September Newsletter

The following Newsletter Draft is the third edition that has been sent to Ed and all of the committee for consideration following Rob Nayman's, Dan Aimer's, Ed Moore's, Andrew Black's and Max Ball's amendments,

Hello everyone

We hope you have been enjoying squash since bubbles and more competitive play has been introduced. We appreciate it is not easy at times to restrict ourselves to the limits that we are set but these are unprecedented times ( Yes I sound like Rishi Sunak) and we all need to abide by these restrictions in order to be able to continue playing the sport we love.

On this note we start September's Newsletter on a bit of a downer I'm afraid. Not what we want but it is the most important part so best to start off with it.

Some members have been found to be not following England Squash's and therefore SSC's guidance on COVID safety when using the facilties.

This includes:

Booking matches with non bubble members.
Booking matches with non bubble and non SSC members.
Playing Guests without paying the Guest fee or logging them into the system.
Using the changing rooms to either get changed or store squash bags.
Not Booking in when coming on site.
Masks not being worn when not playing squash.
Squash matches being played without any bookings on My Courts.
We have also had incidents where players have given false names in order to appear as though they are current paying members.

Some of these incidents can be put down to human error and both the school and club fully appreciate that mistakes happen like you forgetting to sign on the odd occasion or not putting your mask on straight away when you leave the court. Some of these things need to be tightened up on but it's new for all of us and a bit of leniency is granted.

What isn't acceptable is to deliberately misguide the club with the wrong information in order to be able to play squash for 40 minutes. We all don't like the way things are right now but we have to knuckle down and get on with it I'm afraid. It's not going away anytime soon but our ability to play squash could do if we don't adhere to the rules we have set out as guided by England Squash.

Following the issues caused by people playing guests and not paying the guest fee, the option of booking a guest is going to be temporarilly removed.

For these purposes please can everyone remember to:

Book your sessions on My Courts and always add the person you playing.
Arrive at the club in your squash clothing apart from your court shoes which you can put on inside the building before entering the courts.
Sign into my courts when you arrive.
Wear a Mask when on site but not when you are playing squash
Do not use the changing rooms to store bags or clothes or to get changed.
Only play members that are part of your squash bubble.
Do not use the upstiars for any reason.
Change out of your court shoes before leaving but not in the changing rooms.
Leave the premises after your match and do not congregate on site with members outside of your bubble.

If you see anyone not adhering to these rules please emphasize the importance of them or pass on the issue to the school or committee. The bubble system is working but it can only continue if we all follow these guidelines.

Also there is a handy video that the school have provided on the use of the Squash facilites.Type this link to find it: https://www.facebook.com/shrewsburyschoolsportsfacilities

Positive news

At a time when "positive" means a negative thing we actually have some "good positive" news. All 4 courts at SSC are going to be refurbished! This includes the walls, floors and service lines. At present this is going to be done on the 5th and 19th of October which will obviously mean that the courts will not be available to play on during these dates. If there are any changes to this then we will of course let you know but we're obviously very excited to get this work done and be able to enjoy using the courts following the refurb.

We are now talking with the school about how we can open the upstairs safely. Whilst this is a little way off and hinges on the COVID-9 guidance, we hope that we can bring positive news about this soon.

Moving forward we are seeking help from members to help run the bar. This would involve ordering stock, sorting deliveries and helping with recycling. If you or a group of members can support the running of the bar which helps finanace improvements and projects at the club, then please let a committee member know.

More positive news is that competitive Squash made a return this month. For those of you who missed it the Manchester Open took place with the world's best competing. There are videos on You Tube of the best bits of the matches. Some the rallies were amazing and to think these athletes have been in lockdown all of this time but they've come back and managed to play some exhilarating squash. Some of Paul Coll's matches were incredible to watch.

It was also announced this week that the 2022 Commonwealth games will have Squash at Birmingham. A great opportunity to witness some of the world's best playing the game we love and only an hour away. Definitely worth trying to get tickets for if you can make it.

A note for everyone's calendar is that the AGM is planned to be on the 15th November which is likely to be a Video meeting due to COVID. More about how this will follow as we get closer to the date.

There's a new Sheriff in Town

We are pleased to announce that Max Ball has taken on the position of Club Captain. Max is a well known figure at SSC and is keen to start his new position. Many thanks to Dan Aimer for his fantastic work and the effort he has put into the role up until now. Dan is staying on the committee and will be focusing his time on club development.

That's about it for now. We want to wrap things up with "good positive" news but please take into account the guidelines we have set out. We're all responsible for ensuring we can continue to play squash at SSC and neither the school or committee make the rules. We follow England Squash's guidance on what is currently safe play but It's our individual actions the decide the overall outcome.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and we hope you enjoy your Squash.

Scott

28/09/2020