Lichfield Squash Club News - November 2024

As Summer has firmly disappeared in the rear view mirror and the shorter days are now upon us, it always feels a particularly busy period for the Club. Here is a summary of the main news from the Club, including some new potential playing opportunities so please read on ...

Membership renewals

It has been particularly pleasing to see that over 100 people have chosen to renew their membership for 2024-25. I hope all of you received your £10 early bird discount, plus any pro-rata rebates for those new members who joined during 2023-24.

Those members who have not yet renewed can still do so throughout the whole of November. I will send out further reminder emails in due course so just click on the payment link. If you do not renew, your MyCourts account will be rendered inactive from 1st December, which will mean you can no longer book courts, events or participate in the leagues.

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Club AGM – 10th October 2024

On Thursday 10th October, we held our second AGM since our club relaunch in 2021 post Covid.

We reflected on a fantastic year of further progress, which has seen continued and spectacular membership growth, a more diverse membership, increased court usage and the delivery of many coaching, events and playing opportunities for all ages and ability levels.

That said, we are not resting on our laurels and we held a most fruitful discussion about the future direction and delivery of the club, mainly based on the results of our recent members survey.

Club officials were elected/reelected and we welcomed a new Committee member too.

Finally, we 'span the wheel' to find out the winner of a £50 pdhsports voucher from those who completed the members survey. Congratulations Miguel Ricalde and we hope you enjoy whatever you decide to purchase.

A full summary of the AGM is available here: https://lichfieldsquash.mycourts.co.uk/news.asp?id=100003

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Lichfield celebrates World Squash Day

We held a very busy World Squash Day at the Club on Saturday 12th October.

We started with our Squash Stars course for our younger juniors. It is great to see these young players progress week by week, all whilst having loads of fun! Squicket remains a particular favourite!

Next up, we had another fantastic turnout for our Junior Squash Academy for our older juniors. This week, they practiced drop shots, before using these skills in a round robin tournament.

Last up, we held a most successful Try Squash session for adult players. We welcomed a group of players who had all tried squash in the past but we're keen to take it back up.

All are now going to attend our Tuesday Club Night for Beginner Improver players, with some also bringing along their partners.

We hope that our World Squash Day activities have developed or rekindled a lifelong love of our amazing sport!

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Squash Stars shine brightly at Lichfield!

On Saturday 2nd November, we held a fantastic final session for our Squash Stars course.

These children have been an absolute pleasure to coach and the progression of their hand/eye, balance, agility and game play skills are there for all to see.

We rounded things off by inviting the parents or grandparents onto court to pit their skills against their children in the Lichfield Squash Club Squicket Championships! The children, having had lots of practice at Squicket over the past 6 weeks, triumphed 9 runs to 7 - well done Squash Stars!

We look forward to running this course again early in the New Year. In the meantime, our Squash Stars will be able to attend our Junior Academy sessions moving forward.

If anyone is interested in their child having the opportunity to try squash, please get in touch and we'll keep you informed of all our junior squash opportunities.

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Junior Squash Academy goes from strength to strength

Last Saturday also saw an excellent conclusion to the current series of Junior Squash Academy, with a great turnout considering it was half term holiday.

We rounded things off with a round robin tournament, which was won by Josh, with Mavis as runner up. All players received prizes of a new red dot 'progress' ball and new grip for their rackets, with Josh and Mavis earning an additional prize of a new water bottle.

We've really enjoyed coaching this group of around 10 players, aged 11-16. All have progressed their skills massively over the past 6 weeks, and we hope that all will look to continue their progression through the further sessions we're now planning.

Thanks to all of the coaches who have helped deliver this programme - we could not achieve this without a dedicated coaching team.

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Squash Start course and ongoing coaching opportunities

Mid-October saw the conclusion of our 5 session Squash Start course for beginners and improvers, which we held on Thursday evenings.

We have worked on many of the basic techniques and tactics of the game, including length hitting, movement, serves and returns, volleys, drop shots and hitting into open spaces using the boast.

All players showed great progression, with some now having joined the Club and now regularly attending our Beginner Improver Club Nights on Tuesdays.

We will undoubtedly repeat this course again early in the New Year, and in the meantime, we are looking to introduce a new ‘Skills and Drills’ session, perhaps also on a Thursday evening. This would provide some ongoing coaching, with group conditioned games and routines. More details will be announced soon.

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Team Squash resumes

We are pleased that the Staffordshire County Teams Winter League resumes this month. We have once again combined forces with our friends at Burntwood to field a joint team called ‘Burntfield’.

Our campaign kicks off this Wednesday 6th November with the long away trip to Lilleshall over the border in Shropshire. Our first home match will be the following Wednesday 13th November with the visit of Tamworth.

All home matches will be played on our courts at King Edward VI Sports Centre, 7.00pm start. Spectators would be most welcome to attend to lend their support to the team.

A full list of Burntfield fixtures can be found here: https://staffordshiresquash.leaguemaster.co.uk/cgi-county/icounty.exe/showclubfixtures?clubid=11

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Fancy trying tournament squash?

If you have ever thought about competing in an organised squash competition, there is a great opportunity that has been organised by Sutton Coldfield Squash Club.

They are holding a Graded Open competition on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th November, which is suitable for all levels of play, there being 5 grades A to E.

Full details and how to enter are available here: https://www.facebook.com/SuttonColdfieldSquash/posts/pfbid02TPVChdMBJPruFoqpJqy12QALWHNy1bhPkadnuuYKZzv3cc7hvpYWibHsUKhTUFbul

That concludes this edition of the Club Newsletter, which I hope you have enjoyed reading. Please do get in touch if you have any queries using my contact details below.

Kind regards

James Roberts

Club Chairman

Tel/WhatsApp: 07816 620504

Email: james@lichfieldsquashclub.co.uk