UR Women’s Club Team 2009-10

UR Women’s Club Team 2009-10

WOMEN’S CLUB TEAM -
The Meliora exhibition unveiled the brand new women’s squash club team at the University with almost 19 college students trying out for the team, this has been a overwhelming success that is gaining momentum.
On Halloween weekend, the women’s team travelled to Cleveland and beat Notre Dame 6-3 in their first ever competitive face-off!
THIS SATURDAY 11/4 at 2:00pm, the girls play their first home game against neighbors William Smith from Geneva at the Peter Lyman Squash Courts at UR - so come cheer them on! And on Dec 4, they travel again to Wesleyan for a competitive round robin.

THE YELLOWJACKETS EMBRACE SOCIAL MEDIA -
Follow the men’s varsity team on Twitter (@RochesterSquash) for up-to-the-minute updates from the team when they’re on the road.
Or become a fan of University of Rochester Squash and University of Rochester Women’s Club Squash on Facebook

Finally, we’ve recently discovered that varsity men’s team co-captain Hameed Ahmed is a closet blogger (is there such a thing?) of sorts, read his excellent insider insights on the Yellowjacket’s season at his blog “Balls Inside Walls” at the CampusTimes website. Ahmed, who interned this past summer for the Finnish Broadcasting Corporation, writes with journalistic flair.

in his latest blog post, he reports on the recently concluded and seldom covered by the press, Prince Bullington Invitational, a long running pre-season invitation only competition for elite college players in Virginia. Hameed notes the work to be done by the team before they face off against #2 Princeton in what promises to be the first and biggest home game of the season:

“This was an individual tournament, but as we‘re playing Princeton already in five weeks we all were particularly looking forward to challenging the three Princeton players at the tournament. Although every one of us came extremely close to beating them, they were still a step ahead — especially on big points…..It is obviously good to know that we’re right up there with Princeton, but the fact that they were able to win all of the “big points” this weekend shows us that we still need to work on our squash before the match in December. If we can turn around those points and win the matches, we definitely have a shot at beating them. “
Read the entire report from Hameed’s blog “Balls Inside Walls”.
And mark your calendars - SUNDAY DEC 13th 1:00 pm ROCHESTER VS PRINCETON AT THE PETER LYMAN SQUASH COURTS AT UR!

Single dot ball: Jack purchased balls to be disbursed to Div. 2 and 3 teams.

City League: Some concessions are recommended to accomodate the U of R Div. 3 team. Home only will be considered as transportation is a problem.

Referee Clinic: Doug organized this event, it was productive and well attended.

Pro/Am: The date will move out (15 April ‘10) to avoid conflict with another PSA event.

Youth Squash: Troy presented plans for Clinic.
- Urban Squash developments with existing Harley Horrizons program were discussed.

Next meeting: 10 Nov. ‘09 at 5:30 pm (to release Div. 1 players for City League matches).

See also:
Recap: 8th Annual George Armstrong Classic.
Recap: 7th Annual George Armstrong Classic.
Recap: 6th Annual George Armstrong Classic.
Recap: 5th Annual George Armstrong Classic

Troy described the youth clinic and other events to be announced.

Thanks to Mark Raeside, league chair of the RSRA for setting up the league schedules.
Here they are:

Captains, please note:
1. Log on to the system (logon link on top left), enter your rosters and ensure that all your team members are current, paid-up members of the RSRA. All city league players are required to be current members and may play not more than two league matcheswithout a current RSRA/USSquash membership. Show your support, enjoy the camaraderie, become a member!

2. After deliberating over the PAR 11 or HiHo9 debate and based upon the response to the city league poll and subsequent feedback from Div 1 teams, the RSRA board has unanimously decided to mandate PAR11 for Division I only. Divisions II and III will continue with the old HiHo9 scoring system.

From CollegeSquashAssociation.Com: 2009 – 2010 Rochester Men’s Season Preview
“…Rochester’s monumental rise in the College Squash Association’s rankings continued last season. Since becoming coach at the beginning of the 2005-2006 season, Martin Heath has guided the team from 25th (2006), to 16th (2007), 10th (2008), and 3rd (2009) place finishes. Not surprisingly, during that period, the Yellowjackets earned the Barnaby Award, which is given to the most improved team each season, twice.

Last season’s thrilling 5-4 victory over Yale at the National Team Championships earned Rochester its 3rd place finish. The team’s goal is to continue last season’s momentum in 2009-2010. The team has strengthened its schedule, and it will host matches with Cornell, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale. As with any team near the top of the rankings, Rochester is gunning to win the team championships. With Fred Reid and Adam Perkiomaki not playing this season, the Yellowjackets hope that their new recruits will fill the void.

The Yellowjackets bring an international flavor to Rochester. This year’s additions, Andres Duany (Peru), Juan Pablo Gaviria (Columbia), and Oscar Lopez Hidalgo (Mexico) bring the total countries represented on the team to thirteen: British Virgin Islands, Canada, Colombia, El Salvador, England, Finland, Guyana, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United States. During January, the team will train in the British Virgin Islands….”
Read the entire preview at the CSA website.

Treasurer’s Report: Bill Lampeter’s report is presented by Jack.

Membership: Mithun described some features of the National web site box league software.

Referee Clinic: Doug has arranged for space at Midtown and will coordinate this advanced clinic.

Women’s squash: Tracy reported on the developing U of R women’s club team, and also short and long term goals for women’s participation in leagues.

Youth squash: Troy and Kate discussed the fall clinic, and also long term goals for youth. They are working with Eric Hernady and have started a detailed business plan. A key asset for future growth is court access.

Calendar: A tentative date of 8-11 April 2010 was mentioned for the Rochester Pro.
City League team entry: 18 Sept.
Rosters: 2 Oct.
First night of play: 7 Oct.
One big season vs two short ones.
The collegiate and Pro squash world uses Point-a-rally, we will promote this change.

Brace yourself for the new squash season! Much squash to look forward to including an advanced refereeing clinic, resumption of the popular city leagues, the classic George Armstrong, a womens squash night and a bigger, better, hungrier UR Yellowjackets squash team. A few highlights of whats coming up:

Advanced Refereeing Clinic:
A followup to the hugely successful refereeing clinic from last year, this session will involve a brief didactic session with DVD instruction material followed by on courts instruction and demostrations by certified referees Eric Hernady, Herb Barbehenn and Brendon Bascom. If you missed the first one, don’t forget to sign up for this great session to brush up on the subtle differences between lets and strokes and more before the leagues begin.
Where: Midtown Athletic Club
When: Sunday, Sept. 27, 2-4 pm. Free for current RSRA and Midtown members, nominal sign up fee for non-members. For more information and to sign up contact Doug Bennett.

2009-2010 City Team Leagues:
Sign up for the ever popular city leagues for weekly action across multiple divisions. A few important deadlines for team captains:
Sept 18th: Register your team name with league chair, Mark Raeside
October 2nd - Register/enter your final team roster in the league system
Week of October 5 - League nights begin.
More information on the city league format.

UR Yellowjackets Team Night at Meliora Weekend
Come meet the promising new recruits and watch a bigger, better, hungrier #3 ranked team in the nation.
When: Saturday Sept. 9th at the University of Rochester squash courts. Further details TBA.
2008 Team Night, 2007 Team Night, more Yellowjacket news from the past…

9th Annual George Armstrong Classic Squash Tournament
Join us once again for this ever popular event in its ninth year running.
When: October 28th-31st 2009
Where: Genesee Valley Club Squash Courts
Further details TBA. 2008 Event, 2007 Event, 2006 Event, 2005 Event.

2010 Rochester ProAm
The RSRA’s flagship event in its ninth year. The culmination of the 2009-10 squash season with a fantastic display of professional squash and amateur city tournament action.
When: April 8-11, 2010
Website: www.rocprosquash.com. Further details TBA.

Note: Also, in the works is a Women’s Squash Meet-and-Greet and round robin night at the beginning of the season to introduce women squash players (new and not so new) across clubs to each other. More on this soon.

So time to restring your racquet, clean out your squash goggles, stock up on new balls and warm up for the new season. CHECK OUT THE ENTIRE CALENDAR AND WATCH THIS SPACE FOR UPDATES.

More details at SquashSite.

Approval of May Minutes

Treasurer’s Report: Approved as submitted

Membership report:
Mithun reported on issues driven by the national organization:
- The possibility of using their box league software and pros and cons. We would like to maintain the court scheduling function
- The process of keeping current membership info

Topics for the upcoming year:
Leagues
Geo. Armstrong
U of R team @ homecomming (coordinators Jack, Mithun)
Harrow Thanksgiving round robin
Pro/am ‘10
- same committee
- need vigorous fundraising
Point-a-Rally need to start a discussion, encourage exploration
Fall youth clinic
Referee clinic
RIT connection