Under 11 Activity Added to the Junior Calendar
England Squash & Racketball are introducing some exciting changes to the junior tournament calendar for the 2010/2011 season. In a major move an Under 11 category will now form an important element of the junior structure. This will include more formalised Under 11 Sanctioned Events, the introduction of Under 11 National and Regional Squads and the addition of Under 11 categories to the national rankings system. The culmination of the season will see the first ever staging of a standalone English Under 11 Championship in April that will involve a large number of players and will be a real celebration of the season’s activity.
Fiona Geaves, ESR Junior High Performance Coach commented,
‘For the development of junior squash in England, it is important that we get talented young players onto regional, mini and national squads as quickly as possible. By opening up the age group we can coach children from an earlier age giving them the support and technical advice they need to progress in the sport and turn England into one of the strongest junior nations in the world. By encouraging a competitive environment from an early age ESR are hoping to produce the best juniors in the world and from these players senior World Individual and Team Champions.
We have to start early to compete with other nations, and although we already have an enormous number of U11’s playing around the country we need them to be in a structured environment which will provide them with a positive pathway to success. This addition to the Junior program will start to enable England to seriously compete and contest against the likes of Egypt, India and Pakistan who have dominated the junior circuit in recent years.’
Other changes being introduced see the introduction of a new junior ranking category that will enable the prestigious ESR Regional Closed Championships to be given enhanced ranking status, sitting between a bronze and a silver level event. In addition ESR is trying to support junior county activity by enabling all County Closed Championship results will be eligible for inclusion in the ranking system at a bronze event level.
Last season saw the introduction of a regulation whereby junior players must play their true age group category in the British Junior Open, British and English Junior Championships and the ESR Grand Prix. This move was well received and will be continued for the coming season.
The 2010/11 tournament calendar is now finalised and is available on the ESR website: www.englandsquashandracketball.com. In addition to all major events, Inter County, Regional and Performance dates the calendar includes a total of 66 sanctioned events so far of which 8 have been granted silver status. The calendar is a comprehensive guide that provides an array of competitive opportunity for all levels of player and enables both players and parents to plan their season’s activity.
The ESR yearly season planner has now been designed and will be available shortly both in print and downloadable from the website.
Players wishing to appear on the national rankings, particularly Under 11 players should email: rankings@englandsquashandracketball.com stating their Name, County, Date of Birth, and list any sanctioned events played.
For further information on the coming season please contact: events@englandsquashandracketball.com