THE National Junior Squash team had their final mandatory training session with a fitness test yesterday at the Georgetown Club on Camp Street as the team prepare for this year’s Nagico Interpath Junior CASA Tournament which is scheduled for the Tortola Sports Club in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) from June 30 to July 6.

The team will depart Guyana in batches from Tuesday and will engage in optional training until the players leave for the BVI. Guyana Coach Nyron Joseph is pleased with the team’s preparation which began six weeks ago.
For the first time since 2007, Junior CASA will be held in the BVI and it is expected to see just under 150 of the best juniors from seven different territories in the region with representation from Guyana, Barbados, Jamaica, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Yesterday’s fitness test which began at 13:00 hours, comprised of shuttle runs, strength and endurance, speed and a Beep test.
The boy’s tests were conducted by Jason Ray Khalil on court 1 while the girls had their drills on court 2 with Ashley Arjoon.
Coach Joseph lamented that biggest issue with preparing the team for the biggest junior squash tournament in the Caribbean is fitness.

“Last year fitness was the main issue but we have improved this year, but the overall fitness of our team remains a problem,” informed Joseph who along with Jason-Ray Khalil won the men’s doubles title over the Barbadian pair of Khamal Cumberbatch and Shawn Simpson when Guyana won the senior CASA team title in 2022.
Joseph disclosed that an injury to Josh Verwey is big blow for Guyana since Verwey is the top U-17 Squash player locally.

“Josh will travel with the team but will not play. Shiloh (Asregado) will spearhead the U-17 division. Despite this setback… Josh has worked very hard with the group and on his own and was the fittest member of the team… I am confident the boys will give a good account of themselves,” said the 26-year-old Joseph.
Joseph, a former back-to-back Guyana champion identified the strength of team to be the boys.

“I expect good performances from our Under-19s; Nicholas (Verwey), Mikey (Alphonso), Louis (DaSilva) and Mohrayan (Baksh). We have very good younger players in the boys under 13 and under 11 categories,” explained Joseph.

Guyana’s U-13 players are the Bulkan siblings while the multi- talented nine-year-old Zion Hickerson is representing Guyana in the U-11s. He has represented Guyana in Table Tennis, Tennis and squash.
Joseph said both genders but especially the girls, will have to work on speed since when the opposition serves or hit the ball the Guyanese would wait at the back of the court for the ball to come to them instead moving for and putting pressure on the opponent.

Joseph informed that mainly due to the COVID 19 Pandemic Guyana been unable to participate in Girls U-17 and U-19 categories.
Safirah Sumner will captain the girls team while Nicholas Verwey will spearhead the boys team.

Guyana won the CASA junior title for an unprecedented 12 consecutive times under coach Carl Ince until Barbados broke that streak in 2016.
Last year Guyana finished a credible second to Barbados and would be keen to capture their 13th team title in the BVI.

Guyana Team:
Girls U-11& 13: Zoey McDonald, Tehani Munroe, Alexis Arjoon
Girls U-15: Avery Arjoon, Emily Fung-a-Fat, Keylee Lowe
Girls U-17: Safirah Summer, Rylee Rodrigues, Malia Maikoo
Boys: U-11: Zion Hickerson
Boys U-13: Ethan Bulkan, Egan Bulkan
Boys U-15: Justin Goberdhan, Jacob McDonald
Boys U-17: Shiloh Asregado, Joshua Verwey, Demetri Lowe
Boys U-19: Nicholas Verwey, Michael Alphonso, Louis DaSilva,
Mohrayan Baksh