Halifax Squash League

The Halifax Squash League, a mixed inter club league operated from Sept – May annually (five to six sessions). It is open to players who are a competitive member of Squash NS, belong to a participating club and have a Club Locker (CL) rating of 4.99 or less (subject to review). All sessions contribute to crowning division champions. The number of teams that can participate from a club is based on the number of courts they can contribute. League matches are scheduled on Wednesday evenings in either an early (7-8:30pm) or a late (8:30 – 10pm) time slot at participating clubs. Cost is $40 per player per year. Spares can register for $10 for the season.

Clubs enter teams composed of 5 players. Four of the five players on a team play each week. Players are assigned to teams by their club based on their CL rating with the top n being placed into each of the n teams from the club, the next n players are placed in reverse order in position two, this repeats until all five spots are filled.. The teams are placed into four team divisions, initially based on cumulative rating and then based on performance. Each team then plays each other twice in a six-week session. At the end of each session the top team in a division is promoted to the next higher division and the bottom team in a division is relegated to the next lower division. Teams remain the same throughout the season except that players’ placements within teams are can adjusted to ensure unrated players can be placed appropriately or players whose rating is no longer valid can be placet in a position appropriate to their skill level For example: a player whose rating has improved may move into a different team or change position within their current team. The same can happen for players whose rating drops due to injury.

This repeats for a total of six sessions. Essentially teams move up and down between divisions based on performance in each session.  Players move within their team  week to week based on their individual ratings. At the end of the competitive season (sessions 2-6) the top team in each division is declared the division champion.

There is an active social element to the league. Players routinely gather after play at Freeman’s on Quinpool Road and the league organizes one or more league parties with at least one being the year-end party.

Matches are player refereed by players waiting to play their matches. Players are strongly encouraged to complete the Squash Canada Online officiating course https://www.coursepark.com/squashcanada. Players are also encouraged to attend an in-person certification clinic.

  1. Registration link is here
  2. Rules can be found here 2019-07-30 HSL Rules – Final
  3. Some examples of team movement, player order and movement https://nssquash.ca/halifax-squash-league/hsl-examples/
  4. Current session schedule, stats and standings are available here (To be published)
  5. Season rankings are here (To be Published)
  6. Previous Season results 2013-2018, 2018-19
  7. Please address questions to your Team Captain, Club convenor (Dal – Jumana Abouelella, SMU – Dave Malyk, and CHP Chris Lien) or to the League convenor philjourdeuil@gmail.com