Junior Coaching Saturday (30th January)

This Saturday and for the rest of the term we will be running session to a new timetable.

The first session is completely mini-squash and runs from 9.00 to 10.00.

The second session is for beginners/intermediate level squash and will be from 10.00 to 11.30.

The third session is advanced and is from 11.30 to 1.00pm.

The final sessions are from 1 pm to 2 pm and will be one court for girls and ladies only. And a second court which is for advanced players by invitation only.

This week we are coaching Will Collett in the advanced session.

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

Coaches

9 am - 10 am mini-squash session. Coaches: Ashok Babbar and Janet Banks
10 am - 11.30 am session. Coaches: Ray Scrivens and Olly Thorne
11.30 am - 1 pm session. Coaches: Martyn Symmons and Mike Macnamee
1pm to 2pm sessions. Coaches: Mike Macnamee and Martyn Symmons

A spirited end to Comberton's National Schools Squash campaign

CVC’s Boys Under 15 Team played their last fixture in this season’s National Schools Tournament at Aylesbury Squash Club on 21 January, against Wycliffe College from Gloucestershire. Wycliffe are one of the two strongest schools in the country for squash, so we weren’t expecting to get past them.

As it turned out, we were far from humiliated, with all five Comberton players putting up good resistance in at least part of their matches. Tom Blair, our no. 1, was slow to get into his stride, but nearly managed to extend his opponent beyond three games, playing well in the third. Sam Bradshaw at 2 started well, but faded towards the end in the face of the Wycliffe player’s relentless accuracy. Will Collett at 3 and Jeremy Harris at 4 performed well throughout, with Jeremy taking a lead mid-way through the second game, unsettling his opponent with his speed around the court and imaginative stroke-play. Our star performer of the day, though, was our no. 5, Alex Gooding, who came from a game down to establish a 2-1 lead, only to see his opponent fight back strongly to hold two game points in the fourth. Alex refused to panic, and a series of excellent serves enabled him to clinch a very close fourth game – a remarkable victory against such high-powered opposition!

So we lost 4-1 overall, but once again the CVC squash team has shown itself able to compete in this tournament against some of the top independent schools, and the whole squad, including reserves David Snelling and Tim Lloyd-Kinnings, can be proud of what they’ve achieved this season.

Ray Scrivens
Team Manager

Saturday Junior Coaching (23rd January)

This Saturday and for the rest of the term we will be running session to a new timetable.

The first session is completely mini-squash and runs from 9.00 to 10.00.

The second session is for beginners/intermediate level squash and will be from 10.00 to 11.30.

The third session is advanced and is from 11.30 to 1.00pm.

The final sessions are from 1 pm to 2 pm and will be one court for girls and ladies only. And a second court which is for advanced players by invitation only.

This week we are coaching Chris Shaw in the advanced session.

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

There are goggles available for you to buy so you have your own pair.

Coaches

9 am - 10 am mini-squash session. Coaches: Ashok Babbar and Janet Banks
10 am - 11.30 am session. Coaches: Ray Scrivens and Keith Malloney
11.30 am - 1 pm session. Coaches: Martyn Symmons and Mike Macnamee
1pm to 2pm sessions. Coaches: Mike Macnamee and Martyn Symmons

Saturday Junior Coaching (16th January)

This Saturday and for the rest of the term we will be running session to a new timetable.

The first session is completely mini-squash and runs from 9.00 to 10.00.

The second session is for beginners/intermediate level squash and will be from 10.00 to 11.30.

The third session is advanced and is from 11.30 to 1.00pm.

The final sessions are from 1 pm to 2 pm and will one court for girls and ladies only. And a second court which is for advanced players by invitation only .

The plan for the invitation only court is that we will invite hand-picked groups from the advanced group for intensive coaching . If you know in advance that you will be attending an invitation only group you should perhaps not attend the complete advanced session.

This week we are coaching Jo Weavers and Charlie Leech in the advanced session.

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

There are goggles available for you to buy so you have your own pair.

Coaches

9 am - 10 am mini-squash session. Coaches: Ashok Babbar and Janet Banks
10 am - 11.30 am session. Coaches: Ray Scrivens and Olly Thorne
11.30 am - 1 pm session. Coaches: Martyn Symmons and Andy Thorne
1pm to 2pm sessions. Coaches: Mike Macnamee and Martyn Symmons

Strong turn-out by Comberton in the Brian Fielding Tournament

Comberton juniors were well represented at the annual tournament held in memory of the late Brian Fielding, who was a devoted coach to many Cambridgeshire juniors. The 2009 tournament was held at Fenland Squash Club on December 12, and was divided into two groups. Group A for the younger or less experienced players was held in the morning and Group B for the more experienced in the afternoon. As it turned out, Group A had many more entries than Group B, so some players were asked to switch to the higher group.

Our star performer in Group A was Ed Tucker. Playing in his first competitive event Ed won his round-robin section and then beat a member of the Cambs Under-13 squad to take second place overall in the group – a great achievement! Angus Harris came a creditable fourth overall, with Mark Dancy 6th Sam Hicks 9th and Nick White 11th out of 22 competitors.

Group B saw Jeremy Harris narrowly miss out on the final playoffs – he came fourth, closely followed by Jamie Sandford in 6th place. Newcomers Laurence Temple and Todd Roberts produced fine performances to finish 9th and 10th, while Ellis Maloney (17th) and Finn Savage (18th) found the going tough after having been “promoted” from Group A.

All in all a very good day for Comberton – well done everyone!

Ray Scrivens
Comberton Junior Organizer