Shorter format for shorter legs a hit

One of Whangarei's premier squash coaches is thrilled at the way his first "one day" squash tournament went.

Jared Gravatt was pleased to get a full field of 32 players for his first Junior One Day Series held at the Mid Western Squash Club.

The coach said the new junior squash series had been designed with the thoughts of busy parents and children in mind. It had been designed to offer an alternative to the often costly and time-consuming two or three-day junior events often found on the tournament calendar.

"Although these longer tournaments are great for juniors already playing competitively, the longer format often proves to be too much for juniors new to squash," Gravatt said.

And Gravatt should know. He coaches at several Northland clubs as well as delivering a Squash in Schools programme for Northland Squash and said if successful, the series should help grow junior squash in Northland.

"Too often I see talent wasted because juniors who are new to squash don't know how to get involved in competitive play and this, ultimately, leads to them moving on to other sports," he said.

The series will be run on Sundays to allow for kids with Saturday sport commitments to enter and will target the many juniors playing club level squash throughout Northland who may otherwise slip through the gaps.

Gravatt said the support of Stirling Sports and the Mid Western Squash Club - who has provided use of their courts for the first three events - had been invaluable in getting the series off the ground.

"It is very important for kids to play a range of different sports, even from a young age and this new series allows them to play these other sports as well as keeping them involved in squash."

The next tournament is on October 14.