Battle of the Border Takes on National Status by Danny Da Costa March 30th, 2015 -Ottawa (ON)
- The 11th Annual Battle of the Borders will be managed by Squash
Canada at the White Oaks Resort and Spa from the 6th to 9th of August
2015.
10 years ago, a man by the name of Mark Sachvie created the ‘Battle’ to
add another competitive layer to Squash Ontario’s junior competitive
continuum. The Battle of the Border is a 3 day camp where juniors
from the US and Canada come together to share court time and friendship.
The Battle consists of 4 athletes in each of the U-13, U-15, U-17 age
groups for girls and boys with 24 athletes per country totaling 48
overall. Each group of 4 athletes has a coach assigned to their group
to guide them through the activities. Over the 3 days the participants
enjoy a camp style atmosphere with the actual battle taking place on
the Sunday where the Canadian athletes match up against their US
counter parts. When the Battle began the Ontario players were the
comfortable favorites and always beat the US team. US junior squash has
exploded in the past couple of years given them a much wider pool of
talent to draw from. As a result, Squash Ontario reached out to Squash
Canada to give this event national status and as a consequence,
we also will have a much larger pool of athletes too.
“Squash Ontario is very proud of its role in creating and developing
the Battle of the Border over the past decade and we know Mark would be
extremely pleased to see the event take on a national flavor”, said
Andrew Mount, President of Squash Ontario. “Many national athletes got
their first exposure to international squash through their Battle
experience and its progression to a Canadian event is a welcome
one. We are confident that it will continue to provide a testing
competitive experience for young Canadian squash athletes”. Affording
these athletes the opportunity to represent their country at such a
young age is the stuff that dreams are made” said Squash Canada
President Lolly Gillen. “What a marvelous forum to develop squash stars
of the future while building lifelong friendships.”
“US Squash are delighted to further strengthen the relationship
between ourselves and Squash Canada. The Battle of the Border has been
a highlight for our junior players over the last ten years, and the
transition to competing against Canada and not just Ontario will only
serve to increase its importance to our community”, said Kevin
Klipstein, Executive Director of US Squash. “We look forward to
continuing to grow the event and US Squash sees this as a key step in
both countries player development with exposure to international squash
at a young age being a vital learning experience and also inspiring
players to reach their goals”.
