Simply the best!

This year's CSSC Games in Loughborough produced simply the best ever squash entry with over 45 players from all corners of the country converging on one of the country's premier sporting locations. It was not, however, just the numbers which impressed the organisers but more importantly the overall standard and depth of play!

The Men's A competition really epitomised this principle with no less than five previous winners of the title all competing. The most senior of these, John McFarlane, with a record of 11 previous titles to his name soon dispelled the rumour that he was only "here for the beer" when he disposed of a very able opponent Freddie Milles to reach the quarter-final stage – a really “stella” performance!

The Squash SRB (Sports and Recreational Body) has recently been successful in winning the CSSC Hayward Trophy for the Best Sports Body in 2010 This was presented to the Squash SRB Chair, Linda Parsley and committee member and past Secretary, Ian Lockey, at the CSSC Conference in June by the Chairman Sir David Bell. The award was won not for any specific achievements in the year but for a consistently high level of achievement and good management over a number of years.

Nottingham’s most prestigious Squash Club once again hosted this year’s Civil Service Team Squash Championships. All the main Departments were represented and overall the event attracted some 30 players from all parts of the country. The resultant line-up saw the six teams of three men and two ladies line-up into two groups of three teams playing in a ‘Round Robin’ format, with the top two teams from each group progressing to semi-final stages of the main Event.

Nottingham’s most prestigious Squash Club once again hosted this year’s Civil Service Team Squash Championships. All the main Departments were represented and overall the event attracted some 30 players from all parts of the country. The resultant line-up saw the six teams of three men and two ladies line-up into two groups of three teams playing in a ‘Round Robin’ format, with the top two teams from each group progressing to semi-final stages of the main Event.

In the first group defending champions DSRA (Defence) came top with excellent wins over RCSL (Revenue & Customs) and HASSRA ‘B’ teams. RCSL in turn grabbed the runners up spot with a fine 4-1 win over HASSRA ‘B’.

The county’s premier squash club which nestles in the shadows of Nottingham’s famous castle once again hosted the Civil Service Squash Singles Championship. It had attracted a record entry of players from all parts of the country and of all playing standards and was set to produce more than a few surprises.

The annual Crown Services tournament between CSSC, Police, Fire Service and Combined Services was played at the Nottingham Squash Club on 10 and 11th September 2010. The Fire Service did not field a ladies team, so the ladies opponents were the Police and Combined services (Army, Navy, RAF). The CSSC matches were both played on Friday 10th September.

The Civil Service Men's Squash Team arrived at Nottingham Squash Rackets Club sporting another strong side although this year missing the youth of Tom Power.

Our first match was against the Combined Services, with John McFarlane and myself on court to get things underway. John played extremely well, calling on his wealth of experience to come out a 3-2 winner while I lost disappointingly 3-0. Next up were Marc Aldridge and Tony Webb. Marc was keen to make up for losing all 3 matches the previous year and now that he is almost semi-pro, won easily 3-0. Tony Webb made hard work of a match that he probably should have won but eventually went down 3-2. This meant the match score was 2-2 with just Tim Burrell left to play, however he was up against the arrogant ex-professional Sam Miller. Tim played some marvellous squash and at times Sam was looking worried but eventually superior fitness was the key and he secured the win 3-0.

Heather Tweedle's impressive performance in CSSC squash during 2009 is recognised with the CSSC Sportswoman of the Year Award.

Heather is the current women's CSSC Champion and Women's Veterans Champion and has held these honours for the past five years.

In the Annual CSSC Inter Departmental Mixed Team Event she has not lost a match for her department team, RCSL in the 7 years she has played in the event.

At last we managed to play this fixture after 2 postponements for severe weather (snow). This year we again had a strong side which included a first representative match for Tony Draper and there was also a new team, Nuffield who were an unknown quantity. Our first match was against the Royal Navy and our strength showed with a solid 5-0 win. Nuffield showed they too were strong with a good 4-1 win against Bradley Stoke who had also strengthened their side from the previous year and may prove no pushovers.

After the matches, the Navy provided their usual first class hospitality at the Royal Sailors Home Club before teams retired for an early night.