Northland squash prodigy Riley-Jack Vette Blomquist will take his talents to Malaysia where he will play for New Zealand in the World Junior Squash Championships in July and August. Photo / John Stone
Northland squash prodigy Riley-Jack Vette Blomquist will take his talents to Malaysia where he will play for New Zealand in the World Junior Squash Championships in July and August. Photo / John Stone
They say nice guys finish last, but Northland's Riley-Jack Vette-Blomquist is certainly proving them wrong.
The 16-year-old Whangārei Boys' High School student left New Zealand on Wednesday as a member of the six-strong New Zealand junior boys squash team who will play in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at the World JuniorSquash Championships starting on July 30.
The competition, which concludes on August 9, is the pinnacle of global under-19 squash.
As he is still eligible to attend the tournament in 2020 and 2021, Vette-Blomquist was raring to go when he spoke to the Northern Advocate days before his flight.
"[It's] the world's best competing on the world stage so it's a pretty awesome thing to go to, a good experience," he said.
Quiet and humble, Vette-Blomquist was a late bloomer by most people's standards, having first played squash with friends about five years ago at Parua Bay School. Despite a keen interest in football, the squash bug firmly took hold of an 11-year-old Vette-Blomquist.
"As much as they say [squash] is an individual sport, it's not an individual sport," he said.
"The team aspect is probably one of the things I enjoy most and playing in a team and representing is a cool feeling."
Having only played squash for about six years, Vette-Blomquist, 16, saw his calm temperament on court as a big asset. Photo / John Stone
Vette-Blomquist's potential in the sport quickly became clear as he represented New Zealand as a member of the secondary schools team and in an Oceania junior competition.
The Manaia and Whangārei Squash Club player has been in rich form this year, winning the North Island under-17 boys' squash competition to go with his South Island title from 2018.
However, Vette-Blomquist's highlight of 2019 came a few months ago at the final selection tournament in Tauranga which decided who would be picked to go to Malaysia.
"There were seven of us fighting for six spots and I was No 7 for the majority of the year until coming up to the last tournament so to finally scrape through to that six was a good feeling," he said with a grin.
Vette-Blomquist beat his rival for that sixth spot in five sets, ending with a nail-biting 11-9 win to the Northlander.
Vette-Blomquist, a Whangārei Boys' High School student, credits his Northland community for helping him achieve his goals. Photo / File
Coming into the sport late and travelling to Auckland twice a month to train, Vette-Blomquist accepted his style and situation was different from those who had regular access to the best facilities and resources.
However, Vette-Blomquist believed it was his 'never say die' attitude and a calm demeanour on the court which set him apart from other players.
"A lot of people get angry but that's nowhere near my game, I don't let that stuff get to me.
"Once you get to that higher level, technique isn't really the winning factor, it's about tactics and maintaining the mental side of it so it's definitely an advantage I think."
Vette-Blomquist is able to compete in the global under-19 tournament for two more years after the current competition. Photo / John Stone
He admitted it was hard to keep up with other players his age in terms of high-quality training but armed with a unique style and unending determination, Vette-Blomquist knew he had time to develop.
"I'm always getting told I've got a lot more to improve on because I've just got this technique that I've developed quickly, but I guess it's an advantage for me because I'm at that level where I've got more improvements to go."
Now that he was realising his dream of playing at the top level, Vette-Blomquist said his priority was to learn from the experience and come back next year to improve on his debut outing.
Vette-Blomquist, seen here at a self-run junior squash tournament in Whangārei, had to get creative while fundraising for this Malaysia trip. Photo / Tania Whyte
"I've still got some more years to go at this tournament so it's just about learning as much as I possibly can from playing different people and different styles of games," he said.
"New Zealand is one area of the sport but it's nothing compared to everyone else in the world and all the different styles so definitely it's just about experience and doing my best."
