Garioch Squash

Jack Strachan became Garioch’s first Grampian representative in about 2 decades! Our first regional selection since we brought back junior coaching to Garioch.

We couldn’t be prouder with how Jack has represented the club throughout last season and we are sure he has more selections in his future!

Well done Jack! All the kids and coaches are delighted!

Garioch Squash travelled to ASRC yesterday for the Junior Bronze and Senior Graded event.

Owen moved up a grade and played amazingly with some tight matches and picked up a couple of wins. Eapecially impressive only a month after getting his cast off for a broken wrist.

Matthew and Ethan played their first tournament and both picked up wins throughout the day. We are so proud of you for taking the next step into squash in the region.

Pete was seeded 8 and after a comfortable first round then played Irishman Jonathan McBride, the number 1 seed, an extremely talented player from Edinburgh. After losing to McBride, Pete then picked up 2 impressive wins over solid div 1 players Lindsay Ackers and Danny Selway.

It was awesome to see juniors and seniors playing alongside each other and the club had such a buzz about it.

And of course Garioch were the best dressed!!!

Very proud of you all and the community we are building, well done.

Thanks to CTi Joinery & Specsavers as sponsors ❤️

We are absolutely delighted another of our junior’s has taken the leap into tournaments within Grampian.

Jack won 4 out of 5 matches today to tie at the top of the standings in the division. We couldn’t be happier for Jack on his achievement and are so proud of him!

The kit is most definitely the best in Grampian too!

Next junior bronze event is the 15th February.

Amazing morning at our last junior session of the year!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

We look forward to welcoming all our juniors back after the festive period.

Matthew already modelling the Garioch shirt!

Thank you to Duncan at CTi Joinery for all his support this season.

🎅🏻🎄☃️❄️

Garioch Squash do the treble this week!

Our Vets team continue to dominate their first season in the Grampian leagues with a convincing win over Ellon and have taken the maximum 60 points so far. Huggy made his debut and managed to overcome his league anxiety with a 3-0 win. He always says ‘never again’ but never sees the team go short. MVP for sure!

Garioch 1 travelled to Kippie and clinched a 3-2 victory to get their first win of the season! It sees them move off the bottom of the table. Hopefully this is the start of a flurry of points before Christmas. We caught up with the captain following this momentous occasion. ‘Press release will follow on after the open top bus tour tomorrow. It’s been declared a local holiday so the townsfolk can join in the celebrations. We imagine it will go on all weekend considering the scale of results. All 3 Garioch teams kicked ass 🍾🍾🕺🏻💃. Wouldn’t be surprised if the sporty hq website crashes shortly when news gets out!!!!’.

Garioch 2 were at home to ASRC Hot Custard and with everyone available, we had our strongest team out. Calum Morrison made a return to the team after some time out for injury and we can certainly see the hard work he’s put into his fitness on court. He took the win 3-0 and the captain was impressed to see his sporty hq membership hadn’t lapsed therefore gets the MOTM award.
Craig & Paul got routine 3-0 wins with Paul confirming his availability till the Christmas break (bribed with food).
Stew on next against Nicky Riley and got the win 3-1. The performance was an improvement on last week but as he stated himself ‘it wouldn’t have been difficult’. Stew takes the s**t shirt this week for the only player giving away a point!
Pete came out firing against Sasha and showed his class to get a clinical 3-0 win. Pete credited his unbelievable performance to warming up properly. Who knew this was a good idea? Stay tuned for more tips from Garioch Squash!

New boards fitted at the courts promoting Garioch Squash Juniors, they look amazing!

Massive thanks to CTi Joinery!

Weekly Round-Up

Last week saw the div 2 top of the table clash v Px Group.

Tommy on first v Eric. Tommy was nursing a sore back but gave it his all and got a valuable point for the team. He mentioned it was ‘extra bright’ on court but from the photo below I think the issue was self explanatory! Eric took the win 3-1.

Pete on next v Alex who has been in good form of late & has picked up some great results. The rallies were so long in the first that the crowd thought we’d be camping out in ASRC that night! But really Pete was just getting warmed up and came out a different player in the second. He was taking the ball early, moving Alex well and a few nicks didn’t hurt! Pete took the win 3-0, but gets the s**t shirt award for ‘racket abuse’ 😂🤦🏻‍♀️

Craig on next v up and coming junior Adam Bedair. The hard hitting junior giving it his all but Craig’s experience and shot selection proved too much for Adam. A great learning curve for the talented ASRC junior!

Paul came out of hiding for his first game of the season v Donald. The less said about this match the better 🤦🏻‍♀️😂 Paul never seemed to get going against a tenacious opponent who got the win 3-0. Paul has now gone back into hiding. The post match burger seemed to soften the blow though so the night wasn’t a complete loss!

The match stood at 2-2 with the final battle taking place on the show court. Stew made an epic journey from Elgin for the occasion, true team commitment! He was up against Chris Cook, a talented player and sporty hq genius! This match had 5 setter written all over it from the first serve. Chris could have rallied all night but Stew’s front court boasts were proving tricky. Stew was on fire, his drops were tight and he managed to control the T, putting the pressure on Chris which forced the errors. Stew took the match 3-2 to take a team Garioch win! MOTM performance for Stew!

Our Garioch Vets are dominating the league in their first season out with 3 straight wins out of 3. Let’s keep up the winning ways lads!

Garioch 1 v Shell 1

Update from the firsts this week for a change!
2 courts on the go this week so was difficult to catch all the matches, so a bit of a snapshot of the tie.

Pete went on at 5 taking on Danny Selway, all round good guy of Grampian Squash. Danny dedicates so much time to squash in the region being a coach, qualified referee, committee member and sub-rules committee chair. Throw in a Scotland representative in the recent home-internationals, so firstly a massive shout-out to Danny for all his hard work for the region! Danny took the first in pretty comfortable fashion but Pete came back fighting to take the second. Danny’s signiture volleys proving tricky but Pete’s athleticism and reach kept the scores tight. The match really could have gone either way with the games so close. Danny took the win 3-1, but without a doubt an outstanding improvement from last seasons clash between these too. This was definitely the match of the night.

Stew Davidson took on Rene, last years Grampian Squash Player of the Year. Saw very little of this match but Stew picked up a valuable point for the team against a strong no4.

Gav was up next against Peter who was celebrating his retirement by a playing a league match! Inside locker room information tells us that Gav’s shower took longer than his match! In the post match interview, Gav said ‘I have no idea what happened’. Peter took the win 3-0. Gav however took the fashion win for his undone ‘detective inspector’ coat, which he was rocking in the gallery post-match.

‘Ninja’ Captain Chapman had a tough match ahead against Andy Goodenough. Despite losing 3-0, Duncan moved well, length was good and of course the headband now making all the difference to his game!!!

Sam on last against Alex. Prior to the match Sam’s aim was to get 5 points. He well and truly got more than 5 (in each game). Although he lost 3-0, shot of the night goes to Sam for his forehand rolling nick!

You can’t really ever feel bad about a loss to Shell, as you get treated to an excellent post-match dinner at Woodbank, so really we are all winners here!

Garioch 2 had their first loss of the season to ASV, still sitting second in the league so hoping for a strong team to show top of the table Px Group how it’s done! 👊🏻

Round up of 3rd October

Garioch 2 v Shell 2

Tommy took on the legend that is Alex Sinclair, who recently competed in Amsterdam at the World Masters Squash tournament. Having represented Scotland many times, Alex certainly has decades of experience in the bank. Tommy had to play some fast squash as Alex never gives up on a ball, but Tommy executed his cross courts well and took the win 3-0.

Next up was new recruit Lewis who was up against John Dewar, a regular of ASRC and overall squash enthusiast. Both players decided that every ball needed to be played so there were a few close calls, however it seemed only the crowd were concerned as both players on court seemed unphased. Lewis was unlucky to not get the second game and left everything on court but experience prevailed and John took the win 3-0.

Mark on next v Keith Hobson who was fresh off his win at the first Masters tournament on the circuit last weekend.
Keith came out absolutely flying in the first game playing some really impressive squash and Mark had to really work to take the first. Mark stepped up a level and took the second with ease. Mark played some great volleys and out hit Keith throughout to take the match 3-0.

Paul took on Paul Stein, who does an amazing job coaching the juniors at ASRC and gives up so much of his time to squash in Grampian. Paul’s headband did a good job of hiding his mantle piece ‘injury’ and took the match quickly 3-0. He is however getting the s**t-shirt next week for tinning 3 back hands drops in the 2nd when he had the entire court to play with - harsh captaincy around here!

After wearing the s**t shirt the entire season so far, Pete was keen to not take it for the 4th week in a row! He was up against Neil Strachen, committee member at ASRC, qualified coach and all round good guy. Neil came out all guns blazing in the first, his drops were tight and the lob serves we practised every Sunday as juniors were on fire. Pete’s fitness won him the first and after a wise up from the ‘coach’, took the second easily. Pete still not back to his form from last season yet, but the sign of a great player is getting the wins and digging in when you’re not at your best so he deserves MOTM this week and getting the win for the team.

For the 4th week in a row Garioch take 17 points and remain unbeaten this season 👊🏻

Garioch 1 were away to Resys, where unfortunately Rob picked up an injury so hoping he gets well this week in time for next week. They picked up a valuable 7 points and we go again next week!

Garioch 2 v Hot Custard

Mark went on first v Scotland Ladies Masters representative Helen Cordiner fresh from playing at the World Masters Championships a couple of weeks ago. This was always going to be tight and both players are quick so we knew it was going to be a long battle. It was close all the way until the 5th but Mark managed to dominate the 5th winning 3-2.

Newcomer to the team Lewis made his debut v Fiona Morrison - a tricky player with a near impossible serve to return. A great first match for Lewis but experience was on Fiona’s side and she took the win 3-0.

Paul was up next v Sasha, on loan from AU Students for the season. Sasha is a quick and talented player only taking up squash at university. Apart from the odd reverse boast, Paul played simple and effective squash game and got the win 3-0.

Craig on next v Alex Hilton, a true gentleman of Grampian Squash. Craig’s racket skills were flawless and even Alex’s speed around the court were no match for Craig’s impeccable volleys. Craig got the win 3-0.

Last on was Pete v Nicky Riley. Even without running the 10K on a Wednesday night, Pete wasn’t feeling his usual self prior to the match. As he admitted himself he played a lot of loose shots but still managed to dig deep and grind out the win 3-0.

For the 3rd successive week Garioch 2 took home the win and 17 points. Unfortunately, Pete gets the forfeit for the 3rd week running (contemplating retiring the shirt in his honour at this point) 😂

MOTM goes to debutant Lewis for getting absolutely stuck into his first match on the team and for making the captains job a lot easier by registering for sporty, paying match fees on time & even doing a refereeing course all the night before the match! That’s the kind of dedication we need 👊🏻

Garioch 1 were at home v Kippie 1, although some tight games which could have gone either way the team lost 18-5. Stew getting the win and Gav & Rob also taking valuable points.

We go again next week!

Fab opportunity for anyone wanting to get into coaching. Our own Pete and Tommy will be attending and it’s sure to be a great day all round!

Doing a bit of a round up - match reports will be back from next week!

Our new season in the Grampian leagues have kicked off and we are off to a very fashionable start with the additions of headbands, bandanas & luminous socks!

Garioch 1 have had a tough start to the season but fought hard with some narrow 3-2 losses in the first week and unfortunately had a heavy defeat last week facing the potential league winners who are ridiculously strong! We are delighted to have a new signing in Rob Warnock and look forward to playing squash at the highest level in Grampian for another year.

Garioch 2 have won 2 from 2 and are currently sitting in second place in division 2. MOTM from last week is Tommy, who played a blinder after having back troubles all week. He pulled out the 3-2 victory and as always is an incredible team player.
S**t shirt is going to Pete for the second week in a row for ‘forgetting’ to wear the s**t shirt till the second game, completely unacceptable form.

Garioch 1 face Kippie 1 at home this week. Great to see Nic Booth making the move to Div 1 this season to take the total to 3 women currently playing in the top division (Nic is also the mum to 2 of our Garioch Juniors).

Garioch 2 are away to ASRC Hot Custard who were promoted from Div 3 this season (also Tommy’s previous team before he made an excellent decision in signing for Garioch).

Our juniors continue to improve week by week and Owen continues to represent in the Grampian Junior Events.