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Last chance to register for Group Lessons with Janet MacLeod at Cole Harbour Place

Squash NS Provincial Coach Janet MacLeod is offering a program of group lessons at Cole Harbour Place

Each session runs six weeks from Saturday Jan 23th to Saturday Feb 27th 2021. Each session is limited to 8 entrants each:

  1. A mixed gender session for players of all abilities from 12:30 to 1:30 pm 3 spots left
  2. A women only session for players of all abilities from 1:45 to 2:45 pm 6 spots left
  3. A mixed gender session for Junior (U19) players of all abilities from 3:00 to  4:00 pm FULL

Players can register for up to two sessions. Each adult sessions costs $120, and the junior session costs $90. There is no multi-session discount.

All skill levels are welcome. Racquets and eye guards can be provided if required – please contact Janet directly to request.

Register at https://clublocker.com/tournaments/12349/info

New to Club Locker? – Please sign up for free at https://novascotia.clublocker.com/login

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Looking to improve your game in 2021?

Then Cole Harbour Place has the program for you!

Squash NS Provincial Coach Janet MacLeod is offering a program of group lessons at Cole Harbour Place

The six week program (Saturday Jan 23th to Saturday Feb 27th 2021) offers three sessions limited to 8 entrants each:

  1. A mixed gender session for players of all abilities from 12:30 to 1:30 pm
  2. A women only session for players of all abilities from 1:45 to 2:45 pm
  3. A mixed gender session for Junior (U19) players of all abilities from 3:00 to 4:00 pm

Players can register for up to two sessions. Each adult sessions costs $120, and the junior session costs $90. There is no multi-session discount.

All skill levels are welcome. Racquets and eye guards can be provided if required – please contact Janet directly to request.

Register at https://clublocker.com/tournaments/12349/info

New to Club Locker? – Please sign up for free at https://novascotia.clublocker.com/login

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COVID-19 Update – 21 Dec 2020 – 24 Jan 2021

With the premier’s announcement of updated rules for sport this week, there are some changes to what squash operations can take place between Monday 21 Dec 2020 and 24 Jan 2021.  For facilities and clubs across the province the following changes are in effect:

    • Squash clubs can operate.
    • Competitive play is not authorized, i.e. no organized matches, ladders, leagues or tournaments can take place..
    • Squash training programs can take place limited to a maximum 25 people including, participants, coaches, volunteers and any parents and guardians that need to be present.
    • Spectators are not permitted.
    • Within the context of minimizing individual social contact circles, players should restrict their playing/practice group to 3-5 players.
    • After seeking clarification from the province, friendly matches can take place as part of training.
    • Please do not travel between zones unless absolutely necessary for training purposes.

Remember that facilities will implement the changes to the rules at their own pace consistent with their approval processes and level of risk tolerance so please be patient.

Remember to practice safe sport:

    • Respect – Facility rules
    • Prepare – Book in advance
    • Screen – Don’t play if you are exhibiting symptoms.
    • Play – Wear a mask to and from the court, come prepared to play including bringing water/sports drink. Don’t wipe hands on court surfaces during play
    • Sanitize on completion of play
    • Masked Spectators/team members allowed to watch within the revised gathering limits (50% of the normal capacity)
    • Exit the facility after play.

For reference the general return to play guidelines for players and venues are attached  for Players and Facilities/Coaches and Organizers.

Phil Jourdeuil

President of Squash NS

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Update on competitive calendar

 

Here is an update on the competitive season.  Squash Nova Scotia is still looking at the possibility of operating tournaments and leagues this season, but with clubs still operating with limited capacity, it is unlikely that this will happen before the new year.  Any competitive play we have will likely look different as we explore ways to limit the mingling of large groups of people, to operate within the risk tolerance of players, clubs and the province.  We will keep you updated on progress as we know more.

I also share the updated Squash Canada tentative competitive calendar

Squash Canada update on 2021 Canadian Championships

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Plan to have some Squash with your Thanksgiving!

This is a golden opportunity to relaunch and re-energize our sport after the tribulations of the past few months.

Even if we are unable to invite large numbers of people into our clubs, we can still promote the sport by holding small, COVID-compliant outdoor events.

The WSF’s whole focus this year has been to create the biggest social media campaign in the history of the sport, so at least the sport is gaining significant publicity for the sport free of charge.

Please read the World Squash Day Toolkit, which was designed with COVID restrictions in mind.

https://www.worldsquashday.net/world-squash-day-toolkit/

With so much sport missing from the agenda, this is an opportunity for squash to grab some headlines, so please try to engage with your local media outlets as well as sharing posts on the World Squash Day social media pages.

We hope to see hundreds of posts this weekend of Club Ambassadors hitting a ball against a wall outside some iconic locations and by players, coaches and parents posting about why they love squash.

Please remember to add the following hashtags to your posts #whyilovesquash    #NSIHadSquashInMyThanksgiving #SquashNS #SquashCanada

 

 

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Squash COVID Update – Return to almost normal operations effective 1 Oct 2020

With the premier’s announcement of relaxed rules for sport on Friday, Squash will be able to return to almost normal operations on 1 Oct 2020. This equates to between phase 5 and phase 6 on the Squash NS return to play guidelines which are linked below.

With the announcement that effective 1 Oct Sport bubbles are increased from 10 to 50 people who can participate in a sport without social distancing. This allows the return to normal operations with the following restrictions:

    • Spectators are still restricted to half the capacity of the spectator viewing area to a maximum of 200.
    • Masks must be worn indoors to and from the courts. Masks are not required on court.
    • Players from outside the Atlantic bubble will need to self isolate for 14 days before playing squash in NS.
    • Players returning from a tournament outside of the Atlantic bubble will need to self isolate for 14 days upon their return.
    • Tournaments  with more  than 50 participants including staff, will still see some restrictions as we will need to separate 50 player groups in either time or space. This might entail splitting events between facilities, or running events on more than one weekend or splitting divisions by time in the same facility on the same weekend. This will create additional challenges for tournament organizers. Potential tournament organizers should contact the undersigned to seek advice before planning larger events.
    • Leagues will need to restrict division sizes to 50 players or less.

To be explicit the following types of activity are authorized starting 1 Oct 2020:

    • Team play (up to 50 players in a division vice 10 previously)
    • Courses, Coaching programs and other activities which require more than 10 people on a court at once (limit raised to 50).

Venues are encouraged to update their policies to allow normal play for most activities with the exception of complying with spectator limits, requirements to wear mask within the facility and special provisions for larger tournaments of over 50 players and staff.

Remember that facilities will implement the more relaxed rules at their own pace consistent with their approval processes and level of risk tolerance so please be patient.

Remember to practice safe sport:

    • Respect – Facility rules
    • Prepare – Book in advance
    • Screen – Don’t play if you are exhibiting symptoms.
    • Play – Wear a mask to and from the court, come prepared to play including bringing water/sports drink. Don’t wipe hands on court surfaces during play
    • Sanitize on completion of play
    • Masked Spectators/team members allowed to watch within the revised gathering limits (50% of the normal capacity)
    • Exit the facility after play.

For reference the general return to play guidelines for players and venues are attached  for Players and Facilities/Coaches and Organizers.

Phil Jourdeuil

President of Squash NS

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Upcoming Squash Canada Coaching Webinars

Elevating High Performance Juniors to
College/International Level of Squash
Date: Wednesday September 16th, 2020 – Noon to 1PM EST
Presenter: Andrew Thompson, Head Squash Pro (Toronto Lawn Tennis Club)
To Register – Click Here (Cost: $15.26)

Gender Equity In Squash –
Join The Conversation, Build Awareness & Grow Our Sport
Date: Thursday October 1st, 2020 – Noon to 1PM EST
Presenter: Tara Mullins, Squash Canada Project Lead for Female Engagement & Gender Equity Programs
To Register – Click Here (Cost: FREE)

Don’t Be A Kids Last Coach
Date: Tuesday October 20th, 2020 – Noon to 1PM EST
Presenter: Glen Mulcahy, Paradigm Sports
To Register – Click Here (Cost: $15.26)

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Competitive Calendar Updates

Regrettably, Squash Canada has taken the decision to cancel all of the rescheduled Fall national championships due to lingering COVID-19 restrictions and concerns.  The 2020 Canadian Mixed Doubles, the 2020 Canadian Junior (Closed) , The Canadian Senior National, the Canadian Masters and the Canadian U23 championships have been  cancelled. There were still existed too many restrictions in effect such as no competition yet permitted in current Phase, limits on the number of people allowed in the facility and 14-day quarantine requirements for people returning to as many as eight provinces/territories.

Given the current uptick in cases in the certain parts of the country, SC has also postponed the 2021 Canadian Junior Open from Dec 2020, with plans to hold it in early summer 2021.

Given this information, and the dearth of open courts in the province, and the continued uncertainty over the opening of the courts at SMU, it is with sadness that I am officially cancelling the 2020 NS Open and the 2020 Atlantics.

Please note that the Board is looking at how we can look at providing some opportunities for sanctioned play and limited tournament play, however given the current public health constraints, whatever competitive play opportunities we can present will look different.  As part of that we are putting together a survey to get an understanding of what you feel about return to competitive play and your safety.  This will be sent out next week.

Given this the Board voted unanimously on Thursday to extend existing memberships for a further 120 days.  This has the effect of extending memberships that were in place on 15 Mar 2020 for a total of 300 days.  Please remember that memberships run on a 365 day basis vice a seasonal basis and so memberships will restart counting time on 9 Jan 2021.