December Newsletter

Hi everyone

Lots of interesting things to cover in this month's Newsletter so leave the Christmas shopping and decorating for a few minutes and have a read. If you haven't started any of those things yet start panicking, after reading this of course.

We'd like to start off by welcoming Tracy Waldron-Pegge onto the committee. Tracy has organised the very succesful Ladies night and is keen to support new members and beginners. After the success of the Pizza and Prosecco ladies night we are pleased to announce that Tracy will be organising another session on Friday 18th January. If you are interesting in going or want more information on what the evening has in store then check out the write up from Tracy below.

The Pizza & Prosecco Ladies Squash night

On the 9th of November we drew in around 20 or so ladies of varying ages and abilities.

Dr Sophie started the event off with a hilarious warm up whilst “I like to move it move” blared over court 1.

Coach Cheryl took the “Absolute Beginners” on Court 1 and got them started on the essentials of backhand and forehand drives, followed by 3/4 court and finishing with some games against each other. The group definitely showed progress, although the 3/4 court rules eluded some.

Elaine quickly got the “I’ve played a bit” group swiftly organised into round robins and practice stations, followed by 3/4 court and 5 point games. Forfeits for failing to serve In were press ups and 1 lady did 5 in a row.

Meanwhile on Courts 3 & 4 the rest of us (mostly lower leaguers) played a couple of 50 up games which no-one told me actually takes 50 plus minutes to finish!

Coach Linda offered some 1:1 coaching whilst all the ladies had opportunity to play games.

Lots of encouragement prizes were awarded and much Pizza, Prosecco and chat was had.

Feedback from the night has been positive with one absolute beginner messaging:

“Many thanks for putting on such a great night. I really enjoyed the coaching session, and the opportunity to play a few games with people of similar standard to myself. It felt like a good workout followed by an enjoyable social. I would definitely be interested in coming along again.”

The next Ladies Night is planned for 7pm Friday 18th January with a little more focus on competition with coaching, fun and cheeseboard.

Looking ahead

Over the last few years many members have asked about the possibility of building two new glass backed courts at the Club. Many current and current members have also informally indicated that they would be willing to contribute financially to such a project. In order to establish whether this was something that the School would be prepared to have discussions about in principle, Carl Griffiths and Andrew Black met the Head Master recently. The meeting went well and the Head Master confirmed that he was preparing a strategic plan for the school over the next 6-9 months and would come back to us by September 2019 with an answer. This is probably all that realistically we could have expected and we therefore would hope to be able to discuss the issue with members in greater depth at the next AGM once we have his reply.

Open season on Mondays

Just to let all members know that Mondays are now open all day for bookings. If you are free in the day and need a court they should be open to you on the online booking system.

Current League ad Cup standings

The teams in the Shropshire leagues are performing well. The teams are first place in Div 3 (unbeaten run), third spot in Div 1 and are holding second and third podium positions in Div 2. In the Cup the B E and F teams all are through and Div 2 teams have yet to play first matches. Good luck for the next round and remember the new "cup tied" rule this year. Congratulationsto Billy Rivett (an upcoming junior) who leads the stats table for our club with 4 wins from 4 matches.

Club Christmas Curry

On Friday 14th December at 9pm there will be a sit down at The Masala. £12pp (pay on the night).
Popadoms and pickles etc
Mixed starters; Naan breads.
2 x medium and 1 x hot main courses; rices; vegetable dishes.
Sweets
Make sure you come hungry!
Please sign up on the notice board downstairs in the club or let Guy Rutter know by text (07896 423260) or email (guyrutter1@gmail.com) if you are coming.

Christmas Accumulator Competition

If anyone hasn't already seen the Christmas Accumulator sheet up on the notice board, time is running out tog et your name down on the board and join in what will be a great evening of squash. Hurry and get your name down for mulled wine, social with nibbles and squash.

Club closed dates over Christmas and New Year

Just to note that the club will be closed on the following dates:

24th December Evening

25th December All day

26th December All day

31st December All day

1st January All Day

Four Oaks vs Birmingham University

A small group from The Club went to watch and support Miles Jenkins and former Club Champion David Lau playing for Four Oaks Vs Birmingham University on Monday 19th November at Four Oaks. Following a good trip over we got to watch some entertaining squash with the no.1 seeds being at Pro level.

Miles played at 1 vs Michael Mattimore taking the 1st 11-6 after some lightening fast exchanges. The second seemed to be going to Michael with him getting to game ball at 10-7 before Miles managed to take the serve back and then hang on as Michael threw everything at him in an effort to take the one point he needed. However Miles managed to hang on using his better length and more accurate drops to finally take the game 13-11.

Miles then started the 3rd as the much stronger player racing to a 9-0 win as Michael was visibly shattered! before he managed to take a point to ensure he didn’t lose the game to 0!. Miles then showed his class and asserted his authority moving Michael around the court at will and taking the game 11-4 for an exciting 3-0 win.

David meanwhile was playing at number 3, his highest position yet, for Birmingham University 1st team. He played an experienced player in Steve Jones.

From the warm up it was obvious that David had come to win. He started on his back hand - taking everything at the service line and returning to his opponent to a great length. David continued to mentally build on this advantage to the point that Steve having won the serve managed to serve it over a foot down! David then took the serve and played everything at incredible speed - returning balls from every part of the court to hit great lengths and nick after nick.

Steve was clearly under considerable pressure and couldn’t play a shot tight enough or long enough to stop or slow David down. David meanwhile had found his length immediately and put increasing pressure on his opponent with extremely accurate ‘cut serves’ that killed the ball in the back of the court. 1st game 11-4 to David.

In the 2nd game David continued where he had left off - applying pressure with his serve and then keeping his opponent moving and having to guess what would happen next - 2nd game 11-3 to David.

In the 3rd David was racing away with it when he made a couple of forced errors following some desperate retrievals from his opponent. David continued to push his opponent about at will and was now hitting the nick with every shot! - rear court boasts were coming off the front wall at what appeared to be 100mph and straight into the nick! Final score 11-6 to David - 3-0 in games and 13 minutes of actual play time.

All that's left is to say is that we wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Good luck with your games this month and look out for the next Newsletter in the New Year.

04/12/2018