Four junior players from the Sunset Country Squash Club will see their first tournament action of the season this weekend at the Western Canadian Open in Winnipeg.
Megan Canfield, Steven Krag, and Richard and Drew Allan have been putting in their time at the Memorial Sports Centre squash courts for the past few weeks to get in game-shape.
Canfield will compete in the girls’ ‘D’ division, Krag in the boys’ ‘D’ division, and the Allan brothers in the boys’ ‘E’ division. They’ll be accompanied by junior coaches Bob and Mary-Beth Tkachuk.
She said the quartet has been playing squash against one another for the longest time, pointing to an old picture of them when they first took up the sport which hangs on the bulletin board outside the glass-walled courts.
“It’s just great how they’ve all developed together,” she remarked.
This weekend’s event and future ones over the winter—including a tournament here in the New Year—also will go towards earning berths on the Northwest team to play at the Ontario Winter Games on March 15-17.
Four age divisions (under 13, 13-15, 15-17, and 17 and up) will represent the region.
Tkachuk said the improvement of the local junior players has increased year after year, and noted up to five or six club members have a chance at qualifying for the regional team—which would come close to equaling that club-high total last year.
This year, the club has a total of 20 players aged nine to 18 who practise their racquet techniques three times a week here.
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