The venue for the 2012/13 CSSC Squash Championships was again the popular Nottingham Squash Club. Many of the main Departments were represented with 35 players from all over the country competing in mixed teams of 3 men and 2 ladies. The competitiveness of all the players was apparent with all levels of squash in evidence.

Last year’s Champions, London region, had been unable to raise a team this year, The seven teams that entered were divided initially into 2 groups, one of 3 and one of 4 teams, playing in a ‘Round Robin’ format, with the top two teams from each group progressing to semi-final stages of the main event.

The Nottingham Squash Club was once again the venue for the National Civil Service Squash Singles Championship. Held in November 2012, 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.

Strong competition for the Mens title.

To provide a suitable level of squash for all abilities, the men’s competition consisted of 5 grades. In the top group, last year’s Champion Tim Burrell headed a strong line-up of 16 players. The first round saw the strongest contenders move into the A grade while the losers headed to the B grade competition.

The Ladies Quadrangular 2012 took place on 12-13 October in Nottingham. In the absence of a ladies team from the Police and the Fire Service we found ourselves in more of a tripod, facing formidable opponents from the Combined Services and Nottingham Squash Club.

Our first match saw us take on Nottingham ladies, newcomers to the Quadrangular who sportingly put up a team. An unknown entity, they fielded a strong side and unfortunately we were no match for them in the end. The team performed well and some good squash was played by all, but Nottingham managed to triumph 4-1.

In October 2012 the Civil Service played the annual quadrangular tournament against the Police, Fire Service and Combined Services at the Nottingham Squash Club. The Civil Service team consisted of usual stalwarts Tim Burrell, Tony Webb and John Ashton; with James Hodson and newcomers Jonathan Simpson and Adam Curry.

In the curtain-opener to the new season, the London Civil Service Squash team travelled the short distance to Pall Mall to play the RAF Club. With a solitary victory and two losses to the same side last season, the match was always predicted to represent a tough opening challenge, and the scale of the challenge soon became apparent when the Civil Service's first man out Phil Stamp lost 3-0 to his opposite number, with Tom Lantree's opposition also proving too strong - beating Tom 3-0 - though the scoreline was perhaps a harsh outcome for what was in reality a closely fought game.

The 2012 CSSC Age Group Singles Championships were held on 27th/ 28th April and were once again hosted at Nottingham Squash Club.

This year’s event showed a slight increase in numbers and had good representation from across the north and south of the country. Many familiar faces, several newcomers and some partners came along to enjoy the camaraderie and atmosphere of the event and the hospitality of the Nottingham club. All of the competitions were keenly contested and all players took part in refereeing and marking, giving some participants their first ever experience of this.

This year’s 2011/12 Civil Service Team Squash Tournament once again was hosted by Nottingham Squash Club, one of the Country’s premier squash venues. With eight Teams consisting of three men and two ladies entering the organisers were given the opportunity to run a standard eight team knock-out draw with a Plate competition for first round losers!

The top part of the draw in the first round saw last year’s winners DSRA (Defence) drawn against the HASSRA ‘B’ (Health and Social Security) Team. All was plain sailing for DSRA as they won through to the next round, however, HASSRA’s Jackie Robertson notched up a fine win over DSRA’s Lorna Riggs!

Match Report/Results (Portsmouth 6th & 7th January 2012)

Friday

The annual Civil Service Men’s Squash Team fixture against the Royal Navy was held at HMS Temeraire, Portsmouth on the 6/7th January 2012.

Disaster struck early before anyone could step onto a court, with an injury to illustrious Civil Service Captain Merv Davies. The Naval Rules of Engagement state that if the Captain is lost or injured at sea, control of the vessel passes to the Executive Officer. Unfortunately for the Civil Service Team, a person matching the required character traits couldn’t be found, so First Seaman Tim Burrell stepped up to sail the team through the treacherous waters ahead. First Seaman Burrell’s first duty, to deliver the sad news on the health of the missing Captain raised a few eyebrows amongst the team; we were informed that the injury involved eight tendons in the foot! Captain Mervs injured tendon eight weeks previous had failed to heal fully resulting in him missing his first fixture against the Navy for over 20 years. It did however give an opportunity to bring in alternative players which meant, encouragingly, the “Mens Team” (more on this later), had the lowest average age in the past 20 years!

The Quadrangular Tournament for 2011 was again held at Nottingham Squash Rackets Club, The Park, Nottingham. Male teams from the Combined Services, Civil Service, Police and Fire Service, together with Female teams from the Combined Services, Civil Service and Police competed over the period 09-10 September 2011.