The Digicel Junior OECS Squash Tournament ended Sunday afternoon with an awards ceremony at the St Lucia Yacht Club. Special guests in attendance included, OECS Sports Coordinator, David Peterkin; Sports Officer in the Department of Youth and Sports, Patrick Mathurin; Vice President of the OECS Squash Association, David Piper; and President of the St Lucia Squash Association, Cheryl Renwick.

The standard of play was not as high and participation was lower than the previous years. Several players have moved because they no longer qualify to play juniors. Renwick though is optimistic that things will get better in years to come. "We have a lot of new comers and we’ve seen good performances from players who are back this year in a different age group and there are some very promising youngsters," said Renwick.

She went on to say: "We are basically happy that although we have not had the high standard in previous years and faced several challenges the future is bright." To assist the development of squash particularly in St Lucia, The SLSA President feels having a fulltime coach is a step in the right direction. With squash on the Olympic agenda possibly in 2016 she feels players have something to strive for.

"If St Lucia wants to take squash seriously we need to find a coach for the island and we are hoping to get some kind of assistance through the National Olympic Committee," said Renwick. The following teams competed in the tournament. St Lucia (SLU), St Vincent & the Grenadines (SVG); Dominica; and British Virgin Islands (BVI); Following are the top finishers in the following age groups beginning with the boys competition.

Under 11 Boys: (1) Jason Doyle, SVG; (2) Robert Poole, BVI.

Under 13 Boys: (1) Stefan Joseph, BVI; (2) Rory Thornton, BVI; (3) Ramy Darwish, BVI.

Under 15 Boys: (1) Kevin Hannaway, SCG; (2) Stefan Joseph, BVI; (2) Daniel Piper, SLU.

Under 17 Boys: (1) Kevin Hannaway, SVG, (2) Jules Snagg, SVG; (3) Michael Poole, BVI.

Under 19 Boys: (1) Theo Jn Marie, SLU; (2) Gerardo Lozano, SLU; (3) Mario Jn Baptiste, SLU.

Under 13 Girls: (1) Erika Sorrentino, BVI; Demi Oliviere, SVG; Kenica Lewis, SVG.

Under 15 Girls: (1) Erika Sorrentino, BVI; (2) Kalina Browne, SVG.

Under 17 Girls: (1) Megan Piper, SLU; (2) Eriko Sorrentino, BVI; (3) Kalina Browne, SVG..

Following the prize-giving, Vice President of the OECS Squash Association, David Piper, announced the players selected for the OECS Team for the Caribbean Squash Championships set for Bermuda in July. The team consists of: Rory Thornton, BVI; Kevin Hannaway, SVG; Jules Snagg, SVG; Joe Chapman, BVI; Erika Sorrentino, BVI; Kalina Browne, SVG; Megan Piper, SLU; Sherina Slater, SVG. Reserves: Stefan Joseph, BVI; Andrez Bascombe, SVG. The manager is Amber Glasgow (SVG). The team will be coached by Joe Kniepps (BVI) and James Bentick (SVG). In addition to Digicel other sponsors were FirstCaribbean, the Village Inn and Spa, Domino’s, Subway and Everlee juices distributed by Renwick & Company.

Caption: Members of the St Lucia team who competed at the Digicel Junior Squash Tournament at the St Lucia Yacht Club.