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Titanic battles for junior honours

The Northerns Junior Open Round Robin lived up to expectations of high quality squash over the past weekend. With 150 entries the players were grouped in 26 sections and spread over 4 venues. It was a mammoth task to get the draws done but the tournament ran like clockwork.

A much anticipated all Northerns boys u19 final saw Mikael Clayton, fresh from a plate win in the US Junior Open take on Blaine Verhage whose squash has taken another step up since last season. The massive crowd that gathered – the biggest ever at a Northerns Junior tournament – was not disappointed. The match went to 5 sets with Mikael clinching it 11-9 in the end, after coming back from a set down twice in the match. Zian de Swardt was 3rd.

In the girls u19 final Charlotta Loggenberg from Free State took on Shanel Potgieter from Northwest. Both are SA Top 10 players from 2016 who are vying for top honours again in 2017. A tightly contested match saw Charlotta come out as 3-1 winner but not before both players had shown total commitment in diving to pick up balls and even playing shots while laying on the ground in one instance. Northerns’ Helena Coetzee was 3rd on points despite earlier beating Charlotta Loggenberg 3-2 in the cross-pool playoffs.

In the boys u16 final Damian Groenewald who is still u14 took on the big boys to win the section against Brett McLachlan who made the final despite being still u13. Earlier Brett ousted Gareth Craigen, another top u14 player who joined Northerns this year courtesy of attending Pretoria Boys High and ended 3rd. Some of the u16 boys played in the u19 section, which opened up the section considerably.

In the girls u16 section Almari Claassen won, with Valme Webster in second place and Jeanemie Vorster 3rd.

All the sections offered exciting squash throughout the weekend and there is much to look forward to for the rest of the season.

Here are the full results:

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All the prize winners at the weekend’s tournament.

 

 

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NJSA Round Robin Draws

Draws at the various venues:

PLEASE NOTE:

  • Venue addresses and GPS co-ordinates have been included
  • Court Stewards and contact numbers have been included
  • Girls u11 / u13 has been combined
  • Draws must be checked for final venues and times AT the start of the tournament.
  • Players must be available to start matches from 17h00 on Friday
  • Play will end around 21h00 on Friday, 19h00 on Saturday and 14h00 on Sunday
  • Players NOT attending the prize giving will forfeit their prize
  • Players must be available for the entire duration of the tournament.  No reschedules will be allowed.
  • Players are to ensure they ready to play 30 MINUTES before the scheduled time of their match.
  • Arriving later than 10 minutes after the scheduled time may result in the player conceding the match.
  • FOLLOW-ON system Players must go onto court immediately after the match prior to their scheduled match.
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NJSA Round Robin Open 2017

Enter for this tournament:

  • Age groups: u11 to u19
  • Date: 27-29 January 2017
  • Place: Pretoria
  • Closing date for entries: 22 January at midnight

Online entries only – click here to enter.

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NJSA Primary schools league

Here are the draws for the NJSA Primary schools league that starts on 12 October 2016:

Good luck to all the players!

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NJSA Start of season results

The inaugural tournament for the NJSA 2017 Season is done and we are humbled by the attendance and attitude of the players and parents. Almost 150 entries for a provincial tournament is an awesome achievement.

THANK YOU Easterns, Central Gauteng, Free State, North West and KZN for bringing players to Blue Bull Country.

Certainly one of the biggest entries experienced, learnings also dealt their hand, the odd miss-seeding or court timing, but for over 350 matches in 48 hours, it was a great experience for all.  Massive respect for the Bloem Open.

And little word for a big heart to Cassie Liebenberg, our 6 year old that played his first official provincial tournament.  Lost every match but had a smile of a champion!

NJSA is driving hard to increase the Marking and Refereeing standards, understanding of the rules and communication.  We ask the parents to do the same.  Encourage and support your kids, they just want to play and have fun, do the same.  Please keep an eye on our website for future tournaments and lets support our other provinces and go play there, it is an NJSA IPT selection criteria, but more importantly an amazing experience.

Thank you again to all involved, a weekend that brought great memories.

Regards

NJSA Committee

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NJSA Start of season tournament draws

Please note the following critical requirements:

  1. VENUES will be
    1. Pretoria Country Club (PCC): 241 Sidney Avenue, Waterkloof, 0181 (S 25° 47′ 28″, E 28° 15′ 04″)
    2. Pretoria High School Old Boys (PHSOB): 378 Queen’s Crescent, Lynwood, Pretoria (S 25°45’ 34”, E28°15’ 12”)
    3. Venue will have refreshments for sale
  2. ARRIVE at least 30 minutes before your allocated timeslot.
  3. Matches will commence IMMEDIATELY after the preceding match is completed.  If both players are not available the next scheduled match will be played. We cannot wait for players.
  4. There are many SECTIONS this year and there will be CROSS POOL playoff’s (where applicable)
  5. Please REPORT to the control table upon arrival so that the court steward is aware you are at the venue
  6. Players WILL mark and referee (M&R) after their match.  FAILURE may result in disqualification from the tournament and disciplinary action.  A major focus for this season will be M&R and we are investing in ensuring we can assist and guide the players at every tournament.
  7. The players, marker and referee details must be completed on the SCORING SHEET
  8. Players playing the SECOND match of day must also M&R the first match of the day.
  9. The SCORING FORMAT will be
    1. U11 – u13: Best of 5 PAR 15 and the double yellow dot ball
    2. U14 – u19: Best of 5 PAR 11 and the single green dot ball
  10. PARENT involvement is not allowed during play.  Any disruption may result in penalties being instituted against the player.  We ask that the parents approach the tournament referee in the event of any incidences or enquiries.
  11. PRIZE GIVING will be at PCC after the final match on Sunday around 13h30.  Prize winners MUST please attend otherwise they will forfeit their prize.  Valuable feedback is also provided by the Tournament Referee.

This weekend is all about the players, so please encourage them, show enthusiasm of support, humble in victory and gracious in defeat.

Looking forward to a Happy Squashing Weekend:

Notes to the updated draws – this replaces all other draws issued or online:

  • Due to over 10 withdrawals yesterday, after issuing the Friday draw, there have been changes so please study the draw carefully.
  • It has been a long night and early morning so if unsure of anything please give me a call or even better WhatsApp me with your child’s name and age group.
  • When checking the draw, check the numbers playing e.g. A1 v A4 or C3 v C2.   This is the main indicator – in the event a name or two has got mixed up

Brett Cousins

Tournament organiser

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Tuks Inter High-Schools Festival

The Tuks Inter High-Schools Festival will be held from 14 – 16 October 2016.

Last year we had 20 teams participating and we hope to include more teams from outside Pretoria this year. Teams consist of 4 players and can be made up of – Girls teams, boys teams or mixed teams are welcome.

To strengthen the standard of the weekend, we have also allowed players from non-squash schools to enter their own teams.

Accommodation and meals are available at the hpc (Emile Smith on 012 484 1700) or contact the TuksSquash office via email (tukssquash@up.ac.za) for more options

Entry form: 2016 Inter High-Schools Festival. More details on www.worldofsquash.co.za

Looking forward to hosting your team/s in October!

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Enter now for the Northerns start of season Tournament

The tournament takes place from 9-11 September 2016. Open to all boys & girls u11 to u19. Closing date for entries is MONDAY 05 SEPTEMBER 2016 at 17h00.

Click on the link to Enter:   https://www.northerns.co.za/njsa-documents/njsa-open-tournament-page/.