BC Red Team capture 3rd Place at Western Canadian Masters

Sports Illustrated Wire News - Whitehorse Yukon
by Colin Brown
Sports Illustrated Racquet Sports Beat Writer

Most of North America hears very little about the game of squash. On January 10, 11, 12 in the distant outpost of Whitehorse in Canada, a state ( I mean country ..) to the North of us, the 2003 Western Provincial Masters Squash Championships took place. Forty-two competitors in six provincial teams came from across the frozen northern wasteland (where we in the USA get all our water and lumber by buying out the local companies)
and traveled for hours to play in this annual event.

The "Up and Comers" of the weekend were by far the BC Red Team of Bruce Matthews, Garett Hennigan, Steve Jacobs, Gavin Cooper, Natalie Williams, Sue Wastie, and Kelsey Parsons. They placed a surprising 3rd against all odds. After losing to BC Blue (0-7) in their opening match, they started to turn it around when Steve Jacobs upset Rick Borland of Manitoba in the second match of Friday. Eventhough they eventually fell to Manitoba (3-4) on the marathon Friday evening, they came back on Saturday and Sunday and won 19 of 21 matches to place third. Each of them definitely played
"outside of the box" with some of the best squash of their lives in a thrilling 6-1 victory over Alberta. Their team success can be attributed to many factors including: the between game coaching of Bruce Matthews, moral support / mascot supervision of Sue Wastie, back massages of Natalie Williams (and Cathy Clackson of BC Blue Team), history and photo archiving by Kelsey Parsons, cheering by Steve Jacobs and Gavin Cooper, and captaining of Garett Hennigan. Like most great teams there is always the
danger of being split up in future years to give the other teams a chance.
This team is definitely one to watch out for in the years to come.

The weekend also included a call for greater safety equipment for squash competitors. The first pieces of new equipment called for were mouth guards and arm pads after a Friday match where Mark O'Neill's racquet bounced back and cut the inside of his lip when he hit his opponent (Garett Hennigan, former friend) in the arm (well bruised now). Saturday also brought a call for mandatory shoe inspection before each match as well as helmets when the same Mark "Crash" O'Neill tripped on the detached undersole of his runners and attempted to go from Court #2 to Court #3 without using the door.

Oh and by the way, the event was won by the **very** powerful #2 seed BC Blue team of (Steve Lawton, Mark O'Neill, John Maysmith, Leigh Skelton, Lorrie Baldham, Laura Ramsay and Cathy Clackson). They defeated Manitoba in the very exciting Sunday morning finals with the pivotal match of Lorrie Baildham in her spirited 3-2 decision over Danielle Parent of Manitoba. Sunday also saw the resurgence of the rejuvenated Steve Lawton with a dramatic 3-1 upset victory over his old nemesis of Gene Turk.

The weekend was coordinated by Yukon Squash, the city of Whitehorse, and a committee of Jim, Pierre, and Marie who did a fantastic job in making the weekend such a success. See you next year!