New squash grade?

Press, 31 October 1984, Page 68

New squash grade?

Viv Hargreaves, a life member of the Canterbury Squash Rackets Association, has opposed the creation of a new elite team’s division to improve standards. According to Mr Hargreaves, h'imself a division one player, the men’s division one competition has been “drifting without much purpose” over the last few seasons. “A large number of players are not up to a standard of top competition,” Mr Hargreaves said. “They partly strive to make this grade by participating in outside tournaments and some practise, but once division one status has been achieved many sit back with little further effort to improve. In other words, it is too easy to participate in the C.S.R.A.’s men’s division one interclub, which in turn does not provide our representative players with continuous hard play.” This winter 12 teams of

four players contested the men’s division one competition. Mr Hargreaves proposes that the top grade consist only of six teams, each of only three members. Under the Hargreaves plan the present men’s division one grade would be retained in 1985, but the C.S.R.A. would also introduce a men’s open division made up of three-member teams from the six leadihg clubs from the 1984 division one competition. Those six clubs were Sumner, Linwood, Christchurch Football, Marist, Christchurch and Burnside. The division one competition would then consist of six or eight teams of three members from among the High School Old Boys, Suburbs, Ashburton, Lancaster Park, Sumner, Christchurch, Burnside, and Christchurch Football clubs. Mr Hargreaves has suggested that each division takes part in a first round

“round-robin” with open division teams competing for the Blank Trophy. After the first round there would be automatic pro-motion-relegation and in the second round the open division teams would play for the Wilson Shield and the championship in a roundrobin. Meanwhile the division one teams would contest their championship “together with a trophy which some enthusiast may care to present.” The only changes he has proposed to the women’s division format is the reduction of playing membership to three per team; the restriction of the competition to two rounds; and an at-, tempt to dovetail them into the men’s two-tier system. Mr Hargreaves’ proposal for the 1985 inter-club competition has been adopted by the C.S.R.A.’s management committee for further discussions at a delegate’s meeting in November.