Weather Forces Cancellation of US National High School Championships
from DailySquashReport.com
February 8, 2013 - US Squash yesterday made the difficult call to cancel this weekend's US National High School Championships due to a predicted severe winter storm.
The event involves dozens of teams and over a thousand players, and was to be based at Trinity and Wesleyan Universities and at six other satellite sites in the Hartford, Connecticut, area.
US Squash issued the following statement:
In light of consensus forecasts, the winter storm anticipated to impact the Northeast, and specifically northern Connecticut, the U.S. High School Team Championships scheduled to begin Friday, February 8th will be cancelled. The storm may be one of historic proportions, and blizzard conditions are forecast for Friday afternoon through Saturday, during peak travel periods to and among tournament venues.
In addition, we anticipate many, if not all the host schools will be closed, without staff, preventing our ability to operate the U.S. High School Team Championships. The potential for hazardous travel conditions on secondary and in some cases tertiary roads is high, and safety of the players, coaches, parents and fans is a paramount concern of ours. Many teams have already informed us of their plans to cancel all weekend athletic activities and therefore not attend the championships. Even if some teams decided to and were able to safely reach their designated venue, the likelihood of their opponents doing the same is questionable, and the impact on the sizable draws across a dozen divisions would prevent our ability to maintain a meaningful competition for those potentially involved.
We regret having to make this decision at this time since this is U.S. Squash’s premier tournament, the largest squash tournament in the world, with nearly 1,500 players competing from around the country, however we believe definitively informing teams regarding the status of the event as early as possible is also a priority. We understand this will be a disappointment to many teams, players and coaches who have prepared all season for this championships and we share in your deep disappointment.
We will quickly evaluate the options for rescheduling the event this year and will communicate as soon as possible with the coaches and the community as to whether this will be at all possible. If it is not possible to reasonably reschedule the tournament at a future date, we will then evaluate the potential for full or partial refunds of entry fees and also communicate a decision with regard to finances to the coaches and school administrations at the earliest possible time. We recognize this is a costly decision for the schools, as it is for U.S. Squash having major sunk costs in venues, supplies, gifts, trophies and fielding advance teams, and we appreciate your patience and understanding with regards to this process.
Kevin D. Klipstein
CEO, U.S. SQUASH
from DailySquashReport.com
February 8, 2013 - US Squash yesterday made the difficult call to cancel this weekend's US National High School Championships due to a predicted severe winter storm.
The event involves dozens of teams and over a thousand players, and was to be based at Trinity and Wesleyan Universities and at six other satellite sites in the Hartford, Connecticut, area.
US Squash issued the following statement:
In light of consensus forecasts, the winter storm anticipated to impact the Northeast, and specifically northern Connecticut, the U.S. High School Team Championships scheduled to begin Friday, February 8th will be cancelled. The storm may be one of historic proportions, and blizzard conditions are forecast for Friday afternoon through Saturday, during peak travel periods to and among tournament venues.
In addition, we anticipate many, if not all the host schools will be closed, without staff, preventing our ability to operate the U.S. High School Team Championships. The potential for hazardous travel conditions on secondary and in some cases tertiary roads is high, and safety of the players, coaches, parents and fans is a paramount concern of ours. Many teams have already informed us of their plans to cancel all weekend athletic activities and therefore not attend the championships. Even if some teams decided to and were able to safely reach their designated venue, the likelihood of their opponents doing the same is questionable, and the impact on the sizable draws across a dozen divisions would prevent our ability to maintain a meaningful competition for those potentially involved.
We regret having to make this decision at this time since this is U.S. Squash’s premier tournament, the largest squash tournament in the world, with nearly 1,500 players competing from around the country, however we believe definitively informing teams regarding the status of the event as early as possible is also a priority. We understand this will be a disappointment to many teams, players and coaches who have prepared all season for this championships and we share in your deep disappointment.
We will quickly evaluate the options for rescheduling the event this year and will communicate as soon as possible with the coaches and the community as to whether this will be at all possible. If it is not possible to reasonably reschedule the tournament at a future date, we will then evaluate the potential for full or partial refunds of entry fees and also communicate a decision with regard to finances to the coaches and school administrations at the earliest possible time. We recognize this is a costly decision for the schools, as it is for U.S. Squash having major sunk costs in venues, supplies, gifts, trophies and fielding advance teams, and we appreciate your patience and understanding with regards to this process.
Kevin D. Klipstein
CEO, U.S. SQUASH
Back To Main
