Big plans for junior squash

SQUASH Fiji plans to hold more junior tournaments after the success of the McDonald’s sponsored event which attracted 35 players at the Victoria Courts in Suva last Saturday.

This was the first junior squash tournament to be held in the country for more than ten years.

In a news release, Squash Fiji president, Blair Macaskill said their junior coaching program was now running in Suva, Nadi, Lautoka and Savusavu.

He said as a result the timing was right to host the first tournament in Suva.

“We had 35 players competing from the under-9 through to the U19 grades,” Macaskill said.

“For the U9 there was a separate skills competition. Most of the participants were from Suva while upcoming player Amyrah Kartiyani travelled from Nadi.”

The next junior tournament is set to be hosted at the Nadi Sports and Social Club in February.

Macaskill said their junior program was quite new as most of the young players only took up squash in the past six months.

“However our coaches have done a great job in getting the players ready,” he said.

“I have been really impressed with the enthusiasm of these juniors seeing how quickly they have learnt the basics and the skills to play.

“At the early stages of learning squash, the focus should be on personal development, participation and enjoyment of the game and not on the results at the end of the day.

“We are very thankful to our partner McDonald’s Fiji for making the junior tournaments possible, as well as the parents and family members who support their children to play the sport,” he said.