Nigro makes impact on local squashers

As a group of young squash hopefuls took to the court here for a three-day clinic last week, they had a chance to bang racquets with a pretty good junior player.
In fact, having Rob Nigro–the top-ranked junior player in Canada–among those giving lessons isn’t too bad of a deal.
Some might say it was a chance of a lifetime.
Nigro, back in Thunder Bay for the Christmas holidays, decided to come to Fort Frances to offer some of his expertise.
And combined with the teaching expertise of local squash enthusiast Bob Tkachuk and Thunder Bay’s Bob Shine, the kids were given instruction from some of the top players this area has produced.
“It’s good to give back to the sport,” Nigro, a former Thunder Bay native now training in Toronto, said last Thursday morning at the Sportsplex.
“My [old] coach in Thunder Bay, Bob Shine, gave so much and it was good to see the kids here so keen,” he added.
Nigro said the youngsters showed a great interest in the sport, and have the potential to become competitive players some day.
“They were all dedicated and they showed lots of talent,” he noted. “The kids never complained even though they were on the court as much in the [three] days than they are [normally] in a week.”
Tkachuk, who helped organize the clinic, which also was used to select players for a Northwest region team for the Ontario Winter Games in March, said he was pleased with the how everything fell into place.
“Everyone was pumped up with interest having a player with Robbie’s skill level,” he remarked. “They saw his level of play and everyone was keen with interest.
“It was a lot of work but it was a lot of fun for the two-and-a-half days,” he added. “It was rewarding.”
Equally rewarding for the local squash club was the fact two players–13-year-olds Steven Krag and Megan Canfield–made the Northwest team. Tkachuk said the players, and program, definitely are showing signs of development and improvement.
“We’re past the infancy stage with the junior program,” he stressed. “Actually, players are now starting to develop and we’re all developing as a unit.”
Krag and Canfield are two of those players. But as much as they have improved so far, they’ll no doubt have to take their game to an even higher level at the Winter Games.
But Tkachuk had nothing but high praise for the young squashers.
“Steven is more of a defensive player who we’re trying to change to more offensive but he’s quite quick,” he said. “And Megan is strong, has a good attitude, and always puts in a lot of effort.”
Both players said they enjoyed the clinic and what it taught them.
“It gave me an idea of what I do well and what I have to work on,” said Canfield, stressing how appreciative she was of the time the coaches put in with them.
“If anything, Rob [Nigro] is going to motivate me more to practice to get better,” she added.
“They taught us how to play certain shots and to work on our serving, which is more important [with younger players],” said Krag, who competed at a tournament in Toronto last fall.
“It’s going to be interesting going down there [to Sault Ste. Marie] and to see all the athletes,” he admitted.