GAUTENG
Junior SQUASH
Association
P.O. Box 314
Tel: (011)
615-3771
Fax: (011)
883-6605
E-mail: [email protected]
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Date:
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TO ALL JUNIORS AND PARENTS
GAUTENG JUNIOR SQUASH
Dear Players, Parents and Friends of Junior Squash
OPENING LETTER AND PLANS FOR THE YEAR 2003
A warm welcome is extended to everyone
involved in Junior Squash and good luck with your squash for the new
season. Last year the interest in junior
squash grew noticeably, in particular in the U/11 and U/13 age groups. The Under 19 age group also experienced keen
competition for places in the Inter-Provincial Team that went on tour to
The newly elected committee for this year are:
Deirdre Ingersent Chairperson
Brian Mason Treasurer
Lynda De Villiers Tournaments/Squads
Ross Canter Tournaments/Fundraising
Zanjeer Pahalad Tournaments/USSASA
Margery Taylor Girls’ High Schools Leagues
Vacant Boys’ High Schools Leagues
Stuart Ray Honorary Secretary
Elaine Alexander Primary Schools
These are the people responsible for guiding Junior Squash this year, and no doubt we will receive the usual assistance and support from interested parents and members of the Gauteng Senior Squash Association. The person responsible for organising the boys’ leagues still has to be finalized and hopefully we can resolve this issue before February 2003.
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CHAIRPERSON: Deirdre
Ingersent TREASURER: Brian Mason
HONORARY
SECRETARY: Stuart Ray
COMMITTEE: Elaine Alexander Ross Canter Lynda De Villiers Zanjeer Pahalad Margery Taylor
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National Inter-Provincial Tournaments
This tournament is the highlight of our season. Our overall performance this year was pretty good with some age groups performing better than others. We believe we can achieve better results and given the good turnouts at our Tournaments last year we can soon expect to re-instate our position as the top Province in Junior Squash.
Once again the top eleven boys and girls in each age group and gender will be selected to tour and receive their provincial colours. The next two players in each age group and gender will be selected to play in the Northern Regions Inter-Provincial Tournament to be held at Witbank in August 2003.
The National Inter-Provincial Tournaments will take place between 28 June and 03 July 2003 at the following venues:
U/19 Cape Town A-team 5 players B-team 6 players
U/16 Bloemfontein A-team 5 players B-team 6 players
U/14 Kempton Park A-team 5 players B-team 6 players
SA Schools Closed Tournament
This year we will be selecting the top five players in each age group and gender from our Province to play in the SA Schools Closed Tournament from 20-23 March to be held at Parkview Squash Centre. Selection will take into account final rankings from the 2002 season and results from the 2003 Randburg Pre-season Open to allow players new to an age group to prove themselves.
Criteria for Selection to SA Schools Top 10
Only the IPT results will be considered for these rankings. Players must play in the age group for which they wish to be considered for Selection to the SA Schools Top 10.
Criteria for Selection to SA Schools Touring Teams
Players must participate in the SA School Closed Tournament, their own local Closed and Open Tournaments and the IPT in the age group in which they wish to be considered.
Criteria for Selection to Gauteng Provincial Touring Teams
Must attend a school in the Gauteng Region
Players must play in the Gauteng Open & the Gauteng Closed Tournaments
Players must play in at least two of the following tournaments:
Randburg Pre-Season Open Blairgowrie
Menlo Park Open Pretoria
Squad Players & Novices Tournament Blairgowrie
Easterns Open Kempton Park
Kennex SA Open Parkview
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The Wilson Classic (Parkview) and Colgate Open (Kempton Park) take place after selection of the Gauteng Team. It is recommended that the selected players play in these tournaments in final preparation for the IPTs.
Players must attend two out of five Gauteng Squad Sessions.
Players who play in the SA Schools Closed may count this tournament as one of the four qualifying tournaments required to be considered for selection.
Only medical or personal bereavement excuses for not complying with the above will be accepted.
Gauteng Squads
These have only been partially successful over the past few years. The Gauteng Squash (Senior) Association has agreed to assist us financially this year and will partially subsidize the cost of running the junior squads. Based on feedback from parents and trends that emerged at last year’s squads we will change the focus for this year.
Coaching will concentrate on group fitness training, court drill routines, shot routines and techniques for solo practising. Individualised coaching dealing with a player’s technique, skills and shot quality will not be covered as part of Squad Training but will be dealt with in the Personalised Coaching Sessions to be provided.
The lectures by the Sports Nutritionist and Sports Psychologist were well received last year and will be repeated this year. These will tie in with cross-training sessions at the Gym.
At least one squad session this year will take place at a Gym this year. Players will be given instruction in circuit training, cross training fitness programmes and the correct use of gym equipment.
There will be five squad sessions this year inclusive of the Pre-season Mini-Tournament. The dates will be confirmed later in the season. Estimated cost will be R 30,00 per individual per squad. Players will not be pre-selected for Squad Sessions but any player who will benefit from the training and believes they can make the Inter-Provincial Teams may attend the Squad Training Sessions.
Pre-season Mini-Tournament and First Squad
The first get together will take place on Saturday 01 February 2003 at Marks Park Squash Courts (off Judith Road) from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., where a mini tournament will be played. Matches will be set time matches based on points only and the fee will be R 20,00 per player.
This will be an ideal opportunity to get some match practise and prepare players for the first tournament the following week. It is strongly recommended that all provincial players selected for last year’s IPT attend.
Richard Borain of Gauteng Squash will assist with some coaching and instruction on playing procedures and techniques.
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Personalised Coaching Sessions
The Gauteng Senior Association will provide Professional Squash Coaches from their Jarvis Cup Team at a subsidised cost. Our intention is to provide regular coaching sessions by these top coaches to our players who are not already set up with private coaching.
These will be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday evenings. The venue and dates will be confirmed later. Juniors will have the choice to attend these coaching sessions to suit their schedule. The estimated cost will be R 90,00 for three sessions.
Squad Players & Novices Tournament
A tournament will be held on 01 & 02 March 2003 at Randburg Squash Centre Blairgowrie. Children new to Gauteng Junior Squash and school league players wanting to start playing in tournaments should attend as well as existing Gauteng junior players. The cost will be R 40,00 per player and Gauteng Squash Coaches will attend to assist with technical instruction and advice on marking and refereeing. The top five players in each age group and gender are not allowed to play in this tournament.
Marking, Refereeing & Health Lectures
The marking & refereeing lecture was received well last year and will be held shortly before teams leave for IPT. Some children did tests via the Internet last year and areas were identified where interpretation of the rules could be improved upon. This method of instruction will be further utilised and formalised in future.
The lectures by the Sports Nutritionist and Sports Psychologist were well received last year and will be repeated this year. Quite a few parents felt they learnt a lot that would benefit themselves at these lectures. These will tie in with cross-training sessions at the Gym.
Rankings & Selectors
The selectors for the Gauteng Inter-Provincial Teams this year are:
Deirdre Ingersent Margery Taylor Ross Canter
Parents
of junior players who serve on the committee are precluded from acting as selectors.
The ranking of junior players will be based primarily on tournament results and secondly on high school league results. The ladder system based on challenges at squads was a failure last year and will not be implemented again.
Final rankings from last year form the basis of rankings at the start of the new season. It is an inherent problem to correctly rank players who have moved up one age group in the new season. Simply put we don’t know how strong the younger age group is relative to the older age group. The best solution is for players who have moved up an age group, to play in the early tournaments of the season and make their mark in the rankings.
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Gauteng High School Leagues
Last year 26 high schools fielded 440 scholars in our boys’ leagues played in the second term and 28 high schools fielded 410 scholars in our girls’ leagues played in the first term. A friendly mixed league was played in the final term of the year. The primary schools fielded about 80 children.
Of the 930 children playing school leagues approximately 200 play in tournaments. We would like to see more league players playing in tournaments this year.
USSASA – Gauteng Schools
Currently the greater Gauteng Region is divided into 12 districts. Broadly speaking the districts are sub-divided as follows and fall under the following squash associations:
D1/D3/D4 - Tswane - Northerns Junior Squash
D5/D6 - Ekurleni - Easterns Junior Squash
D2/D12 - Mogale - Gauteng Junior Squash
D7/D8 - Sedibeng - Gauteng Junior Squash
D9/D10/D11 - Johannesburg - Gauteng Junior Squash
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The committee that controls the sporting code of squash in the Greater Gauteng Region under the auspices of USSASA Gauteng is made up of representatives from the above Squash Associations.
At present the three regions will still play as independent provinces at the IPT tournaments, but this situation could change in the future. USSASA currently organises the high profile Love Life Games and it is our intention to send the top schools for boys and girls to the National Games in Durban at the end of the year. The Top Schools will be chosen after inter-district play-offs have taken place.
Gauteng Top Schools
This tournament will take place over the weekend of 23-24 May 2003. The winning high school for boys and girls will play in the National Top Schools Tournament in Pietermaritzburg from 07 to10 August 2003.
Dunlop Sponsorship
We are thankful to Dunlop Sport who will sponsor the Gauteng Open again this year. This tournament was well supported last year with over 200 entries received including players from surrounding provinces. The children enjoyed playing in this prestigious tournament on the glass court at The Wanderers, with fantastic prizes and free T-shirts.
Squash Calendar
Attached is the USSASA 2003 Squash Calendar. Please note the date for the Gauteng Closed has been moved from 9-11 May 2003 to 16-18 May 2003. The Squad Players & Novices Tournament on 01&02 March at Randburg Squash Centre, Blairgowrie, has been added.
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In accordance with current business practices all primary correspondence and notices will be done via e-mail. Direct delivery and/or faxing of notices and correspondence will only be done upon special request. Please ensure your correct e-mail address is reflected on the current database.
Gauteng Squash Database
The current database of all junior squash players in the Gauteng Region will be displayed at all tournaments. Please advise us of any players that need to be added to the database or of any changes needed to the database.
Yours sincerely