In the men’s A competition Carlisle’s Ben Hetherington retained his county championship, overcoming clubmate Joseph Broadley in the final. In the women’s competition, a new county champion was crowned with Carlisle’s Selina Harper pipping Charlotte Kirkwood (Kendal) in the final.

There were a host of other graded competitions throughout the weekend, with men’s categories from A to H.

Cumbria Squash would like to say a big thank you to Ronnie Bell and Carlisle Squash Club for once again hosting the competition and to Victoria Kemp for her time and expertise in running the competition.

The results are as follows (Main winner, main runner-up, plate winner, plate runner-up):

Women’s Selina Harper, Charlotte Kirkwood, Kayley Greenall, Neve Runcie

A Ben Hetherington, Joseph Broadley, James Cape, Thomas Bragg

B Jonny Honeyman, Mike Lowrey, Wayne Kingston, Liam Barrett

C Nathan Sellers, Tony Hetherington, Joey Byrne, Robin Ridley

D James Bowness, Craig Holliday, Harry Ewbank, James Lawson

E Dave Lawson, Rob Armstrong, Paul Bell, Nick Piszczyiewicz

F Milan Agnew, James Corrigan, Guy Huxtable, Joe Morris

G Fin Gordon, Ethan Niazi, Sam Dalton, Jack Dobinson

H Raven Shuttleworth, Brian Davis, Richard Lee, Adrian Stevenson

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Players who’ve entered should be receiving an email directly, however, the draw can also be downloaded from here.

The competition is graded into A-H categories in the men’s and there is a single draw in the ladies’ competition.

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Stage one, again held between two venues in Newcastle – The Northumberland Club, Jesmond (organised by David Barnet) and Newcastle University (organised by Liam Gutcher) – was held on November 16th and 17th. 

Cumbria initially entered:

Boys under 11 (3 player team),

Boys under 17 (5 player team),

Boys under 19 (3 player team),

Girls under 13 (3 player team). 

Following requests from parents, we also entered a boys under 13 team (5 player team). 

In our own junior county championships, we only had three children enter this age group, so I was reticente to enter a under 13 team but the parents were enthusiastic and after some work (special thanks to coach Neil Coward at Penrith) we did manage to field a boys under 13 team. 

Throughout the age groups, Yorkshire, Northumbria and Lancashire were strong. Cheshire and Merseyside fielded few teams and Durham & Cleveland none. This was tough on our juniors because they were always playing the ‘big 3’, so to speak (Yorkshire, Lancashire and Northumbria).

Results:

Girls under 13. Finished bottom of their group containing, you guessed it, Yorkshire, Lancashire and Northumbria. Two of our girls were playing up an age group. 

Molly Crawford did win a morale-boosting match at number 2 against Northumbria. 

Boys under 11. Our success story of the weekend! Finished 2nd in their group and are through to the plate event of stage two, to be played in the new year. A team consisting of three Carlisle lads, they beat Cheshire and Lancashire B, losing only to Yorkshire. 

Liam Gutcher (a man we know well here in Cumbria following his work at Carlisle Squash Club a few years ago) caught up with me and expressed how impressed he was with their performance and energetic approach. Wonderful to hear, from Liam especially! 

Boys under 13. Finished bottom of their group. It was a chastening experience for them. Having said that, I did receive messages from some parents saying their child enjoyed the day. 

Boys under 17. Finished bottom of their group, containing Yorkshire, Northumbria & Lancashire. 

Wins from Finlay Gordon (Carlisle), other competitive matches and a mention for 13 year old Jack Hetherington (Windscale) who answered the call to play under 17 counties following a last-minute withdrawal. 

Boys under 19. Finished bottom of their group containing Yorkshire & Northumbria. We were missing our under 19 county champion due to work commitments so the rest of the team moved up a position, which makes a huge difference at this level. 

A special mention to Joseph Morris (Carlisle) and Harry Ewbank (Appleby & Penrith) playing in their final junior county event. They have been true servants of Cumbria junior squash throughout the age groups, never missing an opportunity to represent their county. It’s been a pleasure working with them over the years.

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Previously a tennis player, like many Lenny came to squash in the late 1970s.  He was club champion six times, first winning the men’s tournament in 1980.  His last win was in 1995. He led the men’s team for many years, often playing at number one. He last played competitively for Wigton in 2003 in the club B team which won the lower league county cup.

Lenny was left handed, he hit the ball very hard but also had excellent touch and a superb volley.  Although a big man, he moved around the court well.  His anticipation and reading of the game were impressive.  He was fiercely competitive on the squash court and always a formidable opponent.  

He enjoyed coaching and many players benefitted from sessions on court with him including a young Gary Thwaite who spent many hours practising with Lenny in his early days.  

In the past few years Lenny has again been involved with the club as he introduced his grandchildren to the game. He provided sponsorship, buying club tee shirts for some of the juniors.  It was great to see him around the club, sitting on the balcony overlooking court 1 where he played so many times.  It is very sad to think that we will not see him in the club again. 

We send our condolences and deepest sympathy to his partner Judith.

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This year the competition was an England Squash sanctioned event and it ran smoothly. Thanks to Victoria Kemp and Carlisle for hosting and to all the players and parents for their cooperation.

For the first time, we held a boys under 9 category which had 6 entries – the most entries of any category.

The awards for the winners and runners up were a nice glass squash-specific trophy with case.

A round up of results and can also be found here: https://www.sportmgr.co.uk/t/603605/info

This year’s Matthew Allison Award was given to Flynn Sweeney. The award is an annual trophy given out for special performance, spirit and effort in memory of Matthew, a Wigton-based county player who sadly died as a youngster.

The full results are:

Boys under 9

Boys under 11

Girls under 13

Boys under 13

Girls under 15

Boys under 15

Girls under 17

Boys under 17

Boys under 19

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There was a well deserved victory in the final of the A competition by Roger Smith who beat Dave Lawson (both Carlisle) to win the Tom Armstrong trophy and become county racketball champion. But there was a victory for the Lawson family, with James Lawson defeating Dave Miller (both Carlisle) in the B competition final.

There were some greats games throughout the day with Ronnie Bell’s 3-2 epic victory over Wayne Kingston standing out.

In the plate competitions, the A plate was won by Wayne Kingston playing Joey Byrne (both Carlisle), with the B plate going to Stevie Benson over Dale Heslop.

Cumbria Squash & Rackerball would like to thank to Carlisle SC, and Ronnie and Victoria Bell, for all their help and support, and to all of the players.

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Congratulations to all the winners and a huge thank you to Windscale Squash and Fitness Club for hosting the finals and presentation event.

• Division A: Windscale A

• Division B: Kendal Squash Club B

• A Cup: Carlisle Squash Club

• B Cup: Wigton Squash Club

• Division A player of the season: Brandon Groggins (Windscale)

• Division B player of the season: Andrew Thwaite (Wigton)

Thank you to all the players, teams, clubs and supporters who turned out this year as debuted a new format under new league secretary Martin Cockroft.

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• Women’s A comp – winner Victoria Bell, runner up Ash Hunter
• Women’s B comp – winner Kath Gray, runner up Kayley Greenall
• Women’s B plate – winner Anita MacWilliam, runner up Sarah Holdsworth

• Men’s A comp – winner Ben Hetherington, runnerup Joseph Broadley
• Men’s A comp plate – winner Will Box, runner up Thomas Bragg
• Men’s B comp – winner Phil Sanderson, runner up Adam Reid
• Men’s B comp plate – winner Wayne Kingston, runner up Tony Hetherington
• Men’s C comp – winner Matty Pate, runner up Nathan Sellers
• Men’s C comp plate – winner Ste Benson, runner up Simon Mattock
• Men’s D comp – winner Rob Armstrong, runner up Adam Gill
• Men’s D comp plate – winner Neil Whelan, runner up Mark Jackson
• Men’s E comp – winner Brad Simpson, runner up John Bell
• Men’s E comp plate – winner Paul Bell, runner up Elio Garden
• Men’s F comp – winner Steve Dent runner up Josh Rubacs
• Men’s F comp plate – winner Mark Thomson, runner up Dave Runcie
• Men’s G comp – winner James Lawson, runner up Christian Judd
• Men’s G comp plate – winner Niall Ward, runner up Aiden Whelan

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