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Cousins Shield/Mitchell Cup a big success for HBPRC!

Herne Bay Ponsonby Rackets Club hosted the premium National Men’s and Women’s Squash Teams event over Queens Birthday weekend. With 26 teams, 51 ties and 255 matches to get through it was always going to be a busy weekend!

Players travelled from all over the country to participate in an event that has a long and proud tradition within the squash elite of NZ, and it was great to see so many people at the club throughout the three days.

HBPRC had two men’s teams competing as they did last year too, and no other club can lay claim to this which is a feature of our A-grade strength at the club. Our Men’s A team were seeded second, and after some scintillating squash to make it through to the final came up against the youngsters of Devoy Squash & Fitness from Tauranga – 3 of these being Dame Susan Devoy’s sons!

A tough battle ensued but alas the youth of Devoy were too strong for our men and prevailed 3-1 in the final, watched by one of the biggest and loudest crowds ever seen at the club.

In the Mitchell Cup the Wellington women of Thorndon were too strong for the North Shore youngsters of Belmont Park and took out the title amongst some keenly competitive women’s squash.

Scott Kittelty and a large team of helpers ensured the tournament was enjoyed by all and was a significant financial success for the Club, culminating in a party on Sunday night that won't be forgotten for some time!

Finally a huge thank you to all the volunteers that helped out over the weekend, including the donating sponsors, Jason Kay as key statistician, the van drivers, and all the volunteer bar staff that put in their own time to assist.

Tennis News

Court Repairs

Courts 1,3 and 4 are Repaired. It will take a couple of days for the repairs to settle down.

Wimbledon Whites, Saturday, July 1

Entries are now open for the annual Wimbledon Whites free club event on Saturday July 1, 1pm to 4pm. Make sure you come on down to this afternoon of semi-competitive fun tennis and attend an event that has become one of the social tennis highlights of the calendar. Prizes for the best Wimbledon-themed outfit. Spaces are limited, so enter now by emailing Jacqui at service@hernebayrackets.co.nz. The French event last weekend was a great success, so don't miss out on Wimbledon.

Next DNA event Sunday, June 18

Competitive DNA returns Sunday, June 18th, 3-5pm. Contact David for details on 021476606.

Senior Squash

Coaching

There are 2 coaching spots available on Monday evenings between 5.15pm - 7pm - please contact Mike on 021484713.

Senior Club Night

Senior Squash Club Night resumes Thursday 8th of June at 6.30pm.

Squash Superchamps 2017 - Registrations open now.

Auckland District Competition 8th-13th August

If you are interested in playing Superchamps this year please either register on the form downstairs on the noticeboard by the squash courts or email hbprcsquash@gmail.com with your name, email address, phone number and grade.

The District and National Superchamps events are played to identify the strongest club in the country for each grade. Teams are composed of five players per club that are in the same grade (B, C, D, E and F/J for both men and women). Entries will also be taken for separate B2 & C2 divisions, which will only be played as a regional competition (no National competitions). At the District Superchamps clubs in a single district play off to find the district champion in each grade. The district champion is then eligible to travel to the National Superchamps finals to play off for the national title. Teams contest ties in round-robin and/or knockout format, with the team that wins three or more matches declared the winner.

To be eligible for the Auckland District SuperChamps, players must have competed in a minimum of THREE competitive matches, with results showing in iSquash on the grading list, between 1st January 2017 and 15th June 2017

It would be great to get the teams together early to start training. Heres hoping we have a few more teams than last year, please come and support the Club.

Junior Squash

Junior Club Night

Junior Squash Club Night starts again this Friday 9th of June, 4pm to 6pm.

Junior Squash Tournaments

The following tournaments are coming up for Juniors. Please enter via iSquash. If you have not played in a junior tournament before, they are a great way to start getting points building up your grading. Just register on iSquash and contact Emma our Squash VP to enter your starting grade (hbprcsquash@gmail.com).

11th June Red Beach Junior One Day

15th-18th June Auckland Junior Open at Remuera Rackets Club

30th June-2nd July Henderson B and below