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Events
This is a social night of squash and a good opportunity for new members to get introduced to the game. Our club captains will give you a playing time and you can come and enjoy a game in a relaxed social atmosphere. A ladder challenge runs for those that want to participate and get into the more competetive side of clubnight. The bar is open with food and refreshments available. Non members are allowed to play for up to three club nights before deciding to join as a full member. Click here to ENTER your name for the next Thursday night clubnight. Entries close on the Saturday prior.
Tournaments Usually 4 Tournaments are held each year. The Tournaments usually start Thursday afternoon, continuing Friday afternoon and a full day of squash on Saturday. Prize giving is held at the completion of play usually 5-6pm on the Saturday. This is followed by supper and often entertainment is provided after supper. In March 2009 Matamata held its first Open Tournament for many years. This was very successful. It attracted many top players from around the North Island and some fantastic matches were played. This will be an annual event from now on. The schedule of the other tournaments comprises a B-Grade Tournament (open to all players B-Grade and below) held May, a Masters Tournament (players aged 35+) held June and a Junior Tournament (open to all J5-E1 Juniors) held September. The Junior Tournament is part of the BlackKnight/Ashaway series but juniors don’t have to be enrolled in that competition to enter.
Club Championships Normally held in the second half of the year, the competition is between club members only. Held Thursday and Friday afternoon and finishing Saturday with the prize giving and supper. Club Champs are well supported by member and competition is often fierce between friendly rivals. Divisions are based on Grade and points won or lost count to the players grading.
Individual Division winners receive a cup which is presented at the annual club prize giving held October.
Business House Squash Held February/March each year this is a popular social team event designed to encourage new people to play squash and start the season for returning players.
Teams comprise 5 players, 2 of which should be non squash members. Often local Business enter teams as do friends or neighbors.
The games are held Tues or Wed starting either 5.30pm or 7.30pm. Games are played using “American Scoring” i.e. every point counts and each player has 5 serves each alternately. Games are timed to last 25min including warm up and the winner is the player with the most points at the time up bell.
Team members are encouraged to stay and support their team mates. The kitchen and bar are open, often achieving record sales during the Business House competion!
Calcutta This event was started in 2008 with great success. Participants are competing for the prestigious Kerry McKinley Trophy.
The competition is between all entering club members. Each participant is given a handicap dependant on Grade. The games are the first to 21 points and are the best of 3 games. Every point counts and each player has 5 serves alternately.
When the final 16 players (8 men and 8 women) are determined, club members have the opportunity to “buy” a particular player and a prize pool is generated for distributing to the “owners” of the winning players. Syndicates are encouraged to be formed to 'buy' a player. This gives the chance for more club members to have a stake in a player, plus boosts the pool for a better pay out to the winners. A 'form guide' is produced and each remaining player is 'auctioned off'. The bidding is highly competetive and it is a night of lots of fun. The final winners - one woman and one man are determined after 3 weeks of play offs.
Interclub Competitions Held between all Waikato clubs, players are organized by their club into teams of similar Graded people which are then entered into the interclub event. Squash Waikato sorts the entered teams into Divisions of similar grading and completes each Divisions draw.
Ladies interclub is held Wednesday from 7.30pm and Men’s is on Tuesday 7.30pm start.
Some travel is involved, usually alternating between home and away on a weekly basis.
Competition is fierce, the Division Winners and Runners up receive pennants from squash Waikato.
It is a great opportunity to travel to other squash clubs, meet other squash players and be part of a team.
Junior Coaching Clinics Held each School term on Mondays. Beginners are from 6pm-7pm, and more experienced juniors from 7pm-8.30pm. Junior group coaching sessions are available to all junior members at no cost. United Matamata Squash employs a Level 2 coach (Ellis Mathews) to run the junior coaching and he is assisted by parents as they are available.
This is a excellent way for junior members to learn the basics of squash correctly.
Fun 'Themed' Club Nights Throughout the year on special occassions, or not so special occassions or sometimes for no reason at all, the club holds fun nights where players come dressed in the theme of the night. These are usually hilarious evenings where the same certain members of the club (no names), always manage to turn up in the most daring of outfits and get away with it. The East side of the railway vs the West side of the railway and Boys vs Girls are other popular fun nights.
Summer at The Lake Re-instated in 2008, with a great deal of success, this is hoping to be an annual event. Members, families and children are invited to come down to Lake Karapiro in February for an evening of barbeque, drinks, water skiing, sea buscuiting and lots of fun. An opportunity to find the men from the boys on the water skis and to find how many kids can be dumped out in the lake from the sea buscuits.
UMS Annual Prizegiving Dinner Night Usually held October each year, this is a big night for the club. An off-site venue is utilized and tickets are sold to cover the dinner and Band. The club subsidizes the cost and the ticket price is held at $30. Trophies and prizes for the year are presented followed by a buffet dinner, entertainment and dancing.
The evening’s format is normally:-
6.00pm Bar Open – Drinks
7.00pm Club Prize Giving
7.30pm Dinner
8.30pm Band till late |
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