BGSC juniors wrap up a big week of squash

Check out this write-up from our very own junior squashie Josie Jones, fresh off a massive school holiday tournament run.

Are you a junior squashie? Are you on school holidays? Would you like a break from squash? Too bad, you don’t get one! 

Our juniors love the grind, so much so, we had a record turnout from Blue Gum at this year’s State Junior Championships. We had seven juniors competing for individual state titles, with five podium finishes in various age groups.

Jasper Tapley secured his first state title in the U11 boys category, only dropping one game throughout his campaign, while Ashton Clement clinched third place in a grueling 5-set battle with Belmont’s Eric Marsh. Our girls were pushed out of their comfort zone with two-thirds of the Clarke family playing up an age division. Although Miranda was robbed from silver in the U13 girls by mere percentage, she showed a dominant performance in the U11 cohort, while her big sister Kayla was put through her paces in the U19 girls draw.

Two days of competition wasn’t enough to stop them though, backing up the individuals with the State Zone Teams event where we represented ‘South’ alongside our friends from Belmont and Leeming. Another two days of full on squash, two boys and two girls from each age group from U11-U19 representing their respective region of WA- North, South, Central and Country. South brought some bite, rebranding the stolen shark from QLD last nationals as our team mascot, not only were our kids pumping out some stellar squash, we were also babysitting an inflatable pool toy covered in blue zinc. Going into the last day it was one mere point between North and South, coming down to the two U19 matches to decide the overall winner.

We had several Blue Gum representatives in the B-Grade competition and a few athletes we begrudgingly leant to other zones to help fill the draw. It was great to see so many new and experienced juniors embrace the team environment and give it their all.

Also…Not to rub it in or anything but if you thought our juniors were pretty good before, they are also State Zone Champions!

At Blue Gum we are passionate about fostering the development of our juniors to enable them to participate and succeed in their squash endeavours- whether that’s becoming a state champion or giving their very first tournament a go. We appreciate the importance of having a safe and happy environment where they can flourish and challenge themselves to improve. If your child is interested in trying the world’s healthiest sport, or getting their hands on a state title, come along to our weekly junior program, Monday afternoons 4-5.30pm during the school term!

For more information check out our website or email: committee@bluegumsquash.org

Congrats to all our amazing athletes!

Ashton Clement BU19 - 3rd

Josie Jones GU19 - 2nd

Kayla Clarke GU19 - 6th

Ella Clarke GU15 - 3rd

Miranda Clarke GU13 - 3rd, GU11 - 1st

Jasper Tapley BU11 - 1st

Ethan Evans Mixed Novice - 4th