National award for TA Squash
An ongoing strong committee effort has helped Te Awamutu Squash Club win New Zealand Club of the Year at the 2023 New Zealand Squash Awards, held as part of the Festival of Squash in Tauranga on December 9.
“It’s pretty significant for the club and has been a long-term project that has involved the efforts of a lot of people. We’re talking about a 10- to 15-year project, in terms of looking at what we can do to create a better experience for our members,” Te Awamutu Squash Club committee representative Bronwyn Brier said.
“I think that this award is the culmination of the whole process of going through and looking at what we can strategically do for our members and those wanting to give squash a go.
“We were pretty surprised to get it, as there were some other fantastic clubs up for the award, but we all had our fingers and toes crossed obviously. It was a real committee effort with everyone always keen to pitch in and help out, this enthusiasm has been a real strength of the club.”
Bronwyn said their members support the club and they’re thankful for the players’ commitment and support in making events and programmes happen.
This award comes alongside a whole raft of awards won at the Squash Waikato Annual Awards in November — including Waikato Club of the Year.
The provincial award is what got Te Awamutu shortlisted as a finalist for the New Zealand Club of the Year.
The club is fortunate to have some incredible opportunities available, including a very successful junior programme, club ladder, introduction to squash programmes and strong senior interclub numbers.
Having three junior New Zealand representatives in 2023 — Charlee Neilson, Connor Hill and Fergus Hill — and three A-graded players as club members — Jorja Metcalfe, Liam McDonald and Connor Hill — is a testament to the club’s strength.
The Squash Waikato Chairperson’s Award went to the very deserving Rebecca Hill, whose contribution at a club level is phenomenal.
On top of this, Rebecca has also had significant involvement at a Squash Waikato level over several years, working alongside the Junior Waikato Squads and coaching team as a manager at tournaments and in the organisation for tournaments away — managing the food, accommodation and other logistics — on behalf of and with Squash Waikato.
Connor Hill took away the award for Most Outstanding Junior Male.
Connor has an impressive track record. He’s ranked as the No 7 junior male in New Zealand and No 7 male in Waikato.
He was a member of the Squash New Zealand World Junior Boys team, Waikato Junior Boys team, Waikato Junior Quads team, Waikato Senior Men’s team and winner of the Waikato Junior Open. On top of all this, he was also runner-up in the Under-19 Boys category at the North Island Junior Age Group Championships and runner-up in the A-grade at the Waikato Graded Champs.
At just 18, Connor has a bright future ahead in the sport.
Volunteer of the Year went to Rachel Downard. Since joining the committee in late 2020, Rachel has continued to become increasingly central to many of the club’s programmes and operations.
Her passion for transitioning and welcoming new members to the club, as well as encouraging these new participants to get stuck in has seen her become one of the main drivers in several new initiatives within the club.
Her track record is astounding, with Rachel heavily involved in the introduction of Big Nix to Puahue in 2020/2021; revamping and revitalising the club’s Business House through establishing the Summer TriSeries along with her husband Patrick Downard in 2020; co-ordinating and establishing a learn-to-play programme with Te Awamutu College teachers in 2022 and in 2023 developing and co-ordinating an extremely successful Women & Wine programme for the club.
Despite her heavy involvement over the past few years, Rachel has continued to look for ways to engage and facilitate participation at Te Awamutu Squash.
Moving forward, the club hopes to engage with more new members from the community.
“Next year we’re going to run another series of learn-to-play programmes — Women & Wine, as well as Blokes & Beer — in February for those wanting to give squash a go,” Bronwyn said.
“In line with this, we’ve also picked up early in the Squash Waikato calendar, one of the Women 900 series tournaments for new women and one of the Men 1500 series.
“This year we also hosted a very successful Open Tournament towards the end of the year, which attracted some top-quality A-graded players, especially top juniors, from around the country.
“So we’re looking to expand on that this next year and hopefully draw in some more of the country’s top players to provide further opportunities for our own higher-graded players to compete against some topquality opposition.”
Those interested in giving squash a go through our Women & Wine or Blokes and Beer programmes can contact Rachel Downard on 021 552 321.
For other information about what is happening at Te Awamutu Squash Club, check out their Facebook page.