Razik wins Hyder

Shahier Razik beat Scott Arnold 3-0, to win the 42nd annual MSRA Hyder Trophy Tournament. Read Rob Dinerman's match write up on Squashtalk.com:
http://www.squashtalk.com/html2/news10/may/news10-05-212.htm













Photos: Rob White Photography (www.robwhitephotography.com)

Hyder Pro Draw Matches - Recap

Check out Rob Dinerman's squashtalk.com write-ups from the Hyder:

http://www.squashtalk.com/html2/news10/may/news10-05-201.htm

http://www.squashtalk.com/html2/news10/may/news10-05-206.htm

The 6 Things EVERY Tournament Player Needs to Do

Here are the five things that every tournament player can do this weekend to make the tournament run smoothly (and make your tournament directors happy):

1. Be on time to matches, as a match may be defaulted if a player is more than 10 minutes late. Call venue coordinators as early as possible if you suspect you will not be able to make your match.

2. Losing player must referee the next match. This has been the official US Squash rule for two years. Please budget the necessary time to referee the following match.

The Hyder at T-minus One Week

By Corey Modeste


The last week of planning a tournament is all about damage control. There is not a lot that can be done to make the tournament better or bigger, but many things can be mismanaged to make for a confusing weekend.

The biggest issue is dropouts and the last two days are when we seem to get most dropouts. Between people who were sick or injured all week (and could have dropped out) to those who had a schedule conflict (and could have notified us) to those with legitimate last minute excuses, we have had as much as 20 dropouts in the last two days.
Thankfully, there are also last minute signups that will (hopefully) balance the equation

How the Hyder Gets Done

By Corey Modeste

I am Corey Modeste, an MSRA volunteer and one of the people involved in the planning of the MSRA’s Grand Open and Hyder Squash tournaments.  Some of you may see me onsite during the weekend, but my biggest contribution are made in the months and weeks prior to the tournaments when the key logistical elements are put in place.

 

Not that you were thinking about it (and not that I would accept right away) but if you were to bribe someone to have your matches played on your ideal schedule and against the right seeds, I’d be that person.  While I was a decent league and tournament player a few years ago, somewhere along the line, I realized that I was a really good tournament director.

Even though I know you’d rather play squash than read about how it’s planned, I enjoy planning tournaments so much that this fact didn’t stop me from taking a moment to write about what goes into an event like the Hyder or the Grand. Here is what it’s like, starting with 12 months to go.

Grand Open Recap

By Corey Modeste

The 2010 Metropolitan Squash Racquets Association (MSRA) Grand Open squash tournament raised an already high bar for amateur squash tournaments by drawing a record number of players to Manhattan for the third straight year.  No one, not least the event’s organizers, thought this year’s event would top the 2009 record of 216 players, but the 230 participants playing across 12 men’s and women’s draws meant that even with two weeks to go before the tournament’s start, most draws had waitlists. As is common, the men’s 3.5 to 5.0 draws filled up first, but 2010 saw a large increase in the number of women players.

Grand Open and the Rise in Women's Squash

Grand Open player Sarah Odell writes about "Squash Week" in NYC - TOC, Grand Open and the rise in Women's squash. FairGameNews.com: Is that SQUASH in Grand Central? Yep (just part of ’squash week’ in NYC)

Winter Warm-Up Recap

By Josh Giesey

This past Sunday the MSRA, with help from StreetSquash, hosted the First Annual Winter Warm-up, part of the MSRA's new One Day Tournament series.  This tournament was designed to give New York area squash players tournament style matches before this years Grand Open.  Thirty Eight players filled all 8 of the StreetSquash courts throughout the day, playing tough, competitive, fast-paced matches.  Of the days overall draw the men's lower levels had strongest representation with 21 players filling two groups for each the 3.0 and 3.5 divisions.  The women's draws showed good numbers as well with 12 entrants split between a 3.0 and 4.0 draw.  While the MSRA organized the event in a tournament fashion, the overall spirit was one of sportsmanship with many players hopping on available courts just to hit or to squeeze in an extra game or two with player outside of their draw.  For instance, two 3.0 and one 3.5 mens players filled entrants in higher draws who cancelled allowing for the draws to be played without interruption (thanks Josh, John and Andrew!).  All 3 players displayed great determination and gave the higher level players tough, close matches, despite being outranked and playing double the number of matches.

Rules and Reffing Clinic #1

By Alex Battles

Sunday's torrential did not prevent 13 local squash players from attending the MSRA's refereeing clinic on Dec. 13 at the Uptown NYSC.  Attendees ranged from strong 4.5 players to two absolute beginners (who made the advisable move of learning the rules as a first step to playing)!  Certified referee Beth Rasin, assisted by University Club 5.5 player Ted Clark, conducted the clinic.

Beth began by covering the essential responsibilities of referees and markers.  Then, as might be expected, the majority of the clinic covered the intricacy of lets and strokes.  Beth and Ted walked the attendees through the proper steps a referee