75 athletes, 12 coaches, 10 courts, 180 matches - PLUS - countless smiles, victory salutes, cheers and supporters. The numbers don’t lie. High School squash IS BACK! After two years in limbo, 14 teams from schools around the province brought their electric energy to the courts at Toronto’s Mayfair Lakeshore last Friday to battle it out for the coveted Jim Mason Cup High School Team title. A huge shout out to Alison Le Ber for putting together an amazing tournament and making sure everything ran smoothly.
The Emerging Division was packed with 8 beginner teams and many players who had only picked up a squash racquet for the first time less than a month before the event! Welland’s Notre Dame College School captured gold and silver. Bronze went to St. Patrick’s Catholic High School from Sarnia, decked out in Irish green thanks in part to the determined guidance of student leader Adam Voisey. Toronto’s Père-Philippe-Lamarche, one of 2 entries from that school, finished a strong fourth.
Six more teams battled it out in Division one, which featured squads of experienced and provincially ranked players. Toronto’s Northern Secondary School took gold, followed by another Toronto crew, Branksome Hall, in second, and A.N. Myer Secondary School from Niagara Falls in third. First time participants from St. Catharines, Eden High School and Sir Winston Churchill, rounded out the Division One teams.
Thanks to all who participated and embraced Jim Mason’s legacy of “fun, fitness and friendship”. Stay tuned! Planning is already under way for next season as Squash Ontario resumes its drive to have squash sanctioned as an official OFSAA sport.
