The 2015-16 Masters Squash and Racketball event was held at the Nottingham Squash Club over 2 days in April 2016 with 19 entrants. 

In the Masters squash there were 4 Mens Age group events and 2 Ladies events. The plan had been for the Squash Age groups events to run over the 2 days with the Racketball event taking place on the Saturday. However, due to the entry size in each Age category these were almost all completed on the Friday. This meant that squash players could be offered the opportunity to play in the Racketball event on the Saturday or to continue playing squash with an All-comers event combining all age groups and sexes. By Saturday afternoon all entrants were suitably replete with enjoyable competition, played in a friendly but competitive manner.

All the Mens Age group events were played as Round robins with all playing all. The largest entry was in the Over 35 event where there was strong competition between all the players.  The winner was Craig Blurton retaining his title, though 2nd place Imran Bashir pushed him close in a 5 setter match. Regrettably Paul Lane pulled a calf muscle in his last match or he might have improved on his 3rd place.

In the Mens Over 45 event previous CSSC team player, Simon Amery, made a welcome return to the CSSC events as a Veteran and showed his considerable skill and fitness in defeating the other contenders to take his first CSSC Veterans title. John Falkland was the runner up in this group with Jim Fay 3rd.

The current holder of the Over 55 group, Peter Windram was not to be stopped from retaining his title overcoming both Nigel Williams and Charles Walsmsley by 3 games to 1. Nigel took 2nd place.

In the Over 65 event, CSSC Secretary, Peter Lee, came out of retirement to challenge for the newly named trophy “The Tony Claydon Cup” in memory of our colleague Tony.  Despite rarely playing nowadays Peter had not lost his skill or court sense and duly despatched the opposition to win the title and the new cup.

The Ladies Squash events had 4 entrants in the two age groups. Shena Ferrie beat Deborah Atkinson to retain the Over 40 trophy with Marian Holmes defeating Susan Gillam for the Over 50 title. Winner / loser matches followed with Shena and Deborah emerging successful.

On the Saturday squash players were offered the chance to play in the Racketball competition.  Two groups of 5 players competed in Round Robin formats with playoffs between the groups for all places. 

In the Racketball Final the current holder Ian Frampton played Simon Amery. This was an interesting match to watch as it showed the difference between someone with Racketball skills (Ian) against someone with supreme fitness but less Racketball experience (Simon). After long rallies and a very tight 2nd game Ian emerged successful to retain his title. Fred Saunders took 3rd place.

Squash players not wishing to play Racketball on Saturday played an alternative “Allcomers mix-in” event in 2 round robin groups. In the A group Peter Windram emerged the winner over Nigel Williams. In the B group Jim Fay emerged the winner over Deborah Atkinson, runner-up.

In addition to the events on court, many of the players enjoyed a social evening with supper and quiz on the Friday evening in the club bar. As always the club looked after us well and we are grateful for the use of their excellent facilities.

Last November (2015) at our AGM, Linda Parsley announced she would be standing down as Chairman of the Civil Service Squash Rackets Association after 21 years service.

Linda was originally elected to the vacant Chairman’s role in 1994, having already served on the Committee for some years beforehand. In those days the Men’s and Ladies’ National Squash finals were sourced from all the winners of Regional Competitions held around the Country - including Northern Ireland and Scotland. In addition both Men’s and Ladies’ Representative Teams were active – Linda again playing her part as Ladies Team Captain for a number of years.

As the climate for sport within the Civil Service gradually began to evolve in those early years of Linda’s Chairmanship – the need for real change soon appeared on the horizon. The move away from the “elite sport” approach was designed to open the door for all standards of play and the pressure to achieve this was directed to all Sports Recreation Bodies including our own! 

Linda had a major role to play in driving through all the necessary changes and enthusiastically rose to that challenge.  This new “era” initially saw the introduction of Mixed Team events and National Open Singles events. The popularity of the Singles Event was soon such that in order to cater for the number of players involved the National Open Age Group Event was also introduced.  More recently Racketball now also runs alongside our Age Group Event. Linda’s involvement has also included a major role in organising and running many of these events.

Linda’s work however was not just confined to the “sharp” end of our sport but as importantly to overseeing the direction of the Committee structure that would underpin our Sport. Squash was one of the first SRB’s to formulate and document a Development Plan for their Sport and Squash was one of the first SRB’s to have their own website. All these successes and Linda’s part in their achievement were recognised by CSSC when in 2010 Squash was awarded the best “Sports Recreation Award”. A few years earlier in 2001 Linda had also received a “Personal Merit Award” from CSSC. 

Linda would be the first person to say that our successes were a Team effort - but every Team needs a Captain - Linda has played a Captain’s role and led from the front.  Although Linda intends to remain on the CSSRA Committee to assist with some of our events her wider contribution as Chairman will be sorely missed!

Our Civil Service Squash community was recently shocked by the sad news that Tony Claydon had died. Tony, one of our best known senior squash players, had only recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and passed away peacefully in his sleep on 15th February 2016.

Tony's involvement with Civil Service Squash stretches back nearly 20 years and having spent an active and successful career in both the Navy and the Army it was little surprise that this  lifestyle would produce a squash player who could "mix it" with the best of us. He has represented the Gloucestershire County Squash Team in various age groups, was part of the GB Vets Team and also played for our own Civil Service Representative Team in numerous fixtures. Tony also played and was successful in many of our own National Squash events - he was, for example, the Over 55 Champion on several occasions and a winning member of the successful DSRA Team in our Team Event. Tony was also a keen motivator to introduce our Over 65 Event - last year Tony won this for the second time whilst also being the Over 55 Runner-up.

Tony was however more than just another great player - he was undoubtedly a great bloke. His competitive nature on court was always tempered by his acute sense of fair play, his sense of humour was always evident, he was reliable and a good friend and companion to many of us. He had also had a short spell serving on the Committee, keen to give back something to other players. Sadly Tony's name won't be on the draw sheet this April when this year's Over 65 Event is played but his name will be on a new Trophy to be called the "Tony Claydon - Over 65 Cup". Tony will be missed but not forgotten. Tony’s family have asked that anyone wishing to make a donation to his memory can do so by visiting either of the following websites:

www.memorygiving.com/anthonyjohnclaydon_pancreaticcancerresearchfund

www.memorygiving.com/anthonyjohnclaydon_theroyalbritishlegion

Six teams comprising of three men and two ladies recently attended this year’s CSSC Team Squash Event held in Nottingham on the 5th and 6th February 2016. Last year’s winners HASSRA had returned to defend their Title and repeat their impressive previous year’s win. Standing in their way was opposition from a new look Defence Team (DSRA), Revenue and Customs (RCSL), Land Registry, North West and a newly formed London Composite Team.

The initial competition was formatted into 2 Round Robin Events with 3 teams in each group. The top 2 teams in each Group would progress into the Semi Final whilst the 3rd placed teams would play in the Plate Final.

In Group “A” HASSRA got their campaign off to a fine start with a 4-1 victory over North West. North West’s only winner was Paul Lane coming back from 2 games down to defeat HASSRA’s experienced Chris Beldon in the 5th game 15/10 ! North West’s fortune however looked to be improving in their next match when facing the new London Team - their ladies Shena Ferrie and Sian Hughes both stormed to impressive wins. North West’s men Dan Willets, Paul Lane and Jim Fay however could not repeat this feat - losing to the impressive London trio of Tony Webb, Ethan Thornton and David Nethercott. HASSRA the Champions would now face their first major hurdle as London the newcomers flexed their muscle! The early part of the clash went convincingly to HASSRA when their experienced ladies Keeley Grindle and Jackie Codman both produced fine wins over the London ladies, Carol Stone and Susan Gillam. HASSRA’s men however could not repeat this success - all three matches going to the London’s male trio! London would top the group whilst HASSRA would progress as runners-up.

In Group “B” the Defence Team looked in determined mood to once again get their name onto the Trophy – their first hurdle was against the experienced Land Registry Team. The Land Registry ladies Ruth Sleigh and Marian Holmes both put up fine performances against the strong Defence opposition of Joanne Stroud and Kate Cunningham but both had to eventually concede, Ruth losing 15/10 in the 5th game and Marian 16/14 in the 4th! Land Registry’s men Nigel Williams, Matt Thomas and Graham Cole also struggled against Defence’s Ollie Spiers, John McFarlane and Tom Littleton all losing 3/0! Land Registry’s fortune seemed to be taking a turn for the better in their next match against Revenue and Customs when Ruth Sleigh notched up a fine win over RCSL veteran Pat High Comer 3/1. Marian Holmes for Land Registry meanwhile also had recovered from 2 games down to draw level at 2 games all. Marian however could not find the extra few points needed in the 5th - going down eventually 15/10 to RCSL’s Hilary Craven. RCSL went on to take control when Geoff Irwin and Wayne Smith both produced fine 3/0 victories over Nigel Williams and Graham Cole! Matt Thomas for Land Registry however did produce a consolation win in the second string match against Glenn Wilkinson 3/1. The final Tie of the Round Robin between Defence and Revenue proved always to be an uphill battle for a tired Revenue Team with Defence producing a 5/0 score line to go forward as Group winners with RCSL progressing as runners-up. Land Registry would go into the Plate Final to face North West.

The first Semi Final on the Saturday morning saw London facing the RCSL Team. RCSL got off to a fine start when Hilary Craven produced a 3/0 win over London’s Susan Gillam. London’s David Nethercott however soon put the tie on an even footing by defeating Revenue’s Wayne Smith 3/0. RCSL’s number 1 player Geoff Irwin needed all his experience against the youthful Tony Webb and indeed fought hard in the opening game having one game point before losing it 18/16! Irwin led for much of the second game but again could not convert the advantage eventually losing 15/12 and similarly 15/11 in the 3rd. This was pivotal and with London’s Carol Stone defeating Revenue’s Pat High-Comer it was only left for Ethan Thornton to wrap things up 3/0 against RCSL’s Glenn Wilkinson.

The second Semi Final saw holders HASSRA face the prospect of a match against their old adversaries – Defence! The ever faithful Jackie Codman took an early lead for HASSRA by defeating the youthful Kate Cunningham 3/0. Tom Littleton playing for Defence soon levelled the match by defeating HASSRA’s Kevin Mulligan in a hard fought encounter. HASSRA however then took another step forwards when Keeley Grindle produced some fine squash to defeat a very worthy opponent Joanne Stroud. Once again the tie was levelled when Defence’s veteran player John McFarlane proved too good for HASSRA’s Chris Beldon winning 3/0. The stage was set for each Team’s number 1 player to decide the outcome –the youth of Defence’s Ollie Spiers versus the experience of HASSRA’s Marc Thomas. This was to prove to be the match of the Tournament! HASSRA edged the 1st game 15/10 only to see the second go to the Defence player 15/12! The third and fourth games replicated this pattern to ensure a fitting finish to the match with a fifth and deciding game. It would be a battle of stamina, nerves and determination. In the end it was HASSRA’s ability to doggedly keep the ball in play and force those crucial errors out of the younger Defence player that ensured HASSRA’s 15/10 victory – very well played Marc Thomas! HASSRA had achieved their second final in consecutive years.

The Final itself was to see the new London Team face the HASSRA Champions – ironically a repeat of their earlier encounter in the first day’s Round Robin. Once again the HASSRA’s ladies Jackie Codman and Keeley Grindle proved their superiority with fine 3/0 victories! HASSRA needed just one more tie to retain their Title - their weary men however could not quite find that “extra yard” and the powerful London trio took full advantage to hammer home their point by taking all 3 games 3/0! Congratulations and well played to the London Composite Team - the new Champions.

The 3rd/4th place play off was won by DSRA who defeated RCSL 3/2. In the Plate Final North West’s Shena Ferrie produced a match winning performance against Land Registry’s Marian Holmes by edging past the winning post 16/14 in the 5th and final game to ensure their Team’s overall 3/2 victory! Well done North West.

Prizes were presented by Civil Service Squash Rackets Association retiring Chairman Linda Parsley. Thanks were extended to all the participating players and to Nottingham Squash Rackets Club for the use of their fine facilities.

The next Squash Event will be the Squash Masters and Racketball Tournament in Nottingham on 22nd / 23rd April 2016 – further details can be found on our Website www.cssc-squash.co.uk

The National Civil Service Squash Singles Championship 2015 was again held over 2 days in November at the Nottingham Squash Club. A successful event, both competitively  and socially, it attracted players from all over the country to compete in a graded event, aimed at players of all standards.

The prestigious Nottingham Squash Club was once again the venue for the 2015 CSSC Squash Masters Singles Championships and the CSSC Racketball Championships. A favoured venue for many CSSC squash events, the club and its staff once again gave a warm and friendly welcome to the players and guests.

Seven teams of three men and two ladies recently attended this year’s CSSC Team Squash Event held in Nottingham on the 5th and 6th February. Last year’s winners Defence (DSRA) arrived having doubled up to two strong teams and not to be out-done so did the HASSRA representatives. Hoping to spoil all the fun for both of these outfits were teams from Revenue and Customs (RCSL), Land Registry and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

The Nottingham Squash Club was once again the venue for the National Civil Service Squash Singles Championship. Held in November 2014, it attracted players from all over the country and of all playing standards for a graded event which was both competitive and social in nature.

Our webmaster, Mark, created the CSSC-Squash website in 2006 and has managed and enhanced it since that date. In recognition of his important contribution, the Squash Committee applied to the CSSC for a Certificate of Recognition for Mark. This is awarded to volunteers within CSSC who “have made a noteworthy difference in his or her voluntary contribution to CSSC”

The reason for requesting this award is because of the effort that Mark has put into the website, both in creating it and continuing to develop it. We have all been impressed by what Mark has achieved and grateful for the benefits we have received by better communication with our membership. Its success is obvious and we feel it has made an incredible difference to us.

Regrettably, because of Mark’s work commitments, we were unable to present the Award to Mark at one of our events, so CSSC Squash Chairman, Linda Parsley, visited Mark in London one lunchtime to present Mark with his well-earned Certificate.