Rochdale’s juniors have made history again by winning the North West Counties Squash League junior playoff finals for the second time running. A testament to the work we’re continually doing at the club to bring young players through.
Our U19 squad brushed aside the competition to become champions as part of a spectacular event held at the National squash centre on Sunday 26th May. The team played their final match as part of a warm up act to the Manchester Open PSA final, between world no.9 Joel Makin and world no.16 Greg Lobban.
Pictured below are the U19 team being presented with their winners’ medals: Adam Curran, Ricardo Pedrosa and George Bailey. The boys train as part of our Rochdale Academy Gold Squad run by myself on Friday evenings at Rochdale Sports Club.
Our second team, most of whom are very new to playing squash also made it to the playoff finals and took part in a great day.
Amaan Rana led the team by example, beating higher ranked opponents on the day and keeping his cool under pressure. A special mention goes to Isaac Hope and Yacub Beg who made their debuts playing for the teams and performed well. Isaac and Yacub have been great additions to the club and train as part of our Bronze Squad, also run by myself at the club on Friday evenings.
Shout out to Andy Parton who not only played the role of supporter, coach, organiser, driver etc., but also went straight back to Rochdale after to coach our Sunday beginners session! Eddie & Andy, the dynamic duo, currently run our juniors Beginners Session which is open to any junior and takes place at the Rochdale Sports Club every Sunday afternoon.
Winning Teams
It’s been a great season for both the juniors I coach at Rochdale and for me personally.
Two of our U19 squad players, George Bailey and Ricardo Pedrosa have helped Rochdale’s first team gain promotion into the NWCSL 2nd division with outstanding perfomances throughout the season. Abdullah Iqbal also contributed to some important wins, as well as making time to focus on his studies.
Our mens’ 2nd team also managed to avoid relegation and fought well to stay in the 3rd divison, the team were fortunate to have the skills of our Gold squad players Adam Curran and Harith Iqbal to call upon.
For me personally, it’s been a successful league season, being part of the winning team in both the North West Counties 1st Division and the Yorkshire Premier League, as well as winning the NWCSL 1st Divison playoff championships.
Both of these leagues lay claim to being the ‘world’s best squash league’ and host a wealth of world ranked talent week in week out, so it’s an achievement for any team to be near the top of the table at the end of the season, which runs from September through to April. I’ve been lucky enough to represent two strong teams and play with some amazing players, and that wouldn’t be possible without the help of sponsors and the support of the people at the squash clubs.
A big thanks to EWL and Warrington Sports Club, as well as to Doncaster Sports Club, in particular Les Close and Armthorpe Falcons. Both clubs are doing a great job and manage to draw in big crowds to watch every week.
The importance of league squash & ‘the soft serve’
Being part of a team is important in sport, and especially so in a sport as individual as squash. Some people thrive in a team environment.
At Rochdale Squash Club, it’s been great to see some of the junior academy players going through this coming-of-age process. Players who were rivals within your club are suddenly your team mates, helping you to overcome tricky opponents.
I once played my school’s ice cream van man in a league game when I was 14, he was called Tony and had two forehands instead of the usual forehand/backhand. He’d switch his racket from right to left hand seamlessly. ‘So that’s how he makes the ice cream cones so fast’, I thought to myself as I shook his ice-cold hand in defeat. I haven’t had an ice cream since.
Being able to deal with this kind of pressure is ultimately what leads to you becoming a better squash player, listening to advice from your team mates and coaches, and absorbing valuable tips like ‘hit it to his backhand (useless against Tony), ‘keep it tight’ etc.
The juniors at Rochdale have earned the right to play in Division 2 which is a good standard in the North West, there’s some talented players and teams vying for a spot in the prestigious first division, so it will be a good learning curve for the young players who have yet to play at that level.
