Squash Club
U of A Squash Club Welcomes the 2011/2012 Season!
An amazing fall session!
After the departure of Ex-President (Nathan Hall) and Vice President (Safwan Rafique), myself (Nader Aboelnazar) and Micheal Mayner volunteered to take on the main executive positions for the club. Even though this was our first year running the club, Nathan and Safwan have set-up the club from scratch and all we had to do was to keep it running. I'm proud to say that the club was able to obtain over 100 members in almost a week and half! There was some difficulties at the beginning to get certain Alumni members on the club in order to complete some of our ESL teams; but, with the help from the head of campus recreation (Grachella Garcia) we were able to expand our set 100 member cap.
We currently have 7 mixed ESL teams, most are fighting for position 1 and 2 others are still trying to fight their way up. But regardless, everyone has had an excellent first half and with a full half of the season still to come, I'm certain we'll see more of our U of A teams in the top positions. So keep up the great work everyone!
As for events that have occurred this fall, there is only two that come to mind (no specific priority):
1. Dr. Brian Maraj (ESL coordinator) held a wonderful fundraiser in honour of Terry Tenove on Dec. 7th, 2011. Terry is a student in Physical Education who unfortunately suffered a severe spinal cord injury and is now a quadriplegic. Ever sense Terry's accident, Dr. Maraj has kindly been doing this fundraiser for him every year (Dr. Maraj plays squash from 9am-5pm).
Yet, Terry has refused to accept any money raised from the fundraiser for himself and has asked that all of the funds go to the Free2Bme program of the Steadward Centre (http://www.steadwardcentre.
The Free2Bme program (at the Steadward Centre) goal is to provide children and youth (4-19yrs old) with physical, sensory or developmental impairments the opportunity to enjoy participating in physical activities and fitness programs that otherwise they would not be capable of indulging in.
2. Having the privilege to witness "The Magician," Jonathon Power, play live at the Riverbend Athletic Club. For the members who were able to go out and watch him, it definitely was an experience that none of us will forget! We got to watch some highly ranked RAC members (Level 1, 2, and 3 players) test their skills and luck against JP.
Then we got to watch Jonathon Power take on the RAC Head Pro (Jeff Sneyd) and another player highly ranked in Alberta, at the same time! Yet, being the former #1 player in squash, JP took both players on with little difficulty.... That game truly demonstrated to everyone why Jonathon Power is referred to as one of Squash's Legend.
This was definitely an exciting fall for the executive members and the SC-Squash Club members. Don't forget to try to play a couple of games during the holiday, to maintain the skills you have all learnt up-to-par.
We'll see you all next term, and the Box-League/Monday night training will continue as usual Jan. 9th, 2012.
Have a wonderful winter break and Christmas everyone, Merry Christmas.
We have elected a new executive
The U of A Squash Club Elected its new Executive on Monday April 11th, 2011. With the departure of the President from the past two years (myself Nathan Hall) and Vice President Safwan Rafique, there was a need for some new volunteers to move the club into the 2011/2012 season and beyond. We were very pleased to have some fantastic people step up and we are confident that this club will continue to thrive under its new leadership. You can see the listing of the new executive below.
We also will be having a paid coach for the first time next year to help train our players on Monday nights. The club agreed on this at the recent meeting and have contacted Andrew Linklater about stepping into this position. Andrew is a U of A Alumnus, NCCP certified coach, and an open level player. We look forward to having him help out.
On behalf of Safwan and Myself as the outgoing executive, I would like to say thank you to all the members who joined and supported this club over the past two seasons. We have come from humble beginnings and have grown into a strong and vibrant U of A organization that we can all be proud of. It has been a pleasure to get this club to where it is and we wish the U of A Squash Club much success in the future. Thanks to all of you who have made this a fun experience for both of us. We are both truly grateful that we have been given this opportunity to meet so many wonderful people that share our love for this fantastic sport.
Box League
Box league is currently in session, to preview your boxes please see the tab for "box league."
Harrow Deal
Check out the link to member discounts with Harrow Racquets. As a U of A Squash Club member you can now take advantage of these great club prices. E-mail the squash club if you are interested in purchasing anything. Save over $50 on most Harrow gear.
Upcoming Important Dates
· Sept 7th - U of A Squash Club registration begins (SIGN UP EARLY OR RISK NOT GETTING IN)
· Sept 12th, 14th – U of A Squash Club Info Meeting (Room E-120, near the squash courts, 6pm start)
Come to one of these dates to find out more about the squash club!
· Sept 13th – “Squash In No Time” Training Sessions registration deadline (see www.squashalberta.com for
more info)
· Sept 23rd - Edmonton Squash League (ESL) registration deadline
· Oct 18th- 20th - ESL play begins
· Oct 21st-23rd - MacEwan Open
· Feb 3rd-4th - Alberta University/College Championships
· Mar 9th-11th - U of A Open
If you have questions regarding the U of A Squash Club. Please e-mail the contact address below.
Contact:
Executive Committee:
President: Nader Aboelnazar
Vice President: Mike Mayner
Treasurer: Dan Mouris
Box League Coordinator: Jason Taylor
ESL Coordinators: Brian Maraj and Mike Ho
Training Coach: Andrew Linklater (NCCP Certified, Mens Level 1 Open Level Player)
Training Helpers: Connor Batchelor and Mohammad Ali Mohammad
Past President: Nathan Hall
