National Capital Squash

Junior Awards Criteria

May 23rd, 2010

NCS Junior Awards

National Capital Squash is pleased to announce a new annual awards program to recognize the achievements of juniors who have excelled in US Squash sanctioned tournament and team play during the 2009-2010 season.

To be eligible for any junior award a player must be a member of NCS and have no serious on- or off-court conduct violations. Players must achieve an end of season national ranking as required below or be accepted to play in at least the US Squash Bronze National Championship.

Most Valuable Players: This award is given to any player with an end of season national ranking from #1 to #32 or who was accepted to play in the US Squash National Championship.

If there are no players in the top 32 nationally (or who played in the National Championship) in an age/gender division, then the top ranked NCS player in that age division will receive a Most Valuable Player Award if he was ranked in the top 64 or played in the US Squash Silver Championship.

All Stars: This award is given to any player with a national ranking of #33 to #64 or who was accepted to play in the US Squash Silver Championship.

National Team Awards: This award is given to any player in age divisions up to and including U15 if the player has achieved an end of season national ranking or was accepted to play in the US Squash Bronze Championship. For players in U17 and U19, the award is given to any player with an end of season national ranking of #65 to #128 or who was accepted to play in the US Squash Bronze Championship.

Rookies of the Year Awards: This award would be given to up to eight players (not counting BU11 and GU11 awards). To become eligible for this award a player must not have had enough exposures in any previous season to qualify for an end of season national ranking.

Two awards may be given for combined divisions of BU13&15, BU17&19, GU13&15 and GU17&19. The award will go to up to the two players in each combined division with the best end of season rankings in their respective age group. As more players play, awards may be given by single age and gender division.

This award will go to any BU11 who achieves a rating of at least 2.4 or any GU11 who reaches at least 1.9 in their first year of tournament play with at least four tournaments

Discretion may be used to award a player if he has played in four tournaments and aged out from one division to another during the season. In that case, the national rating would be used to approximate a national ranking in the higher age group.

Most Improved Player Awards: One award may go to a player in each age and gender division from U13 to U19. This will be based on a comparison with the previous season end of season rating compared to the current season’s rating at the end of the year. A player must have an end of season national ranking in the previous season in order to become eligible for this award. If no player in a division improves by at least 0.20 rating points, then no award would be given for that division. If a player has an end of season ranking in two age divisions, he is eligible to win the award for either division, but not both.

These were the criteria used in the awards presented for the 2009-2010 season. NCS may change the criteria from year to year, and changes will be announced here or elsewhere on our website.

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Bronze Nationals Report

April 25th, 2010

Many NCS Juniors came home with trophies from the Bronze National Championships at Yale Sunday April 25, 2010, and those who did not can be proud of their achievements. Every player who entered proved he or she is competitive in a nationally contested tournament!

Here is a report on the nine NCS players who played through the last day of the tournament:

Geoffrey Keating, playing up an age division in BU19, took second place, losing in the finals to Baltimore’s David Snyder. Just two years ago, Geoff made it to the semis in the BU15 Bronze Nationals, so you could say he made more than four years of progress in less than two years.

Zach Ho lost a very tight 5 game match in the BU15 semifinals this morning, with two games decided 11-9 and one 12-10! Zach went on to win third place in another closely contested five game match. This was Zach’s first national tournament, a fantastic result!

Alex Alvarez won third place in BU17, winning in three straight games, two of which went to 13-11. Alex plays for The Potomac School’s Varsity and clearly is a rising star in the Mid-Atlantic Squash Organization High School League.

Rachel Brown took fourth place in GU17, losing in four games, with one of the losses going to 13-11.

Theo Mendez took sixth place in BU15, losing an exciting five game match that featured two tie-breaker games. This was also Theo’s first national championship tournament, and even more impressively Theo recently just aged out of BU13. Theo is another young NCS player to watch in future seasons.

Greg Berson won the consolation finals in BU17, marking another NCS player making his debut on the national championship stage. Interestingly, Greg won by successively larger margins as the tournament progressed, a very difficult task. Usually matches get more difficult to win as you progress further in the tournament. Greg won his round of 16 consolations match in 5 games, his quarterfinals match in four games, and then today won both his semifinals and finals matches in three games! During the finals match, one spectator rooting for his opponent said Greg “gets to everything!” An exaggeration perhaps, but not much. That’s a good goal for any aspiring junior — if you can get to and return the ball each time, you will win. Easier said than done.

Sam Patterson, in his debut in a national championship, reached the consolation semifinals in BU17 and played a hotly contested five game match. That was the equivalent to an 11th/12th place finish in a very competitive 32 player draw.

Carter Clarke won the BU19 plate in his most convincing win of the tournament, winning the finals in three straight games. He had to turn back Jeremy Ho in the semis, with both players playing very well in a tight five game match.

Caroline Resor reached the GU17 plate semifinals but lost a competitive four game match where no game was won by more than three points.

Congratulations to all the NCS Juniors for an excellent tournament and a record turnout among NCS Juniors!

See reports for Day 1 and Day 2.

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Bronze Nationals, Day 2

April 24th, 2010

NCS juniors played well in another successful day of squash Saturday at Yale University in New Haven, CT. Nine of the fifteen here at the Bronze National Championships will play in semifinal, third place and/or finals matches on Sunday, an incredible result. Quite possibly more would still be playing through Sunday, but in several cases two NCS players had to play each other today, and obviously only one could win.

Having all the NCS players playing here has been great — the players are all doing their best to support each other. It’s like having a home away from home and a fan base hundreds of miles from home.

In the BU15s, Zach Ho topped Theo Mendez in the quarterfinals. Zach advances to the semifinals, and Theo plays a semifinal for the right to the fifth place match. Cameron Bahadori lost in the third round of the consolations, meaning he finished in the top 24 of the 60 players here, a promising start for an NCS rookie junior playing in his first national championship tournament. Caden Petersmeyer was also eliminated today, but he played well and clearly is another NCS rookie junior to watch in the seasons ahead.

In BU17, Alex Alvarez dropped the first two games of his quarterfinals match with the #3 seed, but then roared back to win three straight. He lost his semifinal in four games, including one loss that went to a tiebreaker. He plays for third place Sunday.

Cyrus Nassikas won his second round consolation match easily, while Sam Patterson and Greg Berson both had tough 5 game wins to move to the consolation quarterfinals. Unfortunately for NCS bragging rights, Cyrus faced off against Sam in the quarters, and Sam won in a closely contested four game match. Greg Berson won in four games too. Sam and Greg play in different consolation semifinals matches Sunday morning.

In GU17, Rachel Brown won her quarterfinal match in convincing style, allowing the #4 seed just 12 points in a three game win. She fell to the #1 seed in the semis in four games on the exhibition glass court and plays for third place Sunday.

Caroline Resor won her plate quarterfinals match in four games and plays a semifinal match tomorrow.

Geoffrey Keating, playing up an age division in BU19, crushed the #8 seed in the quarterfinals in three games. He played a thrilling semifinals match against perhaps the fastest player in the tournament that featured incredible gets by both players and long rallies. The match drew a large crowd that repeatedly broke out in applause for well played points. Geoff won the first game, dropped the next two, then took the last two games to win a berth in the finals against fellow Marylander David Snyder on the exhibition glass court.

Jeremy Ho reached the consolation quarterfinals and lost a tight four game match. Carter Clarke will play in the plate semifinals Sunday morning.

See the report for Day 1.

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Bronze Nationals, Day 1

April 24th, 2010

Congratulations to the 15 National Capital Squash area juniors who were accepted into the US SQUASH Bronze National Championships at Yale University April 23-25. This is a record number of NCS juniors who qualified for the tournament. We will be reporting each day on the highlights.

There is a record turnout here in BU15, with 60 juniors nationwide competing. Theo Mendez and Zach Ho cruised, winning both their first two matches comfortably, and both have advanced to the round of 16. Cameron Bahadori won his round of 64 match, then fell to the #1 seed in a competitive match. Cameron won his first round consolation match. Caden Petersmeyer lost his first round consolation match, playing very well and taking a game off a highly rated opponent. He moves to the plate division.

In BU17, Alex Alvarez overwhelmed his first two opponents, and has reached the quarterfinals, where he faces the #4 seed Saturday. Cyrus Nassikas, Greg Berson and Sam Patterson all won their first round matches, but lost in the round of 16. Greg and Sam both lost tough 5 game matches there. Cesar Peralta and Aaron Fernandez fell out of the main draw in marathon 5 game matches in the first round, but both won their first round consolation matches.

Rachel Brown easily won her first round match in GU17 and advanced to the quarterfinals. Caroline Resor moves to the consolations after losing a hard fought four game match that featured two games that went to tiebreakers.

In BU19, Geoffrey Keating advanced to the quarterfinals after allowing his opponent just 8 points in his first match. Jeremy Ho won his first round match, then lost to the #2 seed in an awesome match where all three games went to tiebreakers, including the last game that went to 15-13. It was a tough loss, but proved that Jeremy can play with the top players here. Carter Clarke lost a tough 4 game match and also moves to the consolations.

Live results are available online here.

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National Capital Squash 2010 Inaugural Junior Championship

March 20th, 2010

Congratulations to the local juniors who became part of squash history by playing in the first ever National Capital Squash Junior Championship tournament Feb. 27-28.

Here are the results:

Division 1

GU15 Winner — Anna Armstrong; Finalist — Emma Resor

BU15 Winner — Zach Ho; Finalist — Theo Mendez; Third Place Cameron Bahadori; Fourth Place Caden Petersmeyer

GU17 Winner — Jacqueline Barnes; Finalist — Rachel Brown

BU17 Winner — Dimitri Halikias; Finalist — Cyrus Nassikas

BU19 Winner — Alexander Nassikas; Finalist — Geoffrey Keating

Division 2

GU17 Winner — Allegra Wilson; Finalist — Caroline Charendoff

BU17 Winner — Patrick Hackett; Finalist — Tyler Smallwood

BU19 Winner — Nicholas Mendez; Finalist — Reilley Keane

Complete results for division 1 and division 2.

Boys Under 15 Winner Zach Ho and Finalist Theo Mendez played a thrilling finals match that went to 5 games.

Potomac School's Cameron Bahadori (right) and Caden Petersmeyer took third and fourth place, in a well-played match that went to four games.

Anna Armstrong won the Girls Under 15 division after beating Emma Resor in a five game match.

Cyrus Nassikas (right) beat the top seeded player to make the Boys Under 17 finals, losing in four games to winner Dimitri Halikias.

Patrick Hackett won Boys Under 17 Division 2 after defeating finalist Tyler Smallwood in a five game match.

Jacqueline Barnes (right), who won the National Silver Championships in GU 15 last year, won the Girls Under 17 division, defeating rising squash star Rachel Brown in a four game finals.

It was an all Potomac School finals in Boys Under 19, with senior Alexander Nassikas (right) defeating sophomore Geoffrey Keating.

Tags: Juniors
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Round up of SIVL Sport & Health Interclub Varsity League – by Connie Barnes

February 28th, 2010

After a grueling winter of 36 matches at four Sport & Health Clubs, the SIVL Divisional Finals were held on February 26th. The Finals were one week after the SIVL tournament which attracted more than 100 juniors.

Here are the Winners and Finalists of Division 1:

BU20: Winner - Peter Fredman (Whitman). Finalist - Clive Chang (Landon)

BU17 (to be played): Sam Patterson (BCC) vs. Jacq Barnes (Whitman)

BU15: Winner – Theo Mendez (Sidwell). Finalist – Jeremy Barnes (Whitman)

GU20: Winner – Viveka Mishra (Sidwell). Finalist – Meg Armstrong (Madeira)

GU17: Winner – Jacq Barnes (Whitman). Finalist – Rachel Brown (Sidwell)

GU15: Winner - Anna Armstrong (Madeira). Finalist – Maddie Klaff (Madeira)

It was an outstanding finish to a great season!

The Division 2 SIVL Championship Team was decided by the seventh and last match. Landon and Whitman were tied at three matches apiece when Mike Hunter and Neal Malkani took court. The pressure was on, the atmosphere exciting and the crowd was very noisy! The boys reached two-all, then battled through every point of the last game with an incredible amount of cheering from the crowd. Hunter prevailed in a tense tiebreak and won the final game 14-12, a terrrific cap on Landon’s season. Congratulations to Captains Alex Duplessie (one of the loudest cheerers), Clive Chang and Coordinator Dr. Goodwin!

In the Division 1 Final, BCC 1 won the first two matches in short fashion. However Whitman prevailed, winning the Championship for the second consecutive time. Congratulations to the Whitman team and Captain Jacq Barnes!

After the matches, The 2010 SIVL Awards fro Most Valuable Player and Most Improved Player were presented to:

MVP Alex Gangitano (Stoneridge)

MIP Joey Borden (BCC)

Both students receive an engraved glass plaque and a $100 gift certificate!

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