Hi everyone,
I have taken on the role of Junior and Senior Coaching Co-Ordinator for Devon Squash. Through my base at Exeter Golf and Country Club I will be looking to build up the Devon Junior Coaching set up and really start to push the county junior scene forward! Please see below the proposed Talent Pathway for any and all Junior Squash players in the county. This will start fully September 2016 for the new Squash season!
Rookie:
– These are Junior group sessions held at clubs with local coaches, open to any standard of player at any age in that respective area. (e.g at Exeter Golf and Country Club 10.30-11.15am and 11.15am-12pm Saturday Junior mornings.)
– The main focus here is to get the the younger/less experienced children on court playing and learning the basic areas of the game. Teaching/Coaching packs such as the Mini Squash pack are great resources for these sessions. For the older/more experienced players it is a chance to do some routines and play some games.
– Cost to be determined by those running the sessions.
Intermediate:
– Devon Squash Open Sessions, Sunday day times.
– Club coaches can put forward players who they believe are at the standard to benefit from these sessions, and can start taking their games to the next level. It is also a chance for them to start playing with others their own age/standard from around the county and be part of a Devon junior squash playing community. A general guideline in terms of standard could be that the player is able to serve/return relatively consistently and can play the ball on both backhand and forehand to the back.
– Players taking part in these sessions should be considering playing in the Devon Junior County Closed and also some of the more local England Squash run tournaments.
– Sessions run by one of the head county coaches (England Squash Level 2 qualified or higher, and an Assistant.
Advanced:
– Friday evenings roughly every 4-6 weeks at Exeter Golf and Country Club.
– From the Intermediate sessions players can then be invited to take part in the Advanced group sessions if they show the drive and ability to want to take their games on to the next stage.
– These players should definitely be starting to compete more in Junior tournaments, in and outside of the county or who are play in the box leagues or team leagues at their clubs. These can be put forward by the county coaches.
– These sessions will be with a smaller group of players (12 at a time) and will be based on a first come first served registration. (Emails will be sent out to those invited.) Sessions run by Mike Harris and one of the other selected county coaches.
– These sessions will start taking a closer look into the technical and tactical aspects of the game through using more complex routines and conditioned games to stretch the player’s abilities. Match practice will also be an important feature of these groups.
Excel:
– Friday evenings roughly every 4 weeks at Exeter Golf and Country Club.
– Players that are at the top of the Advanced group or are older and stronger than those in that group will be invited along to these sessions. They will be at the sessions with other top juniors from surrounding counties as well, meaning that they get to play/train with some different players.
– These players would be competing regularly in England Squash Junior events around the country and also be playing Adult league squash and competitions.
– There will be a maximum entry of 9 players for each session to ensure that everyone can benefit the best from them. Once again it will be done on a first come first served basis on email invite. Sessions will be run by Mike Harris.
– The sessions will encompass in depth technical and tactical practise alongside harder physical work to really test and challenge the players.
If you have any questions about this set up or would like your child or yourself to get more involved, please contact me at: mike.harris@exetergcc.co.uk
