In this issue:
v Lakeshore Blizzard, Dec 7th, 8th & 9th, 2007
v Illinois States , Jan 18th, 19th& 20th, 2008
v Windy City Open update…. Feb 29th, March 1st & 2nd, 2008
v Inter Club Play
v METROsquash with Sue at the Field Museum , Oct 11th and 12th, 2008
v Great Lakes Tournament results
v Tournament Schedule
Lakeshore Blizzard, Dec 7th, 8th & 9th, 2007
Imran will again be running the Lakeshore Blizzard on Friday December 7th thru Sunday December 9th. Sign up thru the ISRA Web site. Entry fee is $50, which will give you the obligatory T-shirt, Friday night beer and pizza party, Saturday lunch and lots of prizes and surprises. How can you miss this?
2008 ISRA State Singles Jan 18th, 19th& 20th, 2008
With the move of the Windy City Open to March, the State Championship will occupy the date used for the last many years by the WCO. The ISRA State Singles is one of the longest running local tournaments and you could be the next State Champion! Lakeshore Illinois Center , will co-host this tournament. Expect the usual refreshments and drinks. Sign up will soon be available on the ISRA Web site. Mark this down in your calendars.
Windy City/US Regional Event Feb 29th, March 1st and 2nd, 2008
The Windy City will host a USA Professional Tour event, while conducting one of first regional national skill level competitions. US Squash is raising the bar for participation in National Tournaments and we can expect that competing in regional tournaments will be required to participate in National Championships. Not a bad goal…so why not put this first of its kind tournament on your list of sporting objectives. Many of you qualify for the Boston marathon…think of this as the squash version.
The University Club B team (dare I say led by Joe Russell) is pulling away from the other teams after week 4 of the Super League. Matches are being played at the UC and Lakeshore. Check with the club pros for the current schedule, to see the best squash in town.
The 4 to 5+ league had a great start to their season on November 10th at the Lakeshore Club. With 15 players on the line, play was extremely close up and down the ladder and Bill Nau cemented his position at the top of the pile. Watch for the date of the next ladder event (February??), targeting 4 to 5+ level players.
METROsquash with Sue
METROsquash with Sue, held October 11 &12 was a huge success! 1,000 Chicago Public School students and over 1,000 museum visitors were exposed to world class squash during the day! Thursday night, Natalie Grainger swept the floor with some of Chicago ’s finest squash players: Sean Ballard, James Bullock, Imran Nasir and Nick Sisodia. Event goers were also treated to a legendary match up between Jon Power and Peter Nicol. But Friday night, not do be outdone, Jon White and Amr Shabana took center stage and wowed the crowd with some exciting fast-pace squash! Thank you for all who attended the event! You can see photos from both days’ events by going to www.metrosquash.org.
METROsquash ’07 has been in season for three months now and has expanded to serve 40 Chicago Public School children! There is always a need for volunteers, on the squash court or in the classroom. Make a commitment to come help out once a month and make a difference! Don’t forget to donate to the METROsquash annual appeal! In kind donations are always accepted. Check out www.metrosquash.org or e-mail: info@metrosquash.org for more information.
Great Lakes Open - October 11-14
I was sorry to have missed the Great Lakes , a tournament run by the University Club in support of METROsquash with Sue. Congratulations to the winners: James Dobson, Don Murphy, Ian Andrews, Pat Ryding and Damon Bourne. Also, the Trela/Smith twins played their final later and messrs Neff, Sisodia and Winters played to a draw (or get your slide-rules out!)…go the 50+’s!
Tournament Schedule
The listing of tournament events is shown below:
· Lake Forest Open-Thanksgiving Weekend Nov 23-25 (adults & juniors)
· Lakeshore Blizzard December 7, 8th & 9th (adults)
· Juniors at Onwensia Jan 5 & 6
· State Singles (adults) Jan18th, 19th & 20th.
· Midwest Invitational High School Team Event (Jr) January 19-21
· State Junior Championships March 1-2
· US Squash Regional Skills, Feb 29th, March 1st & 2nd.
· Friends of Lake Forest Squash (Jr) April 19-20
Don’t forget, all current and past ISRA/US-Squash members can check the status of their membership thru our web site Illinois Squash by clicking “Join the ISRA” on the upper left. This will take you to the membership site on the US-Squash website. Follow the instructions; if you experience any problems e-mail me at the address below.
Brian Horwood
773-929-0822 (Home)
773-383-3906 (Cell)