Hayley
Enjoyed your post about your recent experiences squashing in the canterbury province.
Shame there was no doubles as clearly you and Helen are a formidable force on the road.
I'm not really one to live on past glories but I played in an Open tournament at the christchurch club in the season of 2002 (The only reason I remember the year was that we were in chch for my lovely grandmother Beryl's ninetieth and Marieke was in foal with Annabel).
I struggled first up, arriving in a poor mindset, and was out played by a youngster with promise from mt pleasant. rounds 2 & 3 weren't memorable although one of the matches was transferred to the chch rugby club's courts and i did enough to scrape a couple of wins.
The plate final was an interesting match-up against a former radio talk-back-jock who some of you might be old enough to remember in george balani. I was useless, as the cagey balani artfully maneuvered me around the court with his touch game. Helped by the presence of my brother in the gallery i gradually wore my more experienced opponent down winning in four or five games.
For some reason i remember being mightily relieved afterwards at getting over the line.
I think Charlie Mayhew won the men's open title but the player who left an indelible impression on me was a wily, veteran (with a john mcenroe like headband) come coach by the name of Hayes.
Can't remember what was in the prize pool and no bbq's or fire alarms.
NB: balani's daughter was one of the top players for her gender in italy at the time.
25 March 2009
23 March 2009
H & H Awesome in Christchurch
From the pen of Hayley:
As some of you know Helen and I went to Christchurch to fly the Northern flag at the Christchurch Open Tournament.
Helen won her first match convincingly, then moved through to have to play Eliza Sims. For those of you that don't know, Eliza is about 17yrs old, and is probably one of NZ's most promising women players. She is coached and trained by Nick Mita, and is a very sharp A2 grade. Helen did an awesome job and certainly held her own, but did not win the match. Helen then won her 3rd game easily and went into the speical plate final I think it was against Renee Walkinshaw. Helen took the first match off the higher graded Renee, and run gallantly through the next 3 matches, but sadly did not get the match, going down 3-1. Helen was in the top open ladies division and was matched against some very talented players, so I think that she was happy with her wins.
I had a very good weekend, despite battling a persistant cough which made my breathing somewhat difficult! I was in Division 2, seeded 3rd from 16. I was susccessful in winning all 4 of my matches to take the Div 2 Championship. My final was quite a battle. I played a 15 yr old who has clearly received coaching! Luckily for me, her attitude was not quite 100%, and when put under pressure she dropped her bottom lip and started to make mistakes. Our match went to 5, and I managed to win it 15-10 in the 5th set. All matches were American scoring to 15. I was really happy with that, being my first tourney of the year.
Christchurch Squash Club is certainly one very impressive place. They have 5 courts, ALL glassback! Downstairs and upstairs viewing areas are amazing. Bar, lounge area is huge with a big projecter TV. Very friendly and well run tournament, except for when the president of the club decided to cook sausages on the bbq INSIDE the club rooms during the finals, smoked out the courts and set off the fire alarm! Had to evacuate building and wait for fire brigade to arrive to reset alarms etc! Some of the finalists were not happy as they were half way through matches, then had to stand outside in a 12 degree southerly for 20 minutes!
As some of you know Helen and I went to Christchurch to fly the Northern flag at the Christchurch Open Tournament.
Helen won her first match convincingly, then moved through to have to play Eliza Sims. For those of you that don't know, Eliza is about 17yrs old, and is probably one of NZ's most promising women players. She is coached and trained by Nick Mita, and is a very sharp A2 grade. Helen did an awesome job and certainly held her own, but did not win the match. Helen then won her 3rd game easily and went into the speical plate final I think it was against Renee Walkinshaw. Helen took the first match off the higher graded Renee, and run gallantly through the next 3 matches, but sadly did not get the match, going down 3-1. Helen was in the top open ladies division and was matched against some very talented players, so I think that she was happy with her wins.
I had a very good weekend, despite battling a persistant cough which made my breathing somewhat difficult! I was in Division 2, seeded 3rd from 16. I was susccessful in winning all 4 of my matches to take the Div 2 Championship. My final was quite a battle. I played a 15 yr old who has clearly received coaching! Luckily for me, her attitude was not quite 100%, and when put under pressure she dropped her bottom lip and started to make mistakes. Our match went to 5, and I managed to win it 15-10 in the 5th set. All matches were American scoring to 15. I was really happy with that, being my first tourney of the year.
Christchurch Squash Club is certainly one very impressive place. They have 5 courts, ALL glassback! Downstairs and upstairs viewing areas are amazing. Bar, lounge area is huge with a big projecter TV. Very friendly and well run tournament, except for when the president of the club decided to cook sausages on the bbq INSIDE the club rooms during the finals, smoked out the courts and set off the fire alarm! Had to evacuate building and wait for fire brigade to arrive to reset alarms etc! Some of the finalists were not happy as they were half way through matches, then had to stand outside in a 12 degree southerly for 20 minutes!
20 March 2009
Squash weekend Update - you can help
Hi all,
Well, thanks to a mighty effort and "outside the square" thinking by Ann-Marie we are getting 500 flyers !! - for free !! - Awesome stuff Ann-Marie well done. She has managed to do a deal with a printing company to do a special run for us, and all it cost us was making a minor change to show "sponsored by Service Printers, Wellington" and maybe sticking up a placard at the club during the weekend (which they will provide). So if you (or your business) has any printing needs, the committee would like to recommend you use these guys, and say you are from Northern if you do - Lets support those who support us !!
So, now we have a REAL plan for the Squash Weekend (March 28th & 29th), here it goes ...
1. 500 Flyers will be printed and possibly available tomorrow to be distributed (by the way, they also have our club name and address on them now!) - those of us happy to spread some around can do so and i suggest we also take some down to the club so ALL members can help do likewise (even if only 10-15 each). I suggest we may get better coverage doing car parks, etc rather than streets - that way they are scattered to a wider area. (and its quicker)
2. 500 Business cards will be delivered and we will set up a time/place/person/s to attach stickers to them with our club name and address before distributing to all who can help to distribute even further via friends, work, etc
3. Gibby has kindly offered to grab some of the posters and have them put up in some prominent places - again these will need to have our club name and address written on them beforehand.
4. Those available to help on Saturday should report at 2pm to help put up some signage pointing to the club. We may need to write name/address on these 1st.
5. Members/Players available at the Club from 2.30pm - 5.00pm on Saturday 28th (or parts thereof)
6. Members/Players available at the Club from 2.30pm - 5.30pm on Sunday 29th (or parts thereof - you will need to take signage down before leaving)
7. Those coming down on Saturday/Sunday should ALL try to bring SOMETHING in the line of refreshments, tea/coffee for VISITORS ... though i say anything still left after 4.30pm is fair game !!
Further information will be made available when possible - how/when to get business cards/posters/flyers, etc
Lets do this !!
Tony.
Well, thanks to a mighty effort and "outside the square" thinking by Ann-Marie we are getting 500 flyers !! - for free !! - Awesome stuff Ann-Marie well done. She has managed to do a deal with a printing company to do a special run for us, and all it cost us was making a minor change to show "sponsored by Service Printers, Wellington" and maybe sticking up a placard at the club during the weekend (which they will provide). So if you (or your business) has any printing needs, the committee would like to recommend you use these guys, and say you are from Northern if you do - Lets support those who support us !!
So, now we have a REAL plan for the Squash Weekend (March 28th & 29th), here it goes ...
1. 500 Flyers will be printed and possibly available tomorrow to be distributed (by the way, they also have our club name and address on them now!) - those of us happy to spread some around can do so and i suggest we also take some down to the club so ALL members can help do likewise (even if only 10-15 each). I suggest we may get better coverage doing car parks, etc rather than streets - that way they are scattered to a wider area. (and its quicker)
2. 500 Business cards will be delivered and we will set up a time/place/person/s to attach stickers to them with our club name and address before distributing to all who can help to distribute even further via friends, work, etc
3. Gibby has kindly offered to grab some of the posters and have them put up in some prominent places - again these will need to have our club name and address written on them beforehand.
4. Those available to help on Saturday should report at 2pm to help put up some signage pointing to the club. We may need to write name/address on these 1st.
5. Members/Players available at the Club from 2.30pm - 5.00pm on Saturday 28th (or parts thereof)
6. Members/Players available at the Club from 2.30pm - 5.30pm on Sunday 29th (or parts thereof - you will need to take signage down before leaving)
7. Those coming down on Saturday/Sunday should ALL try to bring SOMETHING in the line of refreshments, tea/coffee for VISITORS ... though i say anything still left after 4.30pm is fair game !!
Further information will be made available when possible - how/when to get business cards/posters/flyers, etc
Lets do this !!
Tony.
19 March 2009
Well it was a mixed result for the women's interclub teams this week.
Women's 1 had a good win over Collegians. Steph started the winning run in a very gutsy and admirable fashion. She turned up to play despite having woken that morning feeling considerably unwell and having a fever. That's true team spirit for you! She had to guts out 5 games though, to finally take the win 10-8 in the 5th set! Ann-Marie followed suite with a well fought 3-0 win over a fellow C2. Ann-Marie was chasing down everything and running amazingly well, so great to see her getting back to some of her good form! There are no doubt exciting things to come from Ann-Marie this year! Hayley P then had a 3-0 win after a somewhat mistake-ridden start. Winning the first game by a very small margin, completed the 3 games with a 9-0 and 9-1, thanks to some helpful advice from Ann-Marie at game intervals. Yolanda finished the night with a 3-0 loss, which in no way reflected the brilliant game that she had.
It was one of the best games Yolanda has played and the rallies were long and hard fought. It is awesome to see Yolanda also returning to some of her best form.
So quite encouraging, we are using Autumn to build a good team platform to start out winter assault in April and I know that all of us are going to produce some great form this year!
Women's 2 also had an encouraging evening. Whilst the results on paper were not what they would have wanted, all of the players were able to take away their own positive achievements.
Playing Island Bay, the girls were up against a team of experienced players who have all been playing for a while now. Rochelle took the court an incredible 7 weeks after giving birth to the very gorgeous Leila Jane! What an amazing effort Rochelle, it is cool to see you back on court and no doubt things will go from strength to strength for you!
Young Vanessa Larsen also played admirably against a very seasoned campaigner, who was over 700 points above her! Vanessa won the first 2 games, then bravely fought out the remaining games to unfortunately go down in 5. But what an awesome and encouraging effort from one of our youngest and up and coming stars! Elaine then also played well to take her opponent to 4 games. Elaine is often hard on herself, but I think that she played really well, and has made quite an astounding come back after brain surgery last year! Keep up the good work Elaine! Finally Fiona was able to secure a great win over her junior opponent. Sheer determination saw her through, knowing that she may not have the legs to play 5 games, she wrapped it up in 4 to secure a good win and valuable points for the team!
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Another fairly good week for the Northern Men Interclub teams. Three wins and one loss.
Russell's team had a tough ask (and lost) playing a bunch of C & D graders.
My team is one division up from Russell's and we generally play teams dominated by high E graders. That Kapiti team must have pulled in a few ringers Russell!
One more week of round robin to go. Best of luck.
Julian
p.s. don't forget your subs.
Mens Div 2 - winning captain Tony Blackler is still injured but did pass on....
We had a 2/2 win over Khandallah. Jules and Hoppy both won. Geordie and Craig D went down in 5.
Mens Div 3 - winning captain Rex Mar reported that...
A win is a win, even if it is only by 6 points! Tawa 108, Northern 114!
Dan - Lost 1/3, Rex - Lost 1/3, Alan - Won 3/1, Andre - Won 3/1.
Mens Div 4 - winning captain Julian Allen was surprised to be the only home team against Mitchell Park B last night....
With only our team at home, we got two courts going and finished squash by 9pm beating Mitchell Park B 3-1. Matt had a ding dong battle with another up and coming junior (E1) winning 3-1. I played a D2 and won in 3. I tried to run everything down so he couldn't get any momentum.
Despite a bad back Murray grabbed a game off another (E1 Gambitsis) junior and keep each game's score close but did end up losing 3-1. John played another E1 and came back from losing the first game to beat him 3-1.
Mens Div 5 - captain Russell Foley is considering a move up the coast.......
Nice drive out to Kapiti, nice people, nice drive home. When pressed further it was revealed that they played high D graders and an ungraded Junior (often the worst kind). They lost 4-0.
Women's 1 had a good win over Collegians. Steph started the winning run in a very gutsy and admirable fashion. She turned up to play despite having woken that morning feeling considerably unwell and having a fever. That's true team spirit for you! She had to guts out 5 games though, to finally take the win 10-8 in the 5th set! Ann-Marie followed suite with a well fought 3-0 win over a fellow C2. Ann-Marie was chasing down everything and running amazingly well, so great to see her getting back to some of her good form! There are no doubt exciting things to come from Ann-Marie this year! Hayley P then had a 3-0 win after a somewhat mistake-ridden start. Winning the first game by a very small margin, completed the 3 games with a 9-0 and 9-1, thanks to some helpful advice from Ann-Marie at game intervals. Yolanda finished the night with a 3-0 loss, which in no way reflected the brilliant game that she had.
It was one of the best games Yolanda has played and the rallies were long and hard fought. It is awesome to see Yolanda also returning to some of her best form.
So quite encouraging, we are using Autumn to build a good team platform to start out winter assault in April and I know that all of us are going to produce some great form this year!
Women's 2 also had an encouraging evening. Whilst the results on paper were not what they would have wanted, all of the players were able to take away their own positive achievements.
Playing Island Bay, the girls were up against a team of experienced players who have all been playing for a while now. Rochelle took the court an incredible 7 weeks after giving birth to the very gorgeous Leila Jane! What an amazing effort Rochelle, it is cool to see you back on court and no doubt things will go from strength to strength for you!
Young Vanessa Larsen also played admirably against a very seasoned campaigner, who was over 700 points above her! Vanessa won the first 2 games, then bravely fought out the remaining games to unfortunately go down in 5. But what an awesome and encouraging effort from one of our youngest and up and coming stars! Elaine then also played well to take her opponent to 4 games. Elaine is often hard on herself, but I think that she played really well, and has made quite an astounding come back after brain surgery last year! Keep up the good work Elaine! Finally Fiona was able to secure a great win over her junior opponent. Sheer determination saw her through, knowing that she may not have the legs to play 5 games, she wrapped it up in 4 to secure a good win and valuable points for the team!
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Another fairly good week for the Northern Men Interclub teams. Three wins and one loss.
Russell's team had a tough ask (and lost) playing a bunch of C & D graders.
My team is one division up from Russell's and we generally play teams dominated by high E graders. That Kapiti team must have pulled in a few ringers Russell!
One more week of round robin to go. Best of luck.
Julian
p.s. don't forget your subs.
Mens Div 2 - winning captain Tony Blackler is still injured but did pass on....
We had a 2/2 win over Khandallah. Jules and Hoppy both won. Geordie and Craig D went down in 5.
Mens Div 3 - winning captain Rex Mar reported that...
A win is a win, even if it is only by 6 points! Tawa 108, Northern 114!
Dan - Lost 1/3, Rex - Lost 1/3, Alan - Won 3/1, Andre - Won 3/1.
Mens Div 4 - winning captain Julian Allen was surprised to be the only home team against Mitchell Park B last night....
With only our team at home, we got two courts going and finished squash by 9pm beating Mitchell Park B 3-1. Matt had a ding dong battle with another up and coming junior (E1) winning 3-1. I played a D2 and won in 3. I tried to run everything down so he couldn't get any momentum.
Despite a bad back Murray grabbed a game off another (E1 Gambitsis) junior and keep each game's score close but did end up losing 3-1. John played another E1 and came back from losing the first game to beat him 3-1.
Mens Div 5 - captain Russell Foley is considering a move up the coast.......
Nice drive out to Kapiti, nice people, nice drive home. When pressed further it was revealed that they played high D graders and an ungraded Junior (often the worst kind). They lost 4-0.
18 March 2009
Tuesday night results
flippin heck ... how did you get them in your grade !!!>>> "Russell" <Russell@ebs.org.nz> 18/03/2009 9:36 a.m. >>>
I played Jordan at one and he managed to get 5 points off a C grader 3-0
I played a recently dropped from C to D grader soon to be C again and took one game off him. 3-1
Graham did what he could against a D grader 3-0
James scrambled hard against an ungraded junior 3-0
I played Jordan at one and he managed to get 5 points off a C grader 3-0
I played a recently dropped from C to D grader soon to be C again and took one game off him. 3-1
Graham did what he could against a D grader 3-0
James scrambled hard against an ungraded junior 3-0
Inter Club Result
How did you guys get on? We had a nice early night........
With only our team at home, we got two courts going and finished squash by 9pm beating Mitchell Park B 3-1.
Matt had a ding dong battle with another up and coming junior (E1) winning 3-1.
I played a D2 and won in 3. I tried to run everything down so he couldn't get any momentum.
Despite a bad back Murray grabbed a game off another (E1 Gambitsis) junior and keep each game's score close but did end up losing 3-1.
John played another E1 and came back from losing the first game to beat him 3-1.
Supper wasn't bad either :)
With only our team at home, we got two courts going and finished squash by 9pm beating Mitchell Park B 3-1.
Matt had a ding dong battle with another up and coming junior (E1) winning 3-1.
I played a D2 and won in 3. I tried to run everything down so he couldn't get any momentum.
Despite a bad back Murray grabbed a game off another (E1 Gambitsis) junior and keep each game's score close but did end up losing 3-1.
John played another E1 and came back from losing the first game to beat him 3-1.
Supper wasn't bad either :)
16 March 2009
Opening The Doors - Volunteers Required
NATIONAL SQUASH DAY
On the 28th and 29th of March we (along with clubs across the country) will be opening our doors to the public from 2.30pm - 5pm for them to come in, see some squash in action, maybe have a hit around themselves and generally find out about the brilliant sport of SQUASH !
Make contact with Tony Blackler 'if you can put something back in'
On the 28th and 29th of March we (along with clubs across the country) will be opening our doors to the public from 2.30pm - 5pm for them to come in, see some squash in action, maybe have a hit around themselves and generally find out about the brilliant sport of SQUASH !
Make contact with Tony Blackler 'if you can put something back in'
13 March 2009
Kumar Collapses In A Screaming Heap
Northern's Lakesh Kumar, the very popular, effervescent and sartorial shoe salesman's season could be over after suffering another set back in what has been an injury plaqued season.
I was not witness to the occasion, so will have to use some editorial licence on this one.
In a critical match against the old foe Mitchell Park, the rallies where long and intense but the silky Kumar was gaining the acendancy. Then after a long rally Kumar stretched for a ball and turned over on his ankle and lay in a screaming heap on the ground winching in considerable pain.
With no zambucks on duty Jules and Dewsey carried him home and quite possibly onto the hospital.
We can only wish Lakesh the best in his recovery, I hope his squash days are not cut short and we don't see his resplendant eye wear for sale on trade me.
I was not witness to the occasion, so will have to use some editorial licence on this one.
In a critical match against the old foe Mitchell Park, the rallies where long and intense but the silky Kumar was gaining the acendancy. Then after a long rally Kumar stretched for a ball and turned over on his ankle and lay in a screaming heap on the ground winching in considerable pain.
With no zambucks on duty Jules and Dewsey carried him home and quite possibly onto the hospital.
We can only wish Lakesh the best in his recovery, I hope his squash days are not cut short and we don't see his resplendant eye wear for sale on trade me.
Feedback
The feedback seems pretty positive.
Just need to establish the simplest and best way of doing it.
Thats where you guys step in.
I haven't looked at our website for a while but it never appeared to a riveting read without much new stuff posted.
John
Just need to establish the simplest and best way of doing it.
Thats where you guys step in.
I haven't looked at our website for a while but it never appeared to a riveting read without much new stuff posted.
John
12 March 2009
Good idea!
Sweet! Get this linked into the northern website and we're away! Is there an option for a forum also?
Rex
Rex
Initial Intro Blog Post Resurected
Forgot to publish the thing.
Scroll down a bit and you'll find it.
NB: I also think any posts etc should be signed by the author and no pseudonyms etc.
John
Scroll down a bit and you'll find it.
NB: I also think any posts etc should be signed by the author and no pseudonyms etc.
John
Teething Problems
Seem to be incurring a few problems with my set up, with the plethora of possibilities, options and boxes to tick anavailable.
I also seem to have tragically lost my first welcome/introduction blog.
I'll have another play later.
Have an enjoyable club night tonight as I'll be once again absent and not taking on all-comers.
John
I also seem to have tragically lost my first welcome/introduction blog.
I'll have another play later.
Have an enjoyable club night tonight as I'll be once again absent and not taking on all-comers.
John
11 March 2009
Welcome to The Northern Court Circular
This blog is intended for Northern Squash Club members as a newsletter and forum.
I'm new to this game and are very much a digital luddite. So any suggestions, ideas will be very welcome.
The blog won't be moderated as such, but I would expect users maintain similar etiquette and renown court demenour to Mr Alan Lavery Esq.
Colourful language (you've been warned Hayley) and incorrect spelling, especially text speak, will not be tolerated.
I encourage you to sign up as a follower (I'm not really sure what priviledges apply to that status and write a brief Bio.
To access the blog you need to go to http://northerncourt.blogspot.com/
To sign in (to add comments) you need to register as a Gmail user at https://www.blogger.com/start
I'm new to this game and are very much a digital luddite. So any suggestions, ideas will be very welcome.
The blog won't be moderated as such, but I would expect users maintain similar etiquette and renown court demenour to Mr Alan Lavery Esq.
Colourful language (you've been warned Hayley) and incorrect spelling, especially text speak, will not be tolerated.
I encourage you to sign up as a follower (I'm not really sure what priviledges apply to that status and write a brief Bio.
To access the blog you need to go to http://northerncourt.blogspot.com/
To sign in (to add comments) you need to register as a Gmail user at https://www.blogger.com/start
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