Squash BC 2011 Canada Winter Games Program

2011 Canada Winter Games Background
Every four years, the Canada Winter Games (CWG) is hosted by a different city within Canada. The next CWG is scheduled to take place in Halifax, Nova Scotia in late February 2011. The CWG represents the pinnacle of sporting competition for many athletes in Canada and has been used numerous times as a springboard to International and Olympic level competition. For more information on the Canada Games, please visit their website at www.canadagames.ca. Squash has a long history of involvement in the CWG and BC has a strong history of producing successful teams.

Squash in the CWG is a team event with each Province sending one girl’s team and one boy’s team. Each team is made up of two U19 and two U17 athletes. Each athlete must qualify for their respective age category by the end of the CWG competition. For example, if an athlete turns 17 during the CWG competition, they will have to qualify for the Games as a U19 player. If an athlete turns 19 during the competition they will be ineligible to compete in the Games.

Once the two athletes from each age category have been selected (more on the selection process shortly), those four players are ranked in position one through four within the team. This positioning is done irrespective of age categories. The goal is to field the strongest team possible in positions one through four. Each Province is seeded for the Games based on their respective teams and teams play each other during the Games for the right to proceed in the tournament draw. During a team match encounter, the number one player from Team BC plays a best of five match against the other Province’s number one player and so on down through each team’s line up. (two plays two, three plays three, etc) The team with the most matches won, wins the team encounter. In the event of a tie, games won is the measure used.

Squash BC Canada Winter Games Program
The Junior Development Committee (JDC) of Squash BC is responsible for the delivery of a variety of Junior squash programs aimed at growing and improving the level of Junior play in BC. The CWG competition is one of the Programs within the JDC’s area of responsibility. The CWG Program runs on a three year cycle and is designed to identify, select, train and develop the best teams possible with the goal of bringing home a podium result in both the boy’s and girl’s events.

The JDC recently announced the appointment of BC’s CWG Coach and CWG Manager, Jeff Boag and Karyn Trombley. These two will work in conjunction with the CWG Sub-Committee to create and implement the three year CWG Program. In addition to the CWG Coach and CWG Manager, the CWG SC is comprised of David Leman, Alan Foster, and Gulshan Thobani.

The CWG SC is currently working on the specific details of the three year Program. Plans and budgets are due at Team BC in September 2009. Team BC is the Provincial sporting body responsible for all sports participating in the Canada Games. (both Winter and Summer Games) Team BC has indicated there will be significant funding levels available to all participating sports in Years Two and Three of the Team BC Program. Funding levels for Year One will come from a combination of the JDC, user pay and fundraising. We will announce further details of the CWG three year plan as they become available. For more information on Team BC, please visit their website at www.teambc.org.

2008/2009 CWG Training Squad
We are pleased to announce the CWG Training Squad for the upcoming 2008/2009 squash season below. These athletes were selected based on a combination of Provincial and National rankings, head to head match results, and age category qualification as of the CWG date. Our goal was to select the top 5 athletes in each of the four categories. (GU19, GU17, BU19, and BU17) In a limited number of circumstances, the CWG SC chose one less or one more athlete based on what the CWG SC felt was in the best interests of the athletes involved.

Selection to and participation in the CWG Training Squad for a season in no way guarantees an athlete they will be selected to the Training Squad in Years Two and Three of the Program or to the final CWG Team. The target number of athletes in each age category will reduce from 5 to 4 in Year Two and from 4 to 3 in Year Three. The final CWG Team of two athletes in each age category (for a total of eight) along with one non-traveling alternate will be selected in December 2010. Please note, just because an athlete does not qualify for selection in Year One of the Program does not mean they cannot be selected to the Squad in Year Two or Year Three. To reiterate: selection to the Training Squad will be based on Provincial and National Rankings as well as head to head results.

In alphabetical order based on last name, the athletes selected to participate in the 2008/2009 CWG Training Squad are:

GU19 (as of 2011)
Rachel Au
Nicole Bunyan
Ashley Clark
Lindsey Seginson

GU17 (as of 2011)
Avril Cross
Amal Cross
Abbey Foster
Kathryn Milligan
Elisa Money
Kaitlyn Money

BU19 (as of 2011)
Mackenzie Foster
Remington Hall
Sean Jackman
Tyler Olson
Harry Ramsey

BU17 (as of 2011)
Zachary Leman
Dorian Lewis-Willie
Justin McGaw
Lucas Ravkov
Alykhan Thobani
Michael Thompson

CWG Training Squad Camp
There will be a three day Training Camp for the CWG Training Squad athletes at Hollyburn Country Club August 26th through 28th.

Camp Details:
Tuesday Aug 26th Noon to 3 pm
Wednesday Aug 27th 9 am to 3 pm
Thursday Aug 28th 9 am to Noon (optional fun afternoon event)

The Camp budget is in the process of being finalized and as soon as we know the final costs, we will communicate them directly with the CWG Squad Members.

There will be a second Camp during Spring Break 2009, with the exact dates to be announced shortly.

Closing Comments
The CWG SC is very happy with the group of athletes selected to train for the 2011CWG. We all believe both the boy’s and girl’s teams are capable of producing medal results in these Games. Please join us in congratulating each of the selected athletes. Train hard, work smart and have fun as you progress towards February 2011.