Save your squash butt…

…for the Junior Fun-raiser!!

Starting Thursday

February 8th – 10th
at the Spa Total Fitness Centre and UPEI

Squash PEI will be hosting its annual squash tournament as a fundraiser for our junior programs.
This will be a “no frills” tournament as proceeds go to support our juniors but it will be sanctioned and there will be a Saturday night social

Entry Fee $20 (Members and non-members of Squash PEI)

Divisions
Mens ABCD
Women’s ABCD
Master’s/ Juniors (if sufficient #’s /indicate alternate Div.)

Register online www.squashpei.org or call Michele at 368-8612
Registration Deadline Friday, February 2 @ 5pm

Ready To Go!

The trails are lit, the ice is froze, the toboggan hill is slick, the hot tub is steamy, oh yeah and the squash courts are cleaned and ready for action this weekend in Mill River.  We are anxious to open our doors and have everyone in for the Mill River Invitational again this year.  With a 62 participant draw including a handful of mainlanders it should prove to be a great weekend of squash and winter excitement.  We also get the chance to inspire our juniors and maybe even learn a little from them as they go into their final preperations for Canada Games.  The social is planned for Saturday night in the lounge starring Dwayne Doiron but bring your instruments and your voices because there will be an open mike opportunity for those who have talents other than with a squash racquet.  That’s all for now, see you on the weekend.  Good luck and play safe.

Scotty G

Junior Atlantics in Halifax

PEI was well represented at this year’s Junior Atlantic Squash Championships in Halifax last weekend (Jan. 12-14); we had our entire Canada Games Squad playing as well as 3 of  Kenny’s Junior Development crew. PEI represented 11 of 48 participants, not bad for a small province. And we did great!!!!!!!!!!!! All of our CG squad came home with medals……..so did 2 of Kenny’s juniors – and the only one who got shut out played extremely well but lost out to two girls who are going to Whitehorse.

Results

Boys U19 Silver 3rd  – Greg McQuaid

Boys U17 Silver 1st – Chris Quinn / 3rd Greg McQuaid

Boys U17 Bronze 1st – Matt McNeil / 3rd Alex Quinn

Girls U19 Gold 1st – Steph Charlton / 3rd Hilary Hansen

Girls U17 Gold  3rd Danielle MacDonald

Girls U15 Gold 2nd – Whitney MacDonald

Girls U19 Gold 2nd Elizabeth MacKenna / 3rd Grace Sullivan

Honorable mention goes to Kellie McQuaid who battled hard but lost out on a medal to Daria from NFLD who will be going to Whitehorse.

Overall, the weekend was a huge success. We travelled as a team and stayed together at the Holiday Inn. We had a lot of laughs, a few scraps, and learned some valuable lessons (like, if you’re the one with the boys on the way home, there are better choices for lunch than Taco Bell!!). Also, if you have to fly to Whitehorse, watching “Snakes on a Plane” is not a good choice. Pillows are softer than oranges if you get hit in the head with one. Cinnamon Altoids are the best! And even though Alex can pick out a Hummer / Volvo / Audi / Beamer across two lanes of traffic in the mist, from the back seat,  he couldn’t recognize the Borden Police right before they decided we were going just a tad too fast for PEI (my foot was still on the toll highway where limit is 110kmh but the Honda was in Borden where 90 is acceptable!)………………. Despite our one small set back (and the carry over from Taco Bell) , it was an awesome trip. We have 8 great athletes going to Whitehorse and I’m proud to be associated with them. They were great ambassadors for PEI all weekend and will keep Squashpei on its toes for years to come!!

Michele

Safe Return

Good morning all.  We are all safely back in good ole PEI with minor aches and pains.  Yesterday we were able to defeat NWT for the finishing position of 9th.  Mikey B started slow but regained control of his match to go on and win 3-0 against a protege of former islander Spider Jones.  Scott pressed on in the second match to secure the victory for Team PEI by defeating Brooke Harker with a 3-0 score.  Peter Webb rounded out the tournament with a casual and very entertaining match against the NWT alternate Spider Jones.  In fact the officials were so taken back by on court antics and crowd support/slanderizing for Webb that they too were having difficulty following what was the purpose of the match.  In the end the Spider owned the Webb, gracefully shook his hand and wished everyone back in PEI a big hello.  Final standings from the top down were 1. PQ  2. AB  3. ON 1  4. MN  5. SK  6. NS  7. BC  8. ON2  9. PEI  10. NWT

 Overall the weekend was a success of what we set out to accomplish.  We were not embarrassed by any performances on court, met some new faces, and replayed some old matches with old friends.  Next for the boys is a couple days of rest before final preparations for Mill River.  Hope to see you all there.

from the desk of Scotty G

Day 2 in Niagra

Afternoon all.  Well after a couple bottles of white out and a bit of an upset we found ourselves facing off this morning against BC.  We were pumped last night when the draw showed NS as our opponent and they were relieved to see it changed back to BC later on. 

Peter was up first today, well on court anyway. He was inspired with the hometown support of the now legendary Parker Horton. He entered the court with some oldschool type shenanigans in his pocket and a vintage T shirt that only Mike Reid could appreciate.  Peter fought hard and long only to come up short with a 9-7 loss.  He was playing more aggresive and more consistant than ever seen back home.  The next two games were also an avid fight but both were lost with scores 9-4 a piece. 

 Scott was up next against a unorthodox type character who clearly  outclassed him and ran the odometer up on his court shoes.  Although Scott put up a heck of a battle, his formidable opponent ran away with the match like a hobo with a sweet potato pie. 

Mike’s match was clearly the sharpest preformance of the set.  His opponent was running everywhere to retrieve shots, unfortunatly Mike ran out of steam after the 2nd game.  The highlight was Mike hitting three crosscourt volley drops, dead nick.  That got us fired up, with cheering and hollaring, and all the other teams watching were rooting us on.

Cleary Team PEI has established a strong fan base from other provinces, some teams have even painted Go PEI Go on their cheeks.  Tomorrow we play NWT, coached by infamous Spider Jones, we’ll make him wish he hadn’t left the Island.  Thanks for the support from home and party on.

Boys in action

Live from Niagara Mikey B vs Jamie Nichols

Team Update

Well everybody will be happy to know that we arrived safely and soberly.  We settled in to our room and put Mike to bed without much crying for his mom.  Peter took an extra couple of minutes to look after his “hair care” and Scott spent some quality time with his personal chauffer Aunt Jo and Uncle Hughie.  Thanks to them for their support this weekend. 

 So here we are after a morning of fine dining, consisting of nutritious granola for Scott and Peter, toast for Mike, though we pomously sent our breakfast back repeatedly until they got it right.  By then we were ready to hit the courts.  We were up against a formidable opponent, Ontario 2.  Mike got us rolling with an inspiring match to watch, although he lost in four games 10-9, 9-1(rest game), 7-9, 10-9.  Obviously it could have gone either way, but unfortunately the bad guys came out on top.  Scott stepped up next and although the rallies were lengthy and close all through, he lost in three 9-7, 9-3, 9-6.  Peter’s match was unfortunatly not so inspiring, the phrase ‘uglier than a bachelor party in a hog lagoon, was over heard during the match, evidently the match was a quickie, 27-5. 

 So our afternoon will consist of rebuilding our carbs and stretching out any kinks that may arise.  With some marquee matches on tap for later this afternoon we’ll be studying our next opponent which will be the loser of Ontario #1 (seeded 5) and BC (seeded 4).  So tomorrow at 10 am we will have the war paint on and the yogurt and granola more digested than this morning.  Realistically we will be hacking for all we’re worth tomorrow in hopes for a top 8 finish.  Mike and Scott will be doing they’re best to keep Peter out of some philisophical rampage with our next opponents and so far no cops have been needed to be contacted.  Keep your cell phone on Dad, it’s still early.  We’ll keep you posted tomorrow on the evening events and morning results.  Until tomorrow, we remain, the province who always has a good time.

New Year’s Update

Happy New Year’s all.  Just a quick note to let everybody know that the men and Mike of Mill River have survived another glutinous holiday season.  As our departure date for Men’s Team Championships grows closer Mike, Peter and myself continue to push ourselves along to prepare for our big road trip.  You’ll be glad to know that after a full week of turkey and gravy that we should all have enough grease to keep all joints from ceasing up.  I’d also like to extend thanks to the West Prince Sports Council who gave me word today that they will be sponsoring us with $450.  We are getting excited now and will keep you updated on our progress during the tourny.  That’s all for now and don’t forget to book your rooms for the Mill River tournament which is right around the corner Jan. 18-21.  Hope to see you there.

Scotty G