National Capital Squash (NCS) is pleased to announce a sponsorship program to encourage public high school varsity or club teams to continue annual participation in the US SQUASH National High School Championships.
The High School Championships offers divisions for teams at all skill levels. Your team will be placed in a division that should provide good competition.
There are up to two sponsorships for up to two teams. Each sponsorship would be for up to $1,200 to pay for entry fees and a portion of other expenses.
Here are the eligibility requirements:
The team must have played team matches recorded in the US SQUASH database against other teams (ideally, at least four such matches prior to the seeding of the High School Championship).
A team must have at least seven players. The players do not all have to be of high school age, but must be enrolled at a school that has a … Continue Reading ››
If you’ve never competed on a junior squash team, now is your chance.
You’ll likely find team squash is fun and a great experience. If you hope to play in college someday, this will give you a taste of playing on a team.
Now is a great time to assemble a team. The National Capital Squash (NCS) Board just approved a new sponsorship of high school teams to compete in the US Squash National Interscholastic Team Squash Championships.
This event is open only to teams with students who attend a school without a squash team.
Teams that combine players from two or more schools in the NCS district may receive the sponsorship. Seven players play each match, so most teams use a roster of eight players. Teams are placed in divisions and seeded by skill level, so teams get competitive matches.
The Team Championships are the weekend of February 10 at the Specter Center … Continue Reading ››
Lucas Bitar battled through two five-game matches in the quarters and semis and reached his first Gold final yesterday at the Episcopal Academy Junior Gold in the Philadelphia area.
Indira Moshi took third place in the GU19 division.
Ali Mansi-Schmitt set a personal best 9th place finish at a BU13 Gold.
Playing in his first BU13 Gold, Zayd Mansi-Schmitt finished 11-12, a solid result in a strong draw.
Grinding through six matches, Arman Sana also set a personal best 17th place BU17 Gold finish, taking the final match 10, 8, 10.
Three NCS juniors, GU15s Akaisha Bhatia, Trinity Moshi, and Isabella Tang were selected to represent Team USA in the British Junior Open, considered the top annual junior tournament with age divisions in the world.
All three pulled major upsets and finished ahead of their seeding in their 64-player draw.
Tang (#9/16) shocked the #3/4 seed in the Round of 16 with her four-game win, helping Team USA set a new record of 16 British Junior Open quarterfinalists. She finished in eighth place.
Bhatia and Moshi (both #17/32 seeds) dispatched a #9/16 seed in the second round in lopsided matches. Bhatia won 5, (9), 4, 2 and Moshi triumphed 7, 5, 5. Both of them again beat #9/16 seeds in the 13th-place bracket. Their last match was against each other, with Bhatia prevailing in four games to take 13th place.
NCS sponsored each player to assist in defraying a portion of their expenses to compete … Continue Reading ››
For those members unfamiliar with junior tournaments, the US Junior Open (USJO) is one of the top three tournaments in the world by strength of the draw. Most draws have nearly 128 players. A US player may not enter if not ranked in the top 100 and only the best 48 US players who apply gain entry.
There are only five US Junior Championship Tournaments (JCT) per year, and only the top 32 players who enter each division get to compete. Draws are usually similar in strength to the US Junior Championships at the end of the season.
Gold Tournaments attract many JCT-level players, and most weekends in season there is one Gold-level tournament somewhere in the nation. Draws are limited to the top 32 who apply.
Top USJO Finishes
Isabella Tang reached the GU15 final at the US Junior Open, an especially remarkable accomplishment given that it was her first year as a … Continue Reading ››
Genevieve Hartlage took home her first tournament title last month at the Play Squash Academy McLean Bronze. She cruised into the GU13 final and overcame Rose Naughton 14. 10. 9 in a hotly contested match for the title.
Philip Barquin dominated on his way to his first tournament trophy, winning four straight BU11 matches 3-0 and racking up 132 points to just 39 by his opponents.
Special recognition also goes out to BU13 Laith Barakat. Playing in his first tournament ever, and as the #6 seed in an eight-player draw, he defeated the #2 and #3 seeds before falling in the final in a four-game match by scores of 4, 3, (11), 10.
Congratulations to Arman Sana (BU17) and Aleksei Pilling (BU13), who won their divisions at the Junior Silver held in Bethesda last month. It was Sana’s first Silver tournament title and Pilling’s first BU13 Silver trophy. Both dominated their draws, winning out 3-0.
Mariam Masoud finished second in GU15 and Oskar Brown finished third in the BU15 division after losing to the eventual winner in the semi-finals.
Three NCS juniors, GU13s Isabella Tang and Trinity Moshi and BU11 Eric Tang, were selected to represent Team USA in the British Junior Open, considered the top annual junior tournament in the world.
Isabella and Trinity took 7th and 9th place in a draw of 48 of the world's top girls, an incredible finish. Eric took 6th place in a draw with over 40 of the top boy's players.
Congratulations to all three of them for their selection to Team USA and their top 10 finishes!
Congratulations also to Ronny Vlassaks, the Squash On Fire Director of Squash, for his selection as a Team USA coach for the BU15s competing in this tournament.
National Capital Squash (NCS) is pleased to announce a sponsorship program to encourage high school varsity or club teams to participate in the US SQUASH National High School Championships.
The High School Championships offers divisions for teams at all skill levels. Even if your team has never played in a team tournament, you will be placed in a division that should provide good competition.
There are up to two sponsorship for up to two teams. Each sponsorship would be for up to $1650 to pay for entry fees and a portion of other expenses.
Here are the eligibility requirements:
The school has not sent any team to any prior US SQUASH High School Championship.
The team must have played team matches recorded in the US SQUASH database against other teams (ideally, at least four such matches prior to the seeding of the High School Championship).
Isabella Tang, Akaisha Bhatia and Trinity Moshi combined to take an incredible three of the top ten places at the US Junior Open, the toughest junior tournament in the Western Hemisphere and one of the most difficult in the world.
Isabella took 6th, with Akaisha right behind at 7-8 and Trinity at 10th. Congratulations to each of them on their incredible accomplishment!
Congratulations also to the following National Capital Squash (NCS) juniors who earned notable finishes at the same tournament:
BU11 Eric Tang, 11-12th place;
BU13 Zachary Ingber, 21-24th place in a draw of 72;
BU15 Arjith Mathew, 33rd place in a draw of 128;
GU15 Calla Yim, 18th place in a draw of 88;
GU15 Makeda Moshi, 25-32;
GU15 Elise Kang, 25-32
