The first NJSA tournament of the year concluded on Sunday after more than 400 matches and 15 000 minutes of squash over 20 sections at 3 venues with 12 courts.
The winners of the different age group A-sections were:
Here are the full results for the tournament this weekend: NJSA-RR-2018-Results.
Enter now for the NJSA Open round robin tournament from 26-28 January by completing the entry form on the NJSA tournament registration page.
In order to create a better opportunity for players from other provinces to participate in the tournament, the Northerns Junior Squash Association has arranged with parents of Northerns players to host visiting players for the duration of the tournament.
Visiting players will be received and collected from OR Tambo airport by NJSA representatives on the Friday afternoon and will be dropped off on Sunday. The NJSA representatives will ensure that players are booked in and safely on their way.
Parents of local players will collect the visiting players from the venue after their matches on Friday evening and ensure they are at the venue on Saturday and Sunday for their matches. Accommodation and meals will be provided by the parents.
Benefits for visiting players:
To make use of this offer, complete the entry form and indicate you will make use of the hosting. Further details will be arranged with you directly.
On Sunday the annual NJSA awards function was held at the Midstream College Auditorium. Players were recognised for their achievements through the 2017 season.
Certificates were awarded for Invitation team colours to the players who participated in the Angela Difford u11 Festival and the Country Schools Festival. Certificates for full provincial colours were awarded to the teams that played in the IPT’s. All the schools league winners received trophies and certificates.
The function concluded with the prestigious merit certificates and trophies for exceptional performances. Here is the full list of winners (not including team member names):
PRIMARY SCHOOLS
Primary schools Girls B: Runners-up: St. Mary’s DSG, Winners: St. Mary’s DSG
Primary schools Girls A: Runners-up: St. Mary’s DSG, Winners: Midstream College
Primary schools Boys D: Runners-up: Midstream College, Winners: Wierda Park
Primary schools Boys C: Runners-up: Crawford College, Winners: Midstream Ridge
Primary schools Boys B: Runners-up: Anton van Wouw, Winners: Wierda Park
Primary schools Boys A: Runners-up: Midstream College, Winners: Midstream Ridge
HIGH SCHOOLS
Girls C: Runners-up: Pretoria Girls High, Winners: Pretoria Girls High
Girls B: Runners-up: Pretoria Girls High, Winners: Menlo Park
Boys u14 & u16 B&C: Runners-up: Menlo Park, Winners: Zwartkop
Boys u16 A: Runners-up: Midstream, Winners: Eldoraigne
Boys u19 C: Runners-up: CBC Mount Edmund, Winners: Menlo Park
Girls A: Runners-up: Zwartkop, Winners: Menlo Park
Boys u19 A: Runners-up: Menlo Park, Winners: Pretoria Boys High A
Dora Orban trophy for Girls interschools squash (Northerns Top Schools): Die Hoërskool Menlo Park
Tony Minnaar trophy for Boys interschools squash (Northerns Top Schools): Pretoria Boys High
Aiden Dixon trophy for best overall performance by a school in the league: Runners-up: Midstream (6 teams, average 9 points), Winners: PHSG (4 teams, average 9.5 points)
NJSA MERIT AWARDS
| Girls u14 A – IPT winners | |
| Awande Malinga | |
| Catelin Robson | |
| Zene Fourie | |
| Shannon Fraser | |
| Hannah du Toit | |
| Judah Phillips | Winner: SA Open 2017 Boys u11 |
| Patrick Weir | Winner: Bloemfontein Open 2017 Boys u11 |
| Luhann Groenewald | Winner: SA Open 2017 Boys u13 |
| Winner: Africa Open 2017 Boys u13 | |
| Winner: Bloemfontein Open 2017 Boys u13 | |
| Awande Malinga | SA Top 10 Girls u14 |
| SA Invitational Team to Malaysia Girls u14 | |
| Catelin Robson | SA Top 10 Girls u14 |
| Gareth Craigen | SA Top 10 Boys u14 |
| Zene Fourie | SA Top 10 Girls u14 |
| Brett McLachlan | SA Top 10 Boys u14 |
| Damian Groenewald | Winner: Africa Open 2017 Boys u15 |
| Joha van der Merwe | SA Top 10 Boys u16 |
| Reece McLachlan | SA Top 10 Boys u16 |
| SA Invitational Team to Malaysia Boys u16 | |
| Blaine Verhage | Winner: Africa Open 2017 Boys u19 |
| SA Team to Junior World Championships Boys u19 | |
| SA Top 10 Boys u19 | |
| Helena Coetzee | SA Top 10 Girls u19 |
| SA Team to Junior World Championships Girls u19 | |
| Mikael Clayton | SA Team to Junior World Championships Boys u19 |
| SA Top 10 Boys u19 | |
| Winner: SA Open 2017 Boys u19 | |
NJSA INDIVIDUAL TROPHIES
| Most improved player – Girls Primary schools | Ashton Weir |
| Most improved player – Boys Primary schools | Kristian Theron |
| Player of the year – Girls Primary schools | Awande Malinga |
| Player of the year – Boys Primary schools | Luhann Groenewald |
| Player of the year – Girls u14 | Catelin Robson |
| Player of the year – Boys u14 | Damian Groenewald |
| Most improved player – Senior Girls | Hannah du Toit |
| Most improved player – Senior Boys | Rico Coetsee |
| Player of the year – Senior Girls | Helena Coetzee |
| Player of the year – Senior Boys | Mikael Clayton |
| Chairman’s Award – Girls | Jana Coetzer |
| Chairman’s Award – Boys | Blaine Verhage |
Due the unprecedented number of people indicating that they will attend the function we’re moving it to a bigger venue. Thank you for the support, apologies for any inconvenience.
The NJSA Awards function and Annual General meeting for 2017 will take place as follows:
Date: Sunday, 5 November 2017
Time: 16h00
Place: Midstream College Auditorium
Dress: School uniform for players
Agenda and minutes of previous AGM is available on the Juniors page.
At the annual awards function we recognise top performances through the year and players who must attend are the following:
Upsets were the order of the day in the boys u19A section in the Start of Season tournament that took place from 8-10 September at PCC and PHSOB. It started with eventual winner Damian Groenewald, an up and coming u16 player beating the number 1 seed Zian de Swardt in the first round. The number 2 seed Joha van der Merwe also lost in the first round against Brenden Smit whose good run was ended by an ankle injury in the third round but not before he also had unexpected wins against De Swardt.
In the girls u19A section u14 star player Awande Malinga was 3rd, only losing to winner Helena Coetzee and runner-up Hannah McBride. Rico Coetsee caused some upsets to win the Boys u16A section from being seeded 5th. There were minor upsets in some of the other sections too.
With 10 players from Botswana, including 4 section winners and a number of players from other provinces the tournament was a big success. Now it’s hard work until the next Northerns tournament in January 2018 with a handful of outside tournaments and the Tuks High Schools Festival in between.
Here are the full results of the weekend:
All the winners at the tournament
Here are the FINAL DAY draws for the NJSA Start of season tournament. Please adhere to the Conditions of entry and you’re specifically reminded of the following: Read more
During the school holidays the Northerns juniors participated in the Inter provincial tournaments all over the country. Northerns had decent results and brought home 5 medals in total of which 1 was gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze. The u13 group did very well and won 3 of the medals.
The final positions of the Northerns teams can be seen in the table below and the full IPT results are available on the Squash SA website under Tournament results 2017.
| Team | Boys | Girls |
| u19A | 5 | 5 |
| u19B | 7 | 6 |
| u16A | 4 | 3 |
| u16B | 7 | n/a |
| u14A | 6 | 1 |
| u14B | 6 | n/a |
| u13A | 2 | 2 |
| u13B | 3 | 5 |
A number of players also made the top 10 SA rankings. Here is the full list of Northerns players below and the national list is available on the Squash SA website.
| Age | Nr | Boys |
| u14 | 4 | Gareth Craigen |
| u14 | 5 | Brett McLachlan |
| u16 | 3 | Reece McLachlan |
| u16 | 10 | Joha vd Merwe |
| u19 | 1 | Mikael Clayton |
| u19 | 3 | Blaine Verhage |
| Age | Nr | Girls |
| u14 | 2 | Awande Malinga |
| u14 | 6 | Catelin Robson |
| u14 | 8 | Zene Fourie |
| u19 | 2 | Helena Coetzee |
Almost 400 matches, over 200 hours of squash across 13 courts gave us the winners of the 2017 NJSA Closed tournament.
Thank you parents for your time and patience and letting the kids do what we want, play! To the new players, especially the u11’s, well done.
Lots of folk to thank and they know who they are, the NJSA appreciate their assistance. Special mention to Mike Pierce for his tireless effort to come and watch the kids. Mike is the President of the Northerns Squash Federation. Thank you Mike.
More photos at https://www.northerns.co.za/galleries/njsa-closed-2017-prize-winners/.
Please find attached Draws for the NJSA Closed.
Please note:
NJSA – IPT 2017 – Clothing fitting session
Any player who are making themselves available for IPT Selection must please report to Jana Lessing at PCC on Sunday between 09:00 to 12:00. We will be having a clothing fitting session to better prepare ourselves for the IPT’s in July. Note that this does not constitute automatic selection and no financial commitment is required on Sunday.
