Barbados Nation ( Barbados )
17 March 2023 ( Page 34 )
Squash’s Junior Nationals this weekend
By Nick Maitland nickmaitland@nationnews.com
A new Under-23 division will be the main added feature in the Barbados Squash Association’s (BSA) Sagicor General Insurance National Junior Championships, which start at 6 p.m. today at the Barbados Squash Club, Balmoral Gap, Hastings.
The local governing body’s decision is in keeping with the rest of the squash world, which introduced the division in light of COVID-19’s widespread impact on the sport, especially on junior players who would have aged out of the ranks during the absence of competition.
As a result, those junior players, such as current BSA public relations officer Jodi Smith-Padmore, will get a chance to compete as juniors for the final time.
“It was started in Canada and introduced so the persons who would have been in their final year as juniors would have another opportunity at a junior tournament while they are still in their prime,” Smith-Padmore told Weekend Sport.
“We decided to hop on that wave and do an Under-23 category as well. I would have also missed my last year in Junior Nationals because of COVID-19 but, now this year, I get to play in the Under-23 category. National men’s champion Khamal Cumberbatch will compete in the Under-23 as well.
“This makes the squash more exciting because COVID-19 put a halt on the newcomers into squash, so the other age groups would have been a bit insufficient. The Under-23 division gives the juniors in Under-19 a better challenge.”
The tournament will also see the return to action of players from the Under-11, Under-13, Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 divisions. Smith-Padmore added that players who register for the tournament can do so for up to two divisions.
Some players like Eboni Atherley and Sumairaa Suleman have taken the opportunity to compete in their Under-17 and Under-19 divisions, respectively, as well as the new Under-23 division.
Smith-Padmore also explained the main reason behind the planning of the junior tournament.
“The newly selected members of the council made the decision that we needed to have Nationals. When we put together our proposed calendar for this year, we have a lot of regional tournaments coming up,” she said.
“We need time to get the athletes prepared and get some squad training to prepare for these bigger tournaments. That was the main reason why we needed to get our Nationals done, so that we could get our athletes back out and understand they need to be training right now. Realistically, we should have been training from last year, so we need to get the ball rolling. That was the main decision.”
Smith-Padmore is anticipating good battles at this weekend’s Championships, including between herself and long-time rival Suleman.