SVG welcomes back Junior Squash Tournament

The wait has been long, 37 years to be exact, since St Vincent and the Grenadines last hosted the best junior Squash players across the region in competition.

But the wait is over, as the 2023 edition of the Caribbean Area Squash Association (CASA) will be held here, from July 15 to 22.

The National Squash Centre at Paul’s Avenue, and the La Vue Hotel Courts at Villa are the venues for the tournament.

Close to 140 players have registered and will compete for honours in the Under-11, Under-13, Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 age categories.

The visiting countries and territories are Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Island, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. They will be joined by host St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The tournament was last staged in St Vincent and the Grenadines in 1986, after it hosted the first one in 1981.

The late Dr. Cecil Cyrus was instrumental in having the Junior version of CASA staged in the region.

Cyrus, who died on March, 23 this year, is heralded as the Father of Squash in St Vincent and the Grenadines, and reports are that his legacy and contribution to the sport, will be recognized during the upcoming tournament.

When the tournament returned last year in Guyana, after a forced two -year hiatus because of the coronavirus, St Vincent and the Grenadines pouched two titles, when Jayden George took the Male Under-13 and Jaydon Williams, the Male Under-15 titles.

George, who in 2019 won the Under-11 title, thus joined Diara Venner ( 2004) and Jason Doyle (2010) as previous winners from St Vincent and the Grenadines, while Williams replicated Kevin Hannaway’s accomplishment of 2008.