It’s All About The Kids – Junior Squash Review 2014-2015 (by Fred Teng) 

The idea of having a Junior Squash programme run by volunteers, similar to other junior initiatives run by other sections in the club, had been mooted for quite some time. This idea became a reality when Mr. Eden Wong of East Park Investment Management Company Limited agreed to become our sponsor 12 months ago.  The HKFC Squash section will forever be grateful to Eden for it was his financial support that provided us with the starting capital to get the programme going. Money was spent on getting the right equipment for beginners, and more importantly to pay for the services of qualified coaches, led by Matt Robinson and ably assisted by Greg Christison.  I am also very happy to announce that East Park has decided to renew their sponsorship for another year.  

Unlike field sports where two adults can supervise 20-30 kids in a session, squash coaching is not that “scaleable”.  We have the challenge of ensuring that kids are supervised properly with an adult in each court, and courts are not congested to the extent that it reduces the overall quality of the training.  We also needed professional help, as squash is ultimately an individual sport that requires the individual player to learn the right technique - getting it right from the beginning is very important. Hiring professional coaches to oversee the entire programme was going to be too expensive so the answer was to unleash the volunteer spirit of our wonderful squash section.

I am overwhelmed by the support of our army of volunteers who helped develop and support this entire programme from the outset. A huge thank you goes to all the volunteers that helped make this programme a reality (a total of 25 over the course of the entire season!).  Some were parent members while others were single members who were there for the love of the sport and willing to give something back the section. The Junior Squash Section is deeply indebted to the Saturday morning session co-captained by Stephane Vartanian and Nigel Steffenson, aided by Channi Matharu, Nick Harrison, Guy Norman, Jason Gooch and Martin Robinson; the Sunday early-afternoon session co-captained by Rob “Baseball” Jones and Nick Organ were regularly assisted by Malcolm Kerr, Andrew Wood, Philip Ting, Tom Keenan and Fook Aun Chew - Jon Pipe would also turn up to help on occasions; the Sunday late-afternoon session captained by Andrea Walsh was regularly assisted by the likes of Vinod Harjani, Julian Tanner, Elliot Froidevaux,  Simon Ho, Simon Barton and Thomas Cheung, to name just a few.

I would also like to finally thank the broader squash section members for your support and understanding. This programme has taken court time away from you, and you had to change your regular training time to accommodate us. Without your support we will not have a community of 50+ happy junior squash kids running around our courts on weekends.

By the time you read this article, we will have ended our regular Junior Squash programme 2014/2015 season with a Junior Club Championship competition held over two weekends in May. We must reserve a special Thank You to Phil Head of Blade Ltd for coordinating with programme head coach Matt Robinson on this. 

The main Junior Squash programme for 2015/2016 will restart in September again, in line with the start of the regular senior squash season. We are also planning some summer programmes, with more announcements on this subject to follow. Due to capacity issues, existing participants of the 2014/2015 programme will be prioritised.

Fred Teng

Editors Note: – It should also be noted that the Junior Squash programme is heavily indebted to Fred Teng for his tireless and selfless work, and his devotion to this programme . Fred and his team have done a remarkable job in helping children of all ages to learn this fantastic game – nurturing a friendly, fun atmosphere which can only improve your children’s welfare and enjoyment. For those parents wishing to enrol their children in the 2015/2016 programme, you may find obtain further information by emailing to junior@hkfcsquash.com .