Chelsea Piers Connecticut Club Unfurls Full Slate Of Autumn Squash Programs For Juniors And Adults
by Rob Dinerman
Dateline July 31st --- Natalie Grainger, the Director Of Squash at the new Chelsea Piers Connecticut Club (CPCT) in Stamford, CT, has recently released a complete description of the squash programs that will be available beginning with the upcoming autumn months. There is no doubt that the remarkable squash-courts area on the ground floor --- consisting of 11 singles court and one North American hardball doubles court --- will be teeming with activity, as there are clinics, teaching sessions and programs scheduled for every age and level of play.
This is especially true for CPCT’s Junior Squash Programs; indeed, there are four separate offerings (several of them with sub-divisions) even in the 10-and-Under age brackets! Each of the divisions is tailored to the pertinent age level, utilizing balls that are larger and/or bounce with more airtime as well as racquets constructed to fit smaller hands. The “Terrific Tots” section for children age 3-5, focusing on teaching the primary stages of various motor skills (i.e. hand-eye coordination, balance and stable movement), begins with a soft foam ball and progresses to the blue “Max” ball, which is 12% larger and has 40% longer hang-time compared to the standard ball. The “Big Hitters” category, ages 5-8 (with a 5-6 division and a 7-8 division) employs the Max ball and, later on, the “Progress” ball, 6% larger with 20% greater hang time than a regulation ball, with attention paid as well to proper technique, simple tactics and an introduction to the scoring system. The Big Hitters Advanced program, for 7-8 year olds who are ready for a bigger challenge and have shown strong ability and interest in pursuing the game, meets twice a week and uses the “Competition” ball, standard size but with 10% additional hang time. It includes eight weekend matches during the course of the 17-week semester (nine-week sessions are also offered) and prepares players to enter U11 tournaments and to work towards making the Chelsea Piers Travel Team.
The “Top Guns” curriculum, for players ages 9-10, works on technical fundamentals, movement patterns and more advanced tactics. It too has an Advanced component, for players with strong ability who are committed to improve their skills enough to compete successfully in U. S. Squash U11 and U13 tournament play. Only the standard ball and full-sized racquets are used in the Advanced Top Guns program, which meets twice each week for 90 minute-sessions, 30 minutes of which are allocated for agility, strength and conditioning training. Players in this program will be members of the Travel Team and can expect to play a match every weekend throughout the semester when not competing in U. S. Squash events.
At the older age-group levels, all of which utilize the standard squash ball, CPCT offers U13 and U15 Junior Squash Clinics, which incorporate drilling, conditioned games and strategic match play into enjoyable but challenging sessions designed to allow the player to progress at his own pace, as well as U17 and U19 Junior Clinics, in which the drills, games and workouts are correspondingly more complex and intensive than the younger age categories.
Players in the various clinics for those aged 11-18 are encouraged to participate in two or more classes per week. Over the course of the season, players will continually be assessed by the pro staff (led by Grainger and including former PSA No. 73 Karim Yehia and former Dartmouth star John Burke) and those who show sufficient improvement and potential will be invited into the Elite Squash Program (ESP). The latter level is a high-performance program for juniors that are aspiring to be recruited for varsity college teams and/or to represent the U. S. National squad in international competition. It will be designed, implemented and coached by Grainger herself, a former WISPA No. 1 and finalist in both the World Open (in 2002) and the British Open (in 2004), whose extensive coaching background includes having co-coached the USA girls team that finished second (behind only perennial-champion Egypt) in 2011 in the World Junior Championships.
Players accepted into the ESP attend three two-hour training sessions per week, with 90 minutes of on-court work followed by 30 minutes of off-court strength and conditioning administered by BlueStreak trainers in a separate section of the club devoted entirely to a physical-fitness regimen. ESP members will have their matches recorded for video analysis, and will be expected as well to take at least one private lesson per week with a CPCT pro staff member. Chelsea Piers ESP players will travel as a team with coaches to U. S. Squash sanctioned tournaments.
There will also be Adult Programs in quantity this autumn at Chelsea Piers Connecticut, some of which have already gotten underway this summer. Chief among them are the Tuesday Drop-In evenings featuring Pro exhibition matches and opportunities for both members and non-members to “drop in” to play on the courts and/or to watch some top pros in action (beginning at 7:00); the Thursday Mixed Social nights (start time 6:00) for members and non-members to play in some organized pick-up games, meet other players, tour the facility and get some exercise in a social setting; and a limited-registration weekly Saturday morning (from 9:00 to 11:00) Learn To Play Clinic, whose participants (members and non-members) are taught basic technique and the rules of both singles and hardball doubles by the pro staff. These clinics will include time for practice match play as well as a chance, court-time permitting, to stay afterwards to build upon their acquired skills.
Chelsea Piers CT is located at One Blachley Road in Stamford, just off Interstate-95 and a 7-10 minute car ride from the Stamford train station, about an hour’s ride on the local MetroNorth line from Grand Central Station in mid-town Manhattan. Anyone interested in inquiring further about membership or enrollment in any of these Junior and Adult squash programs should visit the club’s web site (chelseapiersct.com) or call 203-989-1000 (the direct line to the squash club is 203-989-1600).
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