Settling in after a long day!

Wow, it truly was a long day of travel, just to get to the hotel.  After everyone arrived safely at the airport and waited till 4:00pm to pick up the rental vehicle we are told that they do not have the mini van we rented!  Wonderfully we were able to pack up into some new Chevy 6 passenger vehicle that barely has room for our gear.  Packed in and pilled up to the windows we made our way into the thick urban jungle of Canada'd Golden Horseshoe.

The drive from the airport lead us into the early rush of traffic on the 401.  We almost got parked on the 401 but were able to keep moving at a crawl.  The fact that we were on the widest stretch of highway in North America was lost on the kids in the vehicle, some sleeping, others zoning out and looking for shopping malls.  One hours later we crawled into the hotel before heading back on the road to go hit the courts and get a feel for the facility.   The facility is nice, but the courts are old school cinder block with panelling on the wall.  There are no glass backs to the courts but you can look down on the courts from above the back wall.  Coaching is gong to be a challenge and will require quite the amount to running from top to bottom between matches.  Its all part of the event.  The kids had a good 90 minutes on court and have stretched their legs enough to work out the kinks of travel.

Getting back to the room you can see that we have a sea of cots in the living room.  Interestingly there are 2 tv's in the room but neither has been turned on...everyone is opting for the small screen over the big screen.  

10:25am first match of the tournament.  Let go Nicolas!

Ben

Here we go!

We are all set to head to Toronto, Ontario April 16th, 2014 for the Canadian Junior Championships.  This year the event will be hosted by MayFair Parkway Racquets club in Markham, Ontario. Its been years since I've been to the club and I'm excited to see how things have changed.

Going into the 2014 Canadian Junior Championships we have some good prospects this weekend.  Grace Thomas is going into the girls Under 17 this year as the #2 seed in the event.  Its a high bar set but she has worked hard to get there.  The real challenge for the event will be in the Semi-Finals when she would meet with Tara Shannon.  This is the match that will define her weekend.  

In the boys U17 we have 2 athletes, Matthew Henderson and Nicolas Vincent.  Neither player is seeded in the event but Matt is looking at a match up with the 3/4 seed Michael Mehl in the 2nd round and feels that this is a fair match to break through into the Quarter-Finals.  Nicolas Vincent starts off the U17 with Kristian Lethbridge-Hall of Nova Scotia and then meets 9/12 seed Ethan Shoihet in the round of 32.  Nicolas has climbed the rankings since January this year and my intel indicates that Ethan has not been playing well, Nicolas stands a good chance at an early tournament upset.

In the Boys Under 15 we have both, Kellan O'Neill and Nathan Von Hagen.  Kellan will have a solid first match in the tournament.  Winning the first match will bring him up against the 2nd seed in the BU 13, Julien Gosset.  Nathan Von Hagen will start off his tournament with another solid match (if he keeps his feet moving he should get a win).  His second match would then be 5/8 seed James Flynn, who is a strong player from Toronto.

In the U19 draws Gavin Maxwell is moving into his second last nationals event while Janel Gaube is in her last event.  To start with the Girls U19, there are 11 players and Janel drew the #1 seed Alyssa Mehta (more to come this weekend).  Gavin Maxwell is a 5/8 seed in the boys U19.  By the time we get to the U19 seeding is only a picture of the past.  Every time you step on the court you need to be ready to play, because all your opponents are all capable of winning.  As the 5/8 seed Gavin is set up for a Quarter-Final match with Jarryd Osborne, who placed 2nd at the PNW U19 boys this year.

Tomorrow is travel day.  I will be on the 5:30am out of Victoria, and in Toronto by 11:30am PST.  We should be able to get in to the Hotel and relax before hitting the squash court for a 6:15pm EST practice time.

2014 Tournament Draws

Keep an eye on this blog as we will be updating with the excitement of the event and pictures of the action and fun.

Later
Ben