22 November 2022
Dear squash players and parents,
We had a fantastic response to the SOS tournament and numbers are almost back to the pre-Covid numbers. Although this is fantastic, it does bring about some organizing challenges. Likewise, school sport is a constraint that try to work around and have done so by not having games scheduled on a Saturday morning. However, this further reduce the available time for matches.
For the younger age groups (U11 / U13 / U14) we have accommodated the parents’ requests to have all matches take place in one session. Again, this comes with its own issues as some players will have to play 4 – 5 matches in the tournament. To fit that into one session means that games are played almost back-to-back.
Before the SOS tournament 17 emails, from the above-mentioned age groups, were received asking for games to finish earlier on Friday night or for more time between games. This is impossible. If parents feel that playing all the games in one session is too difficult, we are happy to go back to the original format of playing over three days. Please let us know your preference. A reminder that regardless of the decision taken, the JHB Closed Tournament will be held over all three days.
For the U16 and U19 age groups, ALL play-offs / qualifiers will be held on Friday night, no exceptions. We need to ensure that the correct players move forward into the correct position and it is better if we are able to do this while not under pressure on the day of the tournament. Any player not able to play on a Friday night will forfeit his/her match in the qualifier round and automatically proceed to the lower ranking position.
Players need to be ready to play 30 minutes prior to their scheduled match time. Any player not ready 15 minutes after their scheduled match time or immediately after the preceding match, if that match runs late, will automatically lose the match. With us trying to fit in as many matches as possible, we are not able to wait for players as the knock-on effect can be huge and results in courts running late.
All players have to mark or referee the game following theirs. Any player who does not mark or referee the following game will be fined R500. If the fine is not settled, they could be banned from the next tournament.
Players need to deal with the organisers themselves. They need to do their own check-in or address any concerns they have. Parents are most welcome to accompany younger children until they are comfortable doing it themselves.
If a player withdraws from a match, it is at the organisers discretion to allow them to continue playing in the tournament.
In line with Squash SA rules, clothing needs to be modest. The organizer can ask players to remove jewelry if they feel that it could be distracting or dangerous. All clothing shall conform to the accepted standards of decency and cultural/religious tradition of the country in which the competition is taking place, as adjudged by the tournament referee.
At the Open Tournament, we will start using the SportyHQ app to score games. We will start with the U16 and U19 and move to other ages groups in subsequent tournaments. Anyone who doesn’t have a phone with the app on will be given one of the club phones to use. It would be great if you download the app and practice scoring on it before the Open Tournament.
As you can see, we are using SportyHQ more and more. Please confirm that your details on your profile are correct. If details like date of birth, gender or school are incorrect, it can prevent you from being able to enter a tournament. Once the draws are finalized, SportyHQ sends an email to notify participants, obviously to the address on that system. Lastly, please make sure that you have chosen Joburg Junior Squash as the affiliation, which enables us to look at the profile.
Finally, a big thank you to all who attended the squad training on Friday 14th October. It was a great success and fun was had by all. Looking forward to a wonderfully successful 2023 squash year.
Regards
Joburg Junior Squash
