Merry Christmas and a happy and safe New Year to all.

Here are some frivolous highlights from the Christmas Party at Bollywood Dimensions on Thursday 11 December:

 

2008 has been a mixed year for the Dickson Squash Club.  We’ve had sadness off the court through losing courts 3 and 4, and adjusting to life post-Martin Grace.  But it’s been enormously successful on the court.  Our Club Championships were wonderful again, we’ve reclaimed the Champion Club tag, and recently held a fabulously successful Dusk to Dawn tournament.

Read on for the details…

 

Refurbishment of Courts 5 and 6 – the Martin Grace court

The Tradies have agreed to refurbish court 5 and 6 and to repaint the other courts.  This work will be under way shortly.

As part of this arrangement, the Dickson Squash Club will pay for the refurbishment of court 5, using the money that was donated at the time of Martin Grace’s death.  The court will be labelled The Martin Grace Court. 

We would expect to hold a brief opening ceremony early in the New Year.

 

A possible future home for the Dickson Squash Club

As we are now probably all aware, the future of the Northside Fitness Centre is likely to be limited.

The Tradies have told us that they intend to develop their Dickson site within the next five years.  This is likely to entail demolition of a number of buildings, including the Northside Fitness Centre. 

Squash is unlikely to be part of any Dickson redevelopment, so we need to think about the long-term future of the Dickson Squash Club.  In brief, if the club is to continue, we are likely to have to find a new home.

In that regard, Squash ACT has told us that they are negotiating with the ACT Government about building a new sporting complex including eight squash courts, probably in Gungahlin. 

Squash ACT has produced a strategic plan (at: http://www.squashact.asn.au/cms/uploads/news/facilities%20review.pdf) that outlines several possible options for new squash courts. 

In addition, the ACT Government is conducting a survey to assess sporting needs in the Throsby District Playing Fields Precinct in Gungahlin.  We are told that: “ACT Governments’ Sport and Recreation Services are eager to develop, design and manage the precinct in a manner that integrates multi-sports and recreational needs for the district.”

The Dickson Squash Club is participating in the survey.  We will be aiming to convince the Government that a squash complex should be part of their plans.

It is very early days, but the Dickson Squash Club Committee will continue to work on the options for us if the Tradies continue with their plan to demolish the Northside Fitness Centre.

 

Spring 2008 Senior Pennant

The strength of our club is apparent, whichever way you look at it… total number of players/teams in senior and junior pennants, the success of our club championships and other tournaments, the numbers at club practice, our social events… and that the Spring 2008 senior pennant saw Dickson Squash Club regain the tag of Champion Club.  Let’s hope that we can keep it forever!!

 

Club

Total Points

Teams

Average Points

Dickson

5089

42

121.2

National

1674

15

111.6

Queanbeyan

996

9

110.7

Woden

3336

31

107.6

Valley

1485

14

106.1

ADFA

105

1

105

Weston

113

2

56.5

 

And we had an extraordinary 18 teams playing in the Spring Pennant Grand Finals.  Here’s how they all fared:

 

Div

Result

Regular Team

2

Finalist

Shaun Douglas, John Lenarduzzi, David Griffiths, Greg Rolls

3

Finalist

Peter Hurley, Mike Wawn, Richard Lindsay

4

Champions

John Duncan, Anthony Burgess, Mark Ciesniewski

4

Finalist

Terry Hannigan, Toni Maxfield, Kay Giffin

5

Champions

Doug Lean, Matthew Downey,

Gavin Howard

6

Champions

Geoff Gleeson, Dan Power, David Milne

7

Champions

Jackie Oliver, Dan Power, Tammy Weekes

9

Champions

Stephen Barnett, Mike Hogan, Scott Lilley

11

Champions

Josh Peck, Owen Eastoe, Mat Koen

12

Champions

Ross Reid, Scott Reid, Shayne Roscoe

12

Finalist

Garry Hulme, Chris Woolnough, Hamish Webb

13

Champions

Justin kerslake, Joseph Howard, Michael Howard

14

Finalist

David Ryan, Samuel Lock, Jeremy Czoban

14

Champions

Jamie Stonham, James Breen, Mike Ryan

16

Champions

Nicholas Sloane, Will Young, Matthew Wootton

16

Finalist

Stuart Campbell, David Turner, Bill Daszczyk

17

Finalist

Daniel Griffiths, Jess Whigham, Geraldine Green

17

Champions

Leanna Davey, Prashant Mishra, Bradley Penfold    

 

Welcome to the Club J

On 27 November, Jeremy Czoban and Amy Czoban became the proud parents of Sebastian, a bouncing 9lb 9oz bonnie boy.  He is brother to Amelia.

 

Grand Final Miracles

All of our Grand Final victories listed above are special.  But our Div 7 and Div 5 teams involved were miraculous!

Div 7 – Courageous Jackie Oliver

Against Queanbeyan, there were large doses of high drama and tension…

Our #1, Jackie Oliver, went on first, and soon found herself down two games to one, and down 3-7 in the fourth game.  At this point, there was a collision mid court between the two players.  Jackie fell over and rolled her ankle.  She was in severe pain and could not immediately continue.  The qualified referee made the decision that both players were responsible for the collision, so he opted to give Jackie an hour to recover from her injury.  At that point she had to return to play out the game, or forfeit.  Jackie went immediately to ice the injury, and team mate Tammy Weekes went to Woden Plaza to find some repair/support material for the ankle.

Meanwhile the #2s went on.  Our Dan Power played with his usual grit and determination, and was gallant in a three games to nil loss.

At this point, the opposing team was five games to one up.  Jackie’s hour was also up.  She had to return to the court to finish her match.  Somehow, injured ankle and cold from the wait, 3-7 down in the likely last game, she managed to claw back that game and win it 10-8.  She got stronger as the match progressed and ended up winning three games to two … as a result I think her opponent has given up squash for good!

This left the Grand Final in the balance.  But with a sniff of a chance for the Dickson team, that is all that Tammy needed.  She went on to completely demolish her opponent three games to nil, thereby snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

Well done Jackie, Dan and Tammy – true Dickson spirit!!

 

Div 5 – Determined Gavin Howard

Oh, yes, that’s right.  There was another Grand Final miracle that you need to know about…

Top seeded and Team Captain Doug Lean fought valiantly in narrowly losing the first rubber four games to one against his Valley Vikings opponent.

Stalwart Gavin Howard then ended up in all sorts of bother.  He was down two games to nil, and losing 2-7 in the third game.  With his opponent only needing two more points, the match and Grand Final looked doomed.  It was a tense, exciting, nail biting match, but Gavin clawed his way back with great determination to win the third game 9-7.  He then went on to win the following two games.  That left the Grand Final in the balance…

All down to Matt Downey in the last rubber..  Matt's impeccable style and fine technique (some suggest from his tennis coaching past) won the day three games to nil, and the Team went on to celebrate winning the Pennant!  Check out the happy faces:

 

Dusk till Dawn

With the squash finals finishing on Thursday 4 December, the logical thing to do is put the racquet in mothballs and start eating and drinking – wrong!!   On Friday night 5 December, six four-person teams battled it out in the Dickson Dusk till Dawn championship.

The championship kicked off at 9pm, with the final being decided at 6:35am Saturday.  To ensure that the games went on time, matches were played for a set 20 minutes, with point per serve.  Teams were subject to a “matrix cap” of 560, ensuring an even competition.

The tournament attracted some of the big names of Dickson squash, with Peter Trevitt going through the night undefeated.  The night was played in great spirit and finished in a “greasy BBQ” where bacon, eggs and hash browns provided the necessary energy for the drive home.

Grand champions were “Team Burgess” (Anthony Burgess, Martin McGuire, Scott Lilley and Michael Howard), who defeated “Team Hurley” (Peter Hurley, Tammy Weekes, Joseph Howard and Juan Barron) 3-1 in an epic final.

Congratulations to all for competing, and making the night a great success.  Everyone is keen to back-up next year, so planning has already started.

 

2009 Pennant Format

As a club, you may recall that we conducted a short survey of our members seeking their feedback on the current ‘centre based’ trial vs the historical ‘home and away’ pennant formats.  The results clearly stated a preference for home and away.  Together with analysis of the impact that centre based has had on our finances (for example, our bar takings are down approximately 30% in 2008), our club presented a strongly worded submission to the Squash ACT Board that they revert to home and away for 2009 and beyond.

Around the same time, Squash ACT commissioned their own survey of pennant players.

At the time of writing, we do not know the results of the Squash ACT survey; or of their deliberations on the 2009 format.

We keenly await the results…

 

2008 Club Championships

In one of the most successful tournaments in recent years, the 2008 Dickson Club Championships produced many memorable matches!  Played in a warm and competitive spirit and punctuated by numerous thrills and spills, the annual event unearthed budding champions who played alongside seasoned campaigners and stalwarts of the club.

Dickson squashies then congregated for the AGM and presentation dinner where:

·         Club President, Len Early, joined all other members in toasting the victors and reminiscing on a stellar year for the Club while taking a moment to remember the invaluable contribution of Martin Grace.

·         Doug Lean was awarded the President's Trophy for the enormous effort he has invested into the Club over the years: as coordinator of Sunday practice, as a club representative on Squash ACT’s Competition Committee, and as an active member of the club’s committee.

·         Dick O’Rourke presented Mark Ciesniewski with the Bodyline Sports Award for the Club’s most improved player.

A huge thank you goes to the Championships’ organisers: Sam Bowman, Matt Downey, Anthony Burgess, Doug Lean and Petra Lean.

And finally, congratulations to all competitors, and particularly to the Winners and Runners Up, who were:

Event

Winner

Runner Up

Men’s Open

Tristan Wells

Peter Trevitt

Men’s A

Bill Taylor

John (JB) Duncan

Men’s B

Joe Bartlett Marques

Matt Downey

Men’s C

Mahendra Kumar

Wayne Alford

Men’s D

Logan Fleming

Joseph Howard

Women’s A

Jackie Oliver

Linda Bone

Women’s B

Holly Barnes

Veronique Ingram

Novice

Leanna Davey

Alex Lock

Doubles 1

Sam Bowman & Matt Downey

Peter Hurley & Tammy Weekes

Doubles 2

Mark Ciesniewski & Helen Fantich

Jan Noonan & Ted Kaminski

Doubles 3

Kristi Maroc & Matt Downey

Pam Price & Sam Bowman

Doubles 4

Julie Polson & Alex Polson

 

 

Dickson Squash Club Committee

President:         Len Early

Vice President: Stephen Barnett

Secretary:         Mark Ciesniewski

Treasurer:        Dick O'Rourke

General Members:

                    Sam Bowman        Paul Cartwright

                    Matt Downey        Anthony Burgess

                    Doug Lean            Karina Sommers

                    Edwina Mulhearn  Julie Polson

Contact details are on the Matrix.