Irish Junior Nationals:
Friday February 5 is the closing date for the Irish Junior Nationals (extra points!) and the tournament may be entered on-line now.

Leinster Junior Open:
The winners and runners-up are listed below and we are grateful to Tariq Zaki and his helpers at Leinster Squash for all their work for this tournament. Pics will be uploaded soon.

Event	Winner	Runner-up
BU11	Luke Logan (L)	Frank O'Dea (L)
GU11	Hannah Craig (U)	Rachael Quigley (C)
BU13	Philip McSweeney (M)	David Conroy (L)
GU13	Casey Luther (L)	Stephanie Ryan (L)
BU15	David Ryan (L)	Michael Craig (U)
GU15	Breanne Flynn (L)	Labhaoise Dunbar (M)
BU17	Seán Conroy (L)	Conor O'Shea (C)
GU17	Elaine Ware (L)	Rachel Power (M)
BU19	Séamus Harman (L)	Tomás Dunbar (M)
GU19	Jennnifer Hegarty (C)	Katleyn Doran (L)
Above on left the U19 finalists Séamus Harmon and Tomás Dunbar and on right are Katelyn Doran and Jennifer Hegarty. Below on left are Tournament Director Tariq Zaki presenting the winners prize to Elaine Ware and on right the U17 Boys finalists Conor O'Shea and Seán Conroy.
U15 Girls finalists Breanne Flynn and Labhaoise Dunbar and Boys U15 finalists Michael Craig and David Ryan. Below are the U13 finalists, Philip McSweeney and David Conroy and Casey Luther and Stephanie Ryan
U11 finalists Rachael Quigley and Hannah Craig and Frank O'Dea and Luke Logan.

IACT Irish Junior Open 2009:
Check out the tournament page for the most recent information on this year's competition. We'll have the draw as soon as it's available from ESF.

EMC² Munster Junior Open 2009:
This tournament was held in Cork at Highfield and Sunday's Well and we are grateful to Brian Dunbar and his helpers for such a successful event. The following were the winners and runners-up:

Event	Winner	Runner-up
BU11	Luke Logan (L)	Scott Gillanders (L)
BU13	Philip McSweeney (M)	Oisín Dunne (L)
GU13	Casey Luther (L)	Sinéad Walsh (M)
BU15	Shaun Hennessy (L)	Ciarán Maher (M)
GU15	Fiona Power (C)	Labhaoise Dunbar (M)
BU17	Conor O'Shea (C)	Brian Dunbar (M)
GU17	Elaine Ware (L)	Orna Murray (M)
BU19	Gary Power (M)	Theo Anderson (U)
GU19	Cathryn Abernethy (U)	Gabriella McMillan (U)
BU11 winner and runner-up Luke Logan Scott Gillanders and below the BU13s Oisín Dunne and Philip McSweeney.
Above some of the U13 girls with winner Casey Luther on right.
Above the BU15 finalists Shaun Hennessy and Ciarán maher and below the GU15s, Labhaoise Dunbar and Fiona Power.
The U17 Boys finalists, Dónal Ó'Shea and Brian Dunbar above and below the GU17s Elaine Ware and Orna Murray.
Cathryn Abernethy on right who won the GU19 pictures with Katlyn Doran.
Above the Boys U17 finalists, Conor O'Shea and Brian Dunbar.
U19 finalists Gary Power and Theo Anderson pictured with Irish Squash president John O'Connor and Junior Secretary, Lee Healy

The Ulster Junior Open 2009:
This competition was held at the Belfast Boat Club and we are very grateful to Kieran Doherty and his team in Ulster Squash for another great event. The winners and runners-up are listed below and we'll have the pics up soon.

Event	Winner	Runner-up
BU11	Dónal O'Shea (C)	Scott Gillanders (L)
GU11	Hannah Craig (U)	Rachael Quigley (C)
BU13	Oisín Dunne (L)	Tom Pompeus (Wal)
GU13	Roisín O'Shea (C)	Casey Luther (L)
BU15	Michael Craig (U)	Shaun Hennessy (L)
GU15	Breanne Flynn (L)	Fiona Power (C)
BU17	Conor O'Shea (C)	Daniel Harkin (L)
GU17	Elaine Ware (L)	Jennifer Hegarty (C)
BU19	Michael Stewart (U)	Hugo Diamond (U)
GU19	Cathryn Abernethy (U)	Katlyn Doran (L)
Under 19 finalists at Presentation of Prizes in the Belfast Boat Club with Ulster Squash President, Frank Marks. Michael Stewart is pictured above and below is Hugo Diamond.
Under 17 Girls finalists Elaine Ware and Jennifer Hegarty.
Under 17 Boys finalists, Conor O'Shea above with Frank Marks and Daniel Harkin below pictured with Martin McNabb.
Girls U15 winner, Breanne Flynn pictured with Iain Hughes and Boys U15 winner, Michael Craig pictured with Frank Marks.
Boys U13 Boys finalists Oisín Dunne and Tom Pompeus.
Girls U15 runner-up Fiona Power.
U13 winner, Roisín O'Shea
Girls U11 finalists, Hannah Craig and Rachel Quigley.
Boys U11 finalists, Dónal O'Shea and Scott Gillanders.

The Elvery's Sport Connacht Junior Open:
The following were the winners and runners-up at the first Provincial Junior Open of the season. Many thanks to Edwin Brennan and his team in Salthill for another great event. There was mixed reaction to the two-day event and we will be reviewing this system at season end.

Event	Winner	Runner-up	3rd. Place
GU11	Rachael Quigley (C)	Hannah Craig (U)	Klara McDermot (L)
BU13	Stephen Quigley (C)	Philip McSweeney (M)	David Conroy (L)
GU13	Roisín O'Shea (C)	Stephanie Ryan (L)	Casey Luther (L)
BU15	Michael Craig (U)	David Ryan (L)	Séan Hennessy (L)
GU15	Breanne Flynn (L)	Fiona Power (C)	Griffin Gillanders (L)
BU17	Daniel Harkin (L)	Conor O'Shea (C)	Séan Conroy (L)
GU17	Elaine Ware (L)	Jennifer Hegarty (C)	Eva McMillan (U)
BU19	Séamus Harmon (L)	Alan Tighe (L)	Michael Stewart (U)
GU19	Rachel Black (U)	Katlyn Doran (L)	Claire Hanley (C)

Junior Committee 2009-2010:
This committee comprises Edwin Brennan (Connacht); Kieran Doherty (Ulster); Brian Dunbar (Munster); Tariq Zaki (Leinster); and Lee Healy (Irish Squash Junior Secretary). Below are our plans for the coming season and we hope you find them both helpful and interesting.

Tournament Organisation:
The Connacht, Munster and Leinster Junior Opens will be run over 2 days, Saturday and Sunday and Ulster will remain a 3 days event with as few matches scheduled for Friday as practicable.

The reason for the two day tournaments is to reduce interference with Friday work and school time and they may also reduce costs for players who travel on Saturday morning instead of Friday night. However, players and parents should note that matches will be scheduled for 9:30 on Saturday and Sunday morning to allow for reasonably early finishes on both days.

Swiss system:
The standard Swiss 8 or Swiss 16 will be used but the 9 player draw will be discontinued and where a competition is ‘over-subscribed’ players 9 and 10, and 17 and 18 will be reserves. Entries of 11 will result in a 16 draw.

Withdrawals:
Where a player withdraws from the competition up to the day of the event there will be a redraw but where the withdrawal is on the day of the competition there will be a redraw only where the player is in the top 4. Players should also note the bye-laws on late withdrawal on www.irishsquash.com.

Entry Fees:
The entry fee is payable at the venue before the first match. Entry fees will be €20 (£15stg) per player (€30/£25 for 2 siblings & €40/£30 for 3 siblings). In the case of the four provincial junior opens there will be an Irish Squash subsidy of €10 (£8stg) per player (or 50% for siblings).

Seedings:
Tournaments will be seeded by the junior secretary on the basis of Irish Squash rankings that will be published on www.irishsquash.com. Players dissatisfied with their rankings should, in the first instance, communicate through their provincial junior secretaries (listed above).

Balls:
In line with ESF tournaments we have introduced the Dunlop Double Yellow Balls for ALL age groups except U11.

Selection Criteria for U13, U15 and U17 Irish Teams 2009 - 20010:

1. Players must be eligible to play for Ireland (see Byelaw 7) and be under the relevant age on the final day of the competition and be selected by the selection committee.
2. The Selection committee comprises: The Junior Administrator, The Team Coach, and The Team Manager.
3. Team Selection will be based on the ranking points gained from a player’s best three competitions from The Connacht Open; The Ulster Open; The Munster Open; The Leinster Open and The Irish Junior National (Closed) Championship. The Irish Junior Nationals earns higher points than the provincial opens. In the event of equality of points the selection committee will chose the player finally.
4. Players wishing to be considered for selection must play in the Irish Junior Open, although that competition will not earn any points.
5. If a player is unable to compete in a tournament (or complete all matches over a tournament weekend) due to illness/injury a doctors/physiotherapists certificate/letter must be submitted to Irish Squash in the week following the tournament.
6. The selection committee will also consider a player's general behaviour on and off court, attendance at squad sessions and commitment to whatever training programme is recommended by the Team Coach.
7. Once a player receives notification of selection, all monies must be paid by the required date, otherwise their selection will be revoked.
8. Players will be selected to play on teams in their own one age group only.
9. Players moving up from one age group to the next during the season will carry over 30% of the points gained at the younger age group.
10. Where players enter a tournament in an older age group the points thereby earned will also be credited to their actual age group.

Selection Criteria for U19 Irish Panels 2009 - 2010:

1. Players must be eligible to play for Ireland (see Byelaw 7) and be under the relevant age on the final day of the relevant competition and be selected by the selection committee.
2. The Selection committee comprises three members: The Junior Administrator, The Team Coach, and The Team Manager.
3. A panel of players (6 boys and 4 girls) will be selected on the basis of the points earned at the Munster Junior Open and the Irish Junior Nationals.
4. The selection committee will select the team from the members of the panel based on what it considers would be the strongest team.
5. The selection committee will also consider a player's general behaviour on and off court, attendance at squad sessions and commitment to whatever training programme is recommended by the Team Coach.
6. If a player is unable to compete in a tournament (or complete all matches over a tournament weekend) due to illness or injury a letter or certificate from the doctor or physiotherapist must be submitted to Irish Squash in the week following the tournament.
7. Once a player receives notification of selection, all monies must be paid by the required date, otherwise their selection will be revoked.
8. Players will be selected to play on teams in their own age group only.
9. Players moving up from one age group to the next during the season will carry over 30% of the points gained at the younger age group.
10. Where players enter a tournament in an older age group the points thereby earned will also be credited to their actual age group.

Ranking points:
The points to be earned in this season's junior tournaments follow the method in use on the Senior Tour and are listed below. The extra points for the Junior Nationals do not apply to U19 players. Players who move up in age group carry 30% of the points already earned at the younger age group.

Many thanks to Gerry Connaughton who has agreed to continue to compile the points rankings based on the finishing positions of players at Junior Opens and they will be published on the web along with the Irish rankings for seeding purposes that will be compiled by the Irish Squash Junior Secretary, Lee Healy.

Squad Sessions:
These will be centralised depending on the address of the players and their coach and players are expected to attend. The dates will be published on the Irish Squash website and phone and text reminders will be sent to the players and their parents. Failure to attend squads may lead to a player not being selected on a team.

Schools Competition:
The age rule for these competitions is the same as all other junior competitions and a player must be under the relevant age on the final day of the competition.

Communication between players/parents and Irish Squash:
If you have an issue relating to junior squash please let us know by contacting your provincial junior secretary who will be able to provide you with an explanation or who will be able to follow up your query through the Irish Squash junior committee and the Irish Squash junior secretary.

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