Windsor High School Tournament

2016 Windsor squash champs- Kennedy Clippers

     If you came by the club Friday you might have thought that you had your days wrong and it was Saturday with all the juniors around.  Or you may have thought you haven't seen many of the juniors of late and wow, have they grown.  No, it was just the 2nd annual Windsor High School Tournament.  The tournament has expanded in it second year and this year we had 25 students from 3 schools (Kennedy, Massey, Vista) competing.  This tournament is designed for players either new to the game or players that are not yet participating in Gold level tournaments.

     After a quick seeding round, players were placed in A, B, and C divisions.  Players were competing for individual honours as well as team points.  The better you did in your draw, the more points that went toward your team.  Vista, the reigning champs, showed up with a handful of players that dominated in last year's tournament and also some new face to the team.  Massey was a very new addition to the game and many of their players had only played a couple of times.  However, under the tutelage of Sara Khan, they showed much promise.  I think Kennedy thought they were in a basketball tournament as I don't think they had one player under 6 feet tall. 

     Grace Kim has been working hard with the Kennedy, training twice a week for months.  The other teams knew they were in trouble when Kennedy showed up sporting some nice uniforms.  And it was Kennedy's day as they dominated the draws.  The A final saw Kennedy's Dante Fornaserio defeat Vista's Matt Jankuloski.  The final match saw great retrieving and shot-making by both players.  In the B final it was an all Kennedy matchup as saw Erik Erickson defeat his teammate Gina Marinelli.  The C final had Massey's Mohid Nadeem defeat Vista's Hana Obeido in a very close match.  

     Congratulations to coach Kim for doing such a great job with her team.  They clearly improved as the season went on.  However, I heard Vista and Massey talking about dominating this event next year.  Kennedy and Vista are moving on the Ontario High School Squash Championships in Toronto at the end of April.
     Special thanks to Nik Bistrev, David Morrish and Graeme for helping run this event.