Last month 64 juniors, split almost evenly between girls and boys, descended on Richmond to fill up seven divisions in the 2019 Salty Hawkins Junior Bronze Tournament. Much fun was had by all with special congratulations to the trophy winners listed below. Special thanks go out as well to Ros Bowers for ably serving as Tournament Director.
GU 13 - Calla Yim (Champion) and Prater Sanderson (Finalist) GU 15 - Kate Woodward (Champion), Holland Miller (Finalist), and Grace Brockenbrough (Consolation Winner) GU 17 - Gigi deVenoge (Champion) and Anne Claiborne Rhodes (Finalist) BU 11 - Chance Sui Wonders (Champion) and Will Herlihy (Finalist) BU 13 - Carlos Valdes (Champion), William Newman (Finalist), and Booker Melton (Consolation Winner) BU 15 - Gordon Fairborn (Champion), Evan Fisher (Finalist), and Mason King (Consolation Winner) BU 17 - Vaden Padgett (Champion) and Kent Lemken (Finalist)
2018/2019 Richmond City Squash League
The 2018/2019 Richmond City Squash League will wrap up its regular season on Monday, February 11 with Virginia Squash Racquets Association ("VSRA") Board Member Jim Irby reminding the rest of us as frequently as possible The Woodies, a squad he captains, are likely to finish in 1st Place. Thereafter eight (8) teams will enter a single-elimination playoff and compete for the coveted right to be crowned 2018/2019 City Champ. Best of luck to all the playoff teams, including, but not limited to, Jim Irby's squad!!!! The 2018/2019 Richmond City Squash League will wrap up its regular season on Monday, February 11 with Virginia Squash Racquets Association ("VSRA") Board Member Jim Irby reminding the rest of us as frequently as possible The Woodies, a squad he captains, are likely to finish in 1st Place. Thereafter eight (8) teams will enter a single-elimination playoff and compete for the coveted right to be crowned 2018/2019 City Champ. Best of luck to all the playoff teams, including, but not limited to, Jim Irby's squad!!!!
2019 Virginia State Open
The Country Club of Virginia will host the 2019 Virginia State Open over the weekend of March 22 - 24. Women and men will compete across eight (8) divisions from 2.5 to 5.0. VSRA and the Tournament Committee look forward to welcoming you to Richmond with registration to play currently available at https://www.ussquash.com/tournaments/. If you have any questions in the interim please do not hesitate to reach out to Tournament Co-Directors Mary Kathryn Woodward and Jim Irby at Info@VASquash.com/
2019 PSA Richmond Open
The 6th Annual PSA Richmond Open will return to Richmond from April 9 - 13, 2019. Held at The Country Club of Virginia this is a PSA 10K Challenger event with a full draw of sixteen (16) women from Top #60 rank in the world to #185 in the world.
Please visit the VSRA website at https://vasquash.com/ to make a donation to support this great event. Please also e-mail Patrick Chifunda at Patrick.Chifunda@TheCCV.org if you are able to assist with pro player accommodations like housing or transportation. Finally please note the tournament is open to the public so plan to attend and watch some of the best pro squash players in the world battle against each other. Youth Squash
The youth programs of VSRA at the YMCA Squash Center were in full speed over the Winter. SquashRocks! literally hit the courts running with weekly clinics with CHAT, twenty-two (22) on-court sessions and cultural/mentoring events, and two SquashRocks! athletes competing in the 2019 Salty Hawkins Junior Bronze Tournament mentioned above.
Early Spring will be busy as well. SquashRocks! will resume its relationship with Anna Julia Cooper Episcopal School starting March 14 with clinics twice a week in addition to its regular SquashRocks! schedule. Also, our new River City Youth Squash Program will also be hosting on-court clinics in March with students from Church Hill Academy.
Team Focus - The Saints St. Catherine's and St. Christopher's Schools (collectively "The Saints") in Richmond just concluded their Winter season on February 3 having accomplished quite a lot. Playing extremely well throughout the year both teams earned an invitation to the prestigious 2019 HEAD U.S. High School Team Squash Championship in Hartford, CT. Billed as the world's largest squash tournament 1,400 players competed on a record 207 teams, including the highest number of girls' teams (87) in tournament history. St. Catherine's was the Division 2 Classic Plate Champion and St. Christopher's was the Division 4 Classic Plate Finalist. Great job Saints!!!!
