Squash National Schools Competition : The U15 Schools team won their first round regional league convincingly. And were then defeated by the narrowest of margins in a second round knockout match by the High Wycombe Royal Grammar. The Hill Road team consisting of mostly Comberton Club older juniors also made it through to the second round of the U19 competition.

4. Juniors in Club Adult League teams:
The Comberton mens 4th team had a number of juniors competing in the 4th Division of the Cambridgeshire Adult Leagues. Tom Blair made the greatest contribution to the team playing in a total of 11 hard matches. Chris Shaw played in 8. And Nick Hipwell played in 4. While Tom Symmons had the best overall result with a total of 5 wins for the Comberton team over the season.

5. 2008 Brian Fielding tournament: In this annual tournament in memory of Brian Fielding, Comberton girl Selina Leung was runner up in the Group A tournament and Tom Blair was semi-finalist in the Group B tournament.

6. County Boys U15 team: Four Comberton players played in the County U15 team which competed in the regional stages of the England Squash Inter-county competition.

7. Cambridgeshire junior leagues end-of-season tournament:
Selina Leung won the U15 girls.
Euan Macnamee won the U19 boys competition.
Jeremy Harris won the U13 boys competion.
Amy Lamb won the U17 girls plate.

8. Club Tournaments: Club final - Rob Dadds was club champion. And Tom Blair was runner up in the Club Plate. Jo Weavers was the U13 junior winner while Tom Symmons retained his U16 title.

9. The Final county ladder of the season shows juniors from Comberton out-number any other club: we have 16 players in the top 40. And we have 2 girls in the top 15 girls.

These figures show what an amazing season Comberton Junior Squash has had, but as always it couldn't have been done without a lot of effort and time given by a number of people who have helped with individual and team coaching, organization, and transportation. So we would like to say thank you to the following people: our parents, Ray, Martyn, Mike, Steve, Ashok, Keith, Andy and Ollie Thorne, Andy D'Alessandro, Bob Maison.

And particular thanks to Derek Fuller for advice, organizing the Club Tournaments and lots of other Club activities.

Juniors would also like to comment on suggestions for improvement of the Club facilities. The most popular choice was to have a glass back court and seating area on Court 1 - much like the end court of Hunts County Squash Club. Another popular suggestion is a key fob system for entering the building, this would mean only valid members would be able to use the courts. A third suggestion was to have our own vending machine for drinks and small snacks. "

Comberton juniors shine in Norwich!

Two of our Comberton lads took part in a Grand Prix competition at the Norwich Sportspark on Sunday 21 June, and both gave a very good account of themselves.

The Grand Prix was arranged in ten groups of eight players using a Monrad system to achieve a ranking of all the players at the end of the event after everyone had played three matches.

Jamie Sandford was in Group Six, and a narrow defeat in his first match meant that the highest overall placing he’d be able to achieve was fifth out of eight. Undaunted, he won his second match 2-1 and then defeated his final opponent to take fifth place. Considering he was playing on unfamiliar courts in a new environment this was a very creditable achievement.

Sam Bradshaw was in a higher group, Group Three, but coped extremely well with the low bounce of the Norwich courts to win all three of his matches in fine style, with only an occasional wobble against the no. 1 seed in his group, whom he disposed of in his second match. Unfortunately he had a long wait for his final match against the no. 2 seed, and was presented with his trophy in front of a huge audience consisting of his Mum, Bob Maison, the tournament organizer and myself! However, the small audience doesn’t detract from a great win – congratulations, Sam!


Ray Scrivens

Saturday Junior Coaching (20th June)

This Saturday we will be running three coaching sessions. The first session is from 9.00 to 10.00 for beginners and the second is from 10.30 to 11.30 for more advanced players. And the final most advanced session is from 11.30 to 1.30pm.

Today we will be handing out invites for special coaching sessions (codename '666') to be held 27th and 28th June. Don't worry if you don't get invited this time - we will be holding more of these 3hr sessions through the summer and aim to get through everyone.


Remember that eye-protection must be worn for all junior sessions.

9.00 - 10.00 session. Coaches: Ray Scrivens and Ollie Thorne
10.30 - 11.30 session. Coaches: Mike Macnamee, Ray Scrivens, and Andy Thorne
11.30 - 13.00 session. Coaches: Mike Macnamee and Ollie Thorne

Saturday Junior Coaching (13th June)

This Saturday we will be running three coaching sessions. The first session is from 9.00 to 10.00 for beginners and the second is from 10.30 to 11.30 for more advanced players. And the final most advanced session is from 11.30 to 1.30pm.

Today we will be handing out invites for special coaching sessions (codename '666') to be held 27th and 28th June. Don't worry if you don't get invited this time - we will be holding more of these 3hr sessions through the summer and aim to get through everyone.


Remember that eye-protection must be worn for all junior sessions.

9.00 - 10.00 session. Coaches: Ray Scrivens and Martyn Symmons
10.30 - 11.30 session. Coaches: Mike Macnamee, Martyn Symmons, and Andy Thorne
11.30 - 13.00 session. Coaches: Martyn Symmons, Mike Macnamee, and Steve Swanton

Comberton Village College U-15 National Schools bid

Comberton Village College under-15 National Schools team squad was announced this week by team manager Ray Scrivens. In previous years the teams have done exceptionally well - winning their regional leagues and showing that the combination of the school, after-school, and club session coaching is producing top quality junior players.

In the under-19 category we have always had the disadvantage of not having a sixth form to draw older players from. Of course that is all set to change now that the Comberton Sixth Form is close to opening....

But for now we have a good under-15 squad consisting of:

1.Tom Blair
2. Sam Bradshaw
3. Will Collett
4. Jeremy Harris
5. Alex Gooding

With reserves:

6. David Snelling
7. Tim Lloyd-Kinnings

Here's wishing them good luck once the competition starts in the autumn.

Saturday Junior Coaching ( 6th June)

This Saturday we will be running three coaching sessions. The first session is from 9.00 to 10.00 for beginners and the second is from 10.30 to 11.30 for more advanced players. And the final most advanced session is from 11.30 to 1.00pm.

Today we will be handing out invites for special coaching sessions (codename '666') to be held 27th and 28th June. Don't worry if you don't get invited this time - we will be holding more of these 3hr sessions through the summer and aim to get through everyone.


Remember that eye-protection must be worn for all junior sessions.

9.00 - 10.00 session. Coaches: Ray Scrivens and Keith Maloney
10.30 - 11.30 session. Coaches: Mike Macnamee, Ashok Babbar, and Ray Scrivens
11.30 - 13.00 session. Coaches: Martyn Symmons, Mike Macnamee, and Steve Swanton

Agricole Cup 2009

We are hoping to play our Agricole Cup competitions before the end of term. The Agricole Cup is a friendly mixed adult-junior doubles competition kindly sponsored by Jeremy Cole's Agricole Company.

The aim is to pair up fathers with sons or daughters - mothers with sons or daughters - grandparents with grandsons or granddaughters. But if a junior player has not got a squash playing parent or grandparent then they can approach another adult member of the club to pair up with them (last year's U16 champions was in fact Tom Blair paired with Derek Fuller).

The date for the U16 age group competition is the afternoon of Saturday 11th July. The date for the U19 has not yet been set but will be likewise a Saturday before the end of term so please sign up to show your interest and we will contact you with details. Entry fee is 1 quid per player payable on the day.

If the adult family member is not a Comberton member then there is an extra 2 quid guest appearance fee. Likewise if the adult is, but the junior is not, a paid-up Club member. The actual age of the junior player is not important - just their membership classification. And girls can play in the U16 competition regardless of age.

Sign up on the form at the club as soon as possible.