2017 Canadian Nationals Recap

I just got back from competing in the Canadian Nationals. I missed playing it the last few seasons because of knee problems, so just to be back on court and competing was a win for me. Unfortunately I had trouble backing up a tough match and lost in the finals of the 35+ 3-1. Anyways, this isn't a post about me so let's move on.

Today I'm going to talk about the men's and women's open events. Here's a link to all the draws if you would like to check out the full results: http://squashcanada.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draws.aspx?id=984B9FE1-9DAC-427F-A4BE-76D48ABFBF60 Being around squash for my whole life you get to know almost everyone and you get to see juniors rise up and become some of the best players in the country. Canada has had some success on the PSA circuit over the years and we all look up to the footsteps of Jonathan Power (who for the record did not play this year). There was a good blend of some competitors around my age who are nearing the end of their careers and others are just beginning. Shawn Delliere and Shahier Razik have both won a number of the mens' titles over the years and Sam Cornett was back after missing last season due to injury. Cornett has had lots of great results on the PSA tour since her comeback so most people were favouring her to recapture the title. Hollie Naughton was the defending women's champ and Andrew Schnell was last years champ on the men's side.

The women's draw is the most competitive I have ever seen. Canada has a number of women ranked in the top 75 in the world (I believe 5) and there are others playing close to this caliber. Although the women's draw was smaller the caliber and competitiveness was good. It was encouraging to see a couple of the top local juniors in the mix.

The women's semis were set with the top 4 seeds and both matches were incredibly tight. Unfortunately both ended with bad calls by the ref. Down 10-9in the 4th and 2-1 in games Cornet had the momentum, but Letourneau was awarded a stroke for a simple let and the entire crowd gasped in shock and was vividly not happy with the call. I was thinking as watching this that if Cornett had won that point she was going to win that match, it was that critical. Shame when you see something like that. In the other semis (which I didn't see all of) I heard there was a wrong call at 9-9 in the 4th against Nikki Todd which gave Naughton match ball. I was worried about the refing from my very 1st match when I was awarded a no let when I hit my opponent during my swing which caused my ball to hit the floor. I don't know if the refs have got a new set of rules they're using. I don't like bringing up this topic again, but anytime a ball was hit lose it was either a 'no let' or a 'stroke.' It was really strange and you never knew which was coming regardless of the amount of impedance of the swing. There was no consistency with these calls. In my semis my opponent and I agreed to change poor decisions twice and the ref got angry and asked if we even wanted him to ref. I realized quickly it was not worth arguing or getting upset about any calls, you just hope they didn't occur in big points and unfortunately for the women it did happen in big moments in incredibly exciting and well fought matches. Moving on.

After Letourneau had caused a big upset and taken out Cornett I felt it was going to be very tough for her to mentally and physically back that up in the finals against Naughton. Letourneau was up 2-1 in the finals when you could see she was getting a bit fatigued and forcing the ball short too early and from defensive positions. Somehow it's kind of encouraging knowing the top players struggle with the same things everyone else does at times. Naughton went on to win in 5 and is the defending champ. But with the depth and caliber of the women in the field this title will be up for grabs every season!

On the men's side there were also plenty of upsets. The defending champ, Schnell lost in 5 to Mike McCue while less surprising was Nick Sachvie who beat Shawn Delliere in 3 straight. Sachvie has been climbing up the PSA ranks quickly and cleaned up during the weekend without dropping a game. Watching Sachvie play I felt like he has less obvious areas to work on than the other guys do. His movement and court coverage is unbelievable and super efficient. It would have been nice to see him tested and to see how he handles the pressure of tight matches. He definitely has the ability to continue cracking on up in the men's rankings. It's all going to come down to the tactics and mental game. He's got the movement and the racquet skill. If he can get out on court with some of the top pros I'm sure it would help him continue his rapid development. That's the challenge here in Canada when you become the best. Since the NSA has closed their doors there is no set place and team for upcoming pros to go train. Currently a group of them go to club in Toronto and work with a couple of the coaches there, but it doesn't have the draw or appeal of a place like the NSA and JP did.

I thought they caliber of squash was very high in the men's too. It will interesting to follow the men and women as some careers are winding down and others are just getting going. The top 4 Canadian women all have the ability to crack the top 30 and there's a few after that who aren't too far behind them. Sachvie seems to have the clear cut edge in how far up he can get up the rankings. I could see him making top 30 or even 20 in a few years, but at that stage you need to be getting regular hits with the top guys and on the glass court. Schnell is extremely fast and an amazing athlete and has already had some success getting into the top 60 and winning last years title so convincingly. We all know Razik and Delliere have already reached impressive previous career highs a few years back. I believe Razik got to the low 20's and Delliere around 30. Neither could find success on the glass court against the top players so let's hope our next crop of players can do better at this transition.

It's a shame that Squash Canada doesn't have a stepping stage or funding for juniors to the PSA for the top kids. It's tough to stay motivated and on the right course for year after year unless you happen to get a great team in place on your own. Even then, managing this financially is a major struggle. $1,200 for winning nationals barely covers expenses if you don't happen to live in Toronto. Other countries have paid pro leagues, more national funding and plenty of coaching and training available for their top players. If I was a top up and coming Canadian pro I would definitely need a lot of help, but would be afraid to ask for it and wouldn't know where to turn. Going to a good university program seems the simplest really. Other than that I say go abroad. If you want to keep our top players in Canada try and help get a PSA event at your club or reach out to sponsor 1 of these amazing athletes. And how about trying to get a glass court set up somewhere permanently in Canada? I'd be happy to make some space for it on the west coast :)

Did you watch Nationals is person or on the streaming? Let me know your thoughts. And if you haven't already checkout out the new Serious Squash film, The Secrets of Solo Hitting has now sold almost 100 copies to people from all over the world. It's a 64 minute advanced instructional video on how to solo hit most effectively. Pick up a copy at SeriousSquashShop.com/collections/coaching-videos and if you'd enjoy it I will give you a full refund!

2016 Canadian Senior Squash Nationals Report

Here I am once again doing a report of a Canadian National Championships. This time it's the Seniors and although I didn't compete in the tournament this year I have a lot of thoughts about the event. Let's get right to it.

Here's a link to the draws if you'd like to see the draws and the results: http://squashcanada.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draws.aspx?id=A1F701B8-E54A-48A9-BDA2-39A174B90DAA Many of the Open matches were streamed online and I was able to watch a few of the matches including the finals on Saturday. Yes that's right, Saturday! I saw a couple of the mens quarter final matches too. This is where I feel the event needed to be spread out a bit more. Win or lose, everyone who played in the quarters on Friday had to play again a few hours later. It's not surprising that there was a default in one of the matches. These are the toughest matches of the event and they were played on the same day within a few hours of one another.

The event started on Wednesday and I think it would have made more sense if they had 2 matches on the Wednesday or Thursday where the top seeds wouldn't have had their most challenging matches. Either that or they could extend the event to finish on Sunday. Anyways, that's just a little thing that only influenced the top 8 men, but I'm sure they weren't too happy about that. All credit to Andrew Schnell in the final, but he certainly seemed much fresher on Saturday than Shawn Delierre who has a history of playing long, gruelling matches. If Squash Canada wants the best squash to be played in the finals I think they either need to limit the draw size or adjust the match scheduling. Okay, time to move on!

In total there were 281 entires which sounds like a great turnout, but when you look at it a little closer this is what bothers me the most. Zero women signed up for the age divisions until the 50+! In the men's 30+ only 4 did! There were 30 events in total so filling up a good size draw for each event is always going to be a challenge. But my biggest pet peeve is how many of the top ranked Canadian Toronto based players did not even participate. Only 21 of the top 50 ranked men in Canada played and far fewer of the top ranked women! Which also makes me wonder how they are still ranked up there. There are lots of ex tour players living in the Toronto area who are retired and don't compete anymore. How do we keep these players participating? It's difficult for them to not have the same results and to perhaps lose to the next generation, so how can we change that? Can we add a Legends Division, like the event they have in Bermuda and have some money offered for ex PSA players to come back and play in it? What if they only played 1 match per day in the Open division and just made the event 1 day longer?

I know some people will have their own reasons; I wasn't there this season either so I may sound like a hypocrite. I've only been playing once or twice per month as I'm awaiting a small kneed surgery in June, but I still wish I had played. I can see how people in similar positions like myself end up finding perfectly logical reasons not to play. Work, families, injuries or just being out of shape are all popular reasons people miss the event. For many these reasons are justifiable as squash has taken a back burner to the rest of their life. But squash was or still is a big part of many of these peoples lives yet they still fail to participate.

I feel that the main culprit here is our ego. Any squash player who has been successful and played at a high level has too much pride to play just to play. Some say it's our competitive spirit, but we know our best squash is well behind us so we avoid competing like it's the plague. Is this something we can avoid for the future generation by focusing on trying our best, having fun and concentrating more on the love of the game? As I've been out of competition for a couple of years I realized how much I miss just being able to compete, let alone at my highest level. So my intentions is to participate in Senior Nationals moving forwards if at all possible. Win or lose, squash is an important part of my life and we're a big family here in Canada. It would be nice to see some others take my oath and play just to play and leave their ego in the past.

Are there other ways to improve participation at Nationals? What about bringing in a show court? Use a lower tin? Attaching Nationals to some other event (like a big PSA event or exhibition)? Do we need a slower ball at the highest level so the rallies and matches are won more by racquet skill and decision making rather than physicality? Maybe lowering the entry fee for out of province players or juniors? Maybe we need to change the date of the event before the weather gets too nice? Maybe giving all of the entrants a Blue Jays game ticket for Sunday or something cool that we could all do together? Would a Legend Divisions help? Maybe competitive players should have to purchase competitive or recreational memberships which can help sort out the rankings properly and have a proper list of who is active or inactive.

Or as I already mentioned do we just need to learn how to let go of our ego and fear of failure? Is it possible to teach our kids in a way that will enable them to continue to compete regardless of age and ability? I'm trying to use a checklist with my young kids after games. The first thing I ask is if they were a good sport or not. The second was if they had fun or not and the last is if they tried their best. If a kid can learn to do all of those things maybe they can enjoy squash and competing regardless of the outcome.

In closing I also have one more reason why we should compete if we are on the fence about it. The year I won the 30+ I went with a cold and did not expect to do well. I also remember another time at university when I was sick and I was playing #1 against a top school and also has no expectations to perform well. Funny enough these are 2 of the times I've had my best results and it was when I wasn't worried about what would happen. The last time I played senior nationals I went to win and put too much pressure on myself and lost in the finals. It's funny how the more we want to win the tougher it seems to be to achieve. This is why too much winning is not healthy for any athlete and why we should focus on process oriented goals. Learn to enjoy the process and hitting the squash ball! If you've seen any of my skill challenges you'll know that I still love hitting the ball :)