LLANELLI SEAL SQUASH CROWN
LLANELLI Squash Club won the South Wales Premier 1 Division trophy after beating Cardiff in an endof-season play-off.
The season is played in two halves, the first from September to December and the second from January to May.
Cardiff A side topped the first half of the season and Llanelli’s A team finished at the top of the second half, which meant the sides had to clash once again to decide who would win the trophy.
The Llanelli side clinched victory 3-2.
The team are part of the Llanelli Squash and Tennis Club and consists of Steve Colarusso, Andrew Neal, Nicky Johnson, Dan Anderson and Liam Eason, most of who are ranked in the top 25 players in South Wales.
Neal, captain of the team for the last 10 years, has come through the ranks at Llanelli Squash Club and started playing many years ago in the C team.
He said: “The standard is very high in the league, which plays every Thursday night during the season.”
Llanelli currently have five teams who compete in different divisions. The A and B teams are in Premier 1 division, the C and D sides are in West Central 1 and the E team in West Central 2.
Club chairman Mark Westcott said: “We are a non-profit organisation where many of the members play a part in the managing of the club.
“All the profits get ploughed back in.
“The three squash courts have just undergone a £30,000 refurbishment which makes it one of the best clubs around.”
In the 1960s the club consisted of just one court, which increased to three during the 1970s with a membership of more than 500, which has remained consistent over the years.
Colarusso has been playing at the club since he was nine and received his Welsh Over-35s cap this year. He said: “Llanelli Squash Club is one of the biggest in Wales and still growing, with new members coming through all the time, and winning the top league in Wales was a really big achievement for us all.”
Long-term member and former coach Mark Stafford added: “Squash
is booming in England, but not so much in Wales. However, Llanelli’s club has been a beacon for the sport when other Welsh clubs have faded away.”