University squash tourney at CARSA
Squash’s bid for Olympic inclusion has been consistently rebuffed. But the sport is contested in both the Commonwealth and Pan Am Games. It has had a notable pedigree on the Island.
That continues with the B.C. university championships taking place Friday through Sunday at CARSA on the UVic campus.
Squash courts were part of McKinnon Gym, and it was by popular demand that courts were included as part of the CARSA complex when it replaced McKinnon in 2015.
“We have a solid and competitive club,” said Ian Sefton, president of the UVic Squash Club.
It’s part of an Island tradition that includes several off-campus clubs and courts with legendary builders/coaches Stuart Dixon and Phil Green and past worldclass players Sher Horne, Richard Jackson, Andrea Levy, Darren Thomson, Winston Cabell, Trevor Thom and Ashley Clackson. Former world No. 1 and multiple Commonwealth/Pan Am Games medallist Jonathon Power was born in Comox.
The sport is known for searing speed crossed with cerebral tactics. All of that will be on ample display this weekend at CARSA as teams from UVic, UBC, UBC-Okanagan and UNBC vie for provincial university titles.
“It’s physical chess,” said Sefton, a fifth-year math major.
“You are always using your mind, as to where to hit and place the ball, while running your body into the ground. You are constantly moving and it is so fast-paced.”
Squash is not part of varsity U Sports and is administered at UVic under the recreation division of Vikes Athletics and Recreation.
But don’t let that fool you. These are the top 32 university players in the province and are anything but recreational when they hit the court. Squash is also not an official NCAA sport but 35 U.S. universities, mostly in the Northeast, sponsor varsity teams. That means many top Canadian university players are skimmed away.
The B.C. university championships begin at 7 p.m. Friday, with action continuing 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
The 10 top UVic players, five men and five women, will also compete in the inaugural Western Canada university championships March 24-26 in Calgary against the host University of Calgary Dinos, Mount Royal University and the University of Alberta.