Portland Squash Making Waves on the West Coast from WCS Media
L to R: Alec Spiro, Ashley Read, Gordon Lam
August 26, 2016 - The Multnomah Athletic Club junior squash program continues to show growth on many fronts.
Led by Head Pro Ashley Read and Assistant Pro Julian Illingworth the
MAC squash program is showing real signs of growth. In the last 24
months junior participation has increased almost 250 percent,
tournament results have improved dramatically and now with the addition
of a US sanctioned gold tournament alongside our already established
PDX high performance junior camp things are certainly advancing for the
MAC junior squash program.
This success was firmly demonstrated the past two weeks when the MAC
held two weeks of high performance junior camps amid a US squash
sanctioned junior gold event. The PDX camps led by Read and Illingworth
were well represented with local top juniors training with elite
juniors from Seattle, San Diego, New York and even Singapore! The first
week of camp was completely focussed on preparing the juniors for the
gold tournament. The regular drills and court time were interspersed
with sessions on tactical analysis and mental preparation. The goal was
to have every camper 100% ready for their competition. Another four day
camp post tournament focused on reflecting on the tournament itself,
the good, the bad and the ugly and then individualized planning for
each individuals next training block.
The MAC’s first junior gold attracted over 170 juniors, an entry so
large that local club the Lloyd Athletic Club was brought in as
co-host. Some of the very best juniors from all corners of the US as
well as Canada and one athlete from Singapore descended on Portland to
fight for top honors. After three long days of competition the winners
were crowned. MAC pro’s Read and Illingworth were impressed with their
athletes performances, particularly in the boys U15 event where three
MAC juniors:- Gordon Lam, Alec Spiro and Rowan Schnebly all reached the
quarter finals. Lam, seeded number 1 showed his class by cruising
through to the final, only finding resistance in his semi-final match.
Spiro joined Lam in the final by fighting his way past the number 2
seed in a tense 5 set semi-final. Lam lived up to his top ranked status
winning the final three games to zero.
The Portland squash community came together and were delighted to host
such a high level junior tournament and camp and are hopeful they
become permanent annual fixtures on their summer calendar.
All signs lead to an amazing upcoming season at the MAC, highlights of
which will be the annual massively successful doubles tournament The
Wrightson Cup as well as the $15,000 men’s professional tour event The
Oregon Open.
