THE SECOND Essex Junior Squash Grand Prix Squash Series event, aimed at players School Year 10 and under who have yet to play competitive squash for the county, is just three weeks away.
Following the success of the opening event at Club Kingswood in November, the centre of attention switches to Colchester’s Lexden Club where the competition continues on February 1st.
The idea is to stage competitive events to allow juniors to gain experience as they learn and improve their game. The Grand PrixSeries is not open to regular county players, they already have a massive calendar of events to keep them busy. However, juniors in the Essex Development squad ARE allowed to enter. Don’t worry if you did not play in the first event at Kingswood, you can play any number of events, the choice is all yours.
Essex Junior Squash chairman David Harris explained how the Grand Prix Series will work. “The series will allow those clubs that have only a handful of juniors to participate and feel part of the EJS Community. No one, whatever level or age (up to Year 10) will be excluded from the series.
“Points will be calculated at the end of each Grand Prix to give placings in each group. The EJS Committee will then do the necessary number crunching to provide league tables, not only for individuals but for clubs they are registered against. This will allow clubs that may only have 3 or 4 players to compete against clubs who have 10 or 11 players.
“For the Club event, the top four individual scores from each club participating will count towards the Club League Table calculated over all 5 events.
“At the end of the GP series, points will be calculated to give an Individual winner per age group. Those six winners, along with playing members of the winning club, will be invited to attend a one day squash camp in 2015 with senior male and female professionals from the PSA World Tour.”
If you would like to enter the series, simply click the button below for our online booking system. It really couldn’t be easier. All the fine details are below and also available on the Grand-Prix booking page to download. If you still need more information after that, or have some questions prior to entering, please contact David Harris on david.s.harris@btconnect.com.
[cta title=”Grand Prix Series 2014/15 Entry” button=”Click Here” link=”http://essexjuniorsquash.co.uk/grand-prix”]Visit the online booking page to enter the series[/cta]
Grand Prix Series Format
* Played on a round robin format with a maximum of 6 players per group, playing best of 3 games, each to 11 points.
* If more than 6 players per category are received, then they will be split equally across a number of groups
* Age groups for Girls and Boys will match School years: Year 6 and Under, Year 8 and Under and Year 10 and Under.
* This series is for players NOT playing in any of the Essex and/or Surrounding County Squads but it will include those in the Essex Development Squad.
Event Venues
Venues have now been confirmed with dates as follows:
* Club Kingswood – 30th November 2014 (COMPLETED)
* Lexden – 1st February 2015
* Bishops Stortford – 8th March 2015
* Woodford Wells – 19th April 2015
* Colchester Garrison – 3rd May 2015
Event Closing Dates
There will be 5 Grand Prix’s during the season. The dates have been carefully selected so as to not clash with any other Essex event that might affect the juniors entitled to enter.
* GP2 – Sunday 1st February 2015 – closing date for entries Friday 23rd January
* GP3 – Sunday 8th March 2015 – closing date for entries Friday 27th February
* GP4 – Sunday 19th April 2015 – closing date for entries Friday 10th April
* GP5 – Sunday 3rd May 2015 – closing date for entries Friday 24th April
Entry Fee
The Entry fee for each event and category will be £10 per player per event.
Any player entering the first four Grand Prix events will be entered into the last GP of the season free of charge
A one off payment of £5 is required if you would like an “Essex Junior Squash Grand Prix Series 2014/15” T-shirt.
Event Eligibility
Entry to this series is via www.essexjuniorsquash.com at any time up to 1 week before an event.
ALL ENTRANTS MUST BE UNDER THE AGE GROUP LIMIT AT THE START OF THE SCHOOL YEAR 2014.
By submitting the entry form players agree to abide by the tournament rules and to England Squash Code of Conduct.
Winning Prize
At the end of the GP series, points will be calculated to give an Individual winner per age group. Those six winners, along with playing members of the winning club, will be invited to attend a one day squash camp in 2015 with senior male and female professionals from the PSA & WSA World Tour. Further details will be provided nearer the competition start.