Pickering / COVID-19 Update

As of March 27th, the City of Pickering have extended the closing of all facilities until May 3, 2020 (inclusive). This includes the Chestnut Hill Developments Recreation Complex (formerly known as the Pickering Recreation Complex). As a result all Pickering Squash Activities will be suspended at least until Monday May 4th and possibly longer depending on the directions we receive from The City.

For an up to date full list of closures/cancellations and updates regarding the City’s response to COVID-19 please visit pickering.ca/Covid19

Recreation Complex Closed

As we are sure you are aware, the Recreation Complex is closed from March 13th till April 5th due to the Covid-19 Virus outbreak.

CITY of PICKERiNG Notices regarding COVID-19

Currently the expectation is that this will be extended indefinitely. We will keep you informed of any changes that the City lets us know. Watch the website for announcements regarding re-opening and the continuation of the Club’s postponed events.

In the mean time, please keep yourselves safe and practice social distancing.

Women’s Quarter Finals, March 12th

“OH YES, IT’S LADIES’ NIGHT, AND, THE FEELING’S RIGHT, OH YES IT’S LADIES’ NIGHT, OH WHAT A NIGHT”

It was the ladies turn to shine tonight and they did just that in their quarter final match against One Health. After watching both the men’s and women’s teams competing over the last couple of weeks in their play-off matches, i’ve noticed some significant differences between the two teams. I narrowed it down to my top 3 favourites and here is what i’ve discovered some of the very obvious differences to be…

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The women came out very prepared, they had double checked that they had packed all their equipment, made sure their racquets had been re-gripped, brought their proper court shoes and arrived ready to play. On the men’s side, well let’s just say that I found JP desperately rummaging through the lost and found bin 20 min before his match looking for his shoes he had left at the club the day before. That pretty much sums it up.

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I took note of some the the comments the women made on court during their match. They included “good shot”, “wow, nice get”, “great boast”. In the men’s matches I heard comments that included “oh, come on”, “I totally could have gotten that” and the most ridiculous of all…”baby food”.

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Both the men’s and women’s matches had long rallies but the women didn’t appear to be tired until the 4th or 5th game. The men on the other hand were completely exhausted after the first game (sorry JP) and used every excuse possible to have a chance to catch their breath. Jordan took it to extremes to and walked all the way down to the doubles court water fountain in between games just to give himself some extra time!

Here is the recap from the evening…

Philloza and Karen were up first. Karen decided she was going to make a statement about how the night was going to go by winning the first game 15-1! The other two games weren’t quite as quick but there was no doubt Karen had control the match and she got the job done. On the other court, we all took one look at Philloza’s opponent with her tall stature and giraffe like long legs (don’t get me wrong, they were very nice legs) but I have to admit, I was a little worried. Well no way was Philloza going to be intimidated, she controlled the T brilliantly and volleyed all the loose balls which had her opponents giraffe like long legs running like crazy all over the court. That is until the 3rd game…Tied at 1-1, I had a little chat with Philloza to give her some tips in between games. I told her to make sure she hit the ball deep to the back. Well, it turns out she took my advice literally because in the 3rd game, she hit every single ball to the back and didn’t hit a drop shot the whole game. Oh no, I had some major damage control to do. I quickly let her know after losing the next game that she still needed to hit her awesome drop shots right after hitting the ball deep to the back of the court! 3-2 win for Philloza (phew…I may have been out of a job for that one)

Next up was Joanie and Deb. We all knew that the night could easily come down to games or even points but we didn’t dare say that out loud out of fear of making the ladies nervous. Nerves was definitely not an issue for Joanie as she had a solid plan. I’m not sure if Joanie’s opponent knew if she was on a squash court or a volley ball court with all of Joanie’s overhead smash winners and unbelievable dives to retrieve the ball. Joanie’s comment to me going into the 5th game was that she was going to “leave it all the court” and she did just that. She gave it her absolute best but unfortunately fell short with a 2-3 loss. What a match though!!

Deb on the other court knew that it was her job as the number one player on the team to secure their position in the next round. She had her opponent running in one direction while strategically hitting the ball in the other direction…can you say “TAXI”! Deb had fantastic shot selection and kept the ball deep before hitting numerous winning drop shots. 3-0 win for Deb. Victory for Pickering!

See you on the courts,
Nicole

A message from Fred

Dear Pickering Squash Club (PSC) Members. We trust this message finds you well. It has been said many times that “we live in interesting times”. We could certainly say we didn’t see this one coming, nor could we have ever predicted the severe impact, globally!

To that point, we are experiencing a significant call to action by the World Health Organization, all levels of government, private and public sectors, likely as never before. We must pull out all the stops to protect each other and ourselves. Health, care and safety at the forefront! On behalf of the Pickering Squash Club executive team, we would urge you to be diligent, practice social distance, and take all precautions as well communicated via WHO through the media, workplace and all other means. Do not hesitate to seek medical help in the event you are experiencing any related symptoms of the COVID-19 virus, as well communicated.

In the interest of everyone’s safety, and following the lead by Squash Canada, Squash Ontario, OSDL, City of Pickering, other organizations, effective immediately, we are deferring all PSC organized match play until further notice. We will provide a further update in the coming weeks regarding rescheduled dates. Update to follow as well regarding plans for the junior squash program, club championships and banquet.

Many of you will have also received the following notice from the City of Pickering, indicating closure of the Rec Complex and other City managed facilities effective earlier this afternoon to April 05, inclusive. Thanks to Terry, we have posted the following notice from the City, on our web site. See the following link https://pickeringsquash.club/corvid-19-closures/ .

Finally, we want to encourage you to take all precautions, stay safe, stay informed, seek immediate help if you are feeling ill with any symptoms.

Best regards,

Fred Dizig
President, Pickering Squash Club

Covid-19 Closures

On Behalf of the City of Pickering we wish to announce that the Recreation Complex will be closed for the next three weeks. As a result all Pickering Squash Club programs, leagues and events will be postponed until further notice.

Please See the City notice below:

The City of Pickering will be implementing social distancing measures advised by the World Health Organization.
All programs, facility permits, and events have been cancelled, and Community Centres will be closed from March 13, 2020 at 4:30 pm until April 5, 2020 (inclusive).
Recreation Complex Memberships will be extended for the full period that the facility is closed.
All fees paid for facility bookings will be refunded.
All Winter Programs including Aquatics, Leisure will be credited for cancelled classes. There will not be a make-up class(s)
March Break Camps will be refunded.
Big Band Event ticket holders may bring their ticket to the original purchase location between April 6 and April 24 to receive a refund.
Program Registration – Spring Registration scheduled to start March 24 and March 26 is currently under review and start date is to be determined
City public events will be cancelled from March 13, 2020 at 4:30 pm until April 5, 2020 (inclusive). See the website at pickering.ca/events for our event listing.
Please note that all Pickering Public Library Branches, Don Beer Arena, CHD Recreation Complex, and Pickering Museum Village are also included in this closure.

We apologize for the inconvenience but the wellbeing of our staff and patrons is our first priority.
Public health risk is continually reassessed as new information becomes available, please access the city website at pickering.ca/NovelCoronavirus for future updates.
Additionally further questions can be directed to the City’s Customer Care Department at 905.683.7575 or by email at [email protected]
Chestnut Hill Developments Recreation Complex
1867 Valley Farm Road
Pickering, ON
L1V 3Y7

Go Pickering Go – recap from March 10th T&D matches!

MAYBE IT WAS THE FULL MOON LAST NIGHT OR MAYBE IT WAS THE FACT THAT OUR GUYS HAVE THEIR EYES ON THE BIG PRIZE…EITHER WAY, THE BOYS ON OUR PICKERING DIV. 3 SINGLES TEAM DOMINATED LAST NIGHT!
Here is the recap for the evening…

Incredible tactics, shot selection and court movement were on display by the guys during the semi-final matches against Master Fitness and Squash last night!

Darryl and JP were the first two players to start off the evening. Both of our players stepped on court focused and ready to “take care of business”. Unfortunately, Darryl’s match ended before he even had a chance to get into the match when his opponent had to default because of a self inflicted injury in the first couple rallies of the first game.

On the other court, JP started with a significant lead in the first game by putting pace on the ball and hitting tight shots. I’m not sure if the oxygen levels were low on his court or if he had been out in the sun all day but he was looking a little red in the face after winning the first game. Hmmm…maybe chasing his two year old son around doesn’t help with his cardio as much as he may think! Either way, there was no way JP was going to have to play more than 3 games so with his three wall attacking boasts (which I don’t always recommend) and his killer low drives, JP did what he knew how to do to win the match 3-0. I think those treadmills are down the hall to the left if i’m not mistaken. 🤔

2 wins and 3 matches to go…
Next up was Jordan and Praveen. Jordan literally ran around the court like a gazelle giving his opponent a tour of all 4 corners of the court. His opponent was no slouch as he desperately dove numerous times to retrieve some of Jordan’s shots. Just like an animal hunting his prey, Jordan was steady, patient and used every opportunity to completely exhaust his opponent before taking him down 3-0!

On the other court, Praveen was clearly not messin’ around. As the famous quote goes “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”, this was how Praveen played his match. He glided effortlessly around the court and when the opportunity arose, he attacked every loose ball without hesitation to win the match 3-0. There was no “baby food” being served up by Praveen last night!

Pickering had officially won the night before Scott stepped on court to prove that the best was yet to come…I’m sure his opponent took one look at Scott’s intimidating forehand swing before deciding that he would concede the match. Victory for Pickering!

Pickering will now compete in the finals at Mayfair Lakeshore on Wednesday March 25th at 6:30! Please come out and cheer on our club! I will be heading down to watch if anyone would like to meet me in Pickering and carpool.

Next up is our Women’s D team playing in the quarter finals in Pickering tomorrow night at 7:20. Come out and let’s cheer the ladies on!!

See you on the courts,
Nicole

THREE OF OUR PICKERING SINGLES T&D TEAMS WILL BE BATTLING IT OUT IN THE PLAY-OFFS TO BRING US HOME THE BIG TITLE!

From Squash Pro – Nicole Pirko

Recap from last nights matches…
The boys on our Div. 3 team went in very confident last night for their quarter final match against Goodlife Dunfield!  Metallica tunes were filling the stands while Darryl and Aaron were warming up to start their match.  Darryl was able to pull off a win despite the fact that he decided to wear brand new shoes and couldn’t feel his toes by game 4! 

Aaron on the other court was fighting for the win and had a strong strategy but unfortunately fell a little short with a tight 3-1 finish. 

Next up was Praveen and Jordan hoping to get a win to take the pressure off Scott.  The tension started to build as both matches were tied 1-1.  It was a huge relief when Jordan took control of his match with a 3-1 win while Praveen yelled out “baby food”, a term from the Gen Z generation, on the other court when he just missed an almost perfect drop shot that would have given him control of the game. 

With matches tied at 2-2 it was Scott’s turn to strut his stuff… He did just that with his signature head fakes and his undeniable tight drop shots to finish off the night with a win for Pickering!

Here is the schedule for the next league matches…please come out, show your support and let’s cheer our teams on and help them bring home the titles!

Men’s Div. 3 semi-finals (home game) – Tues. March 10th – 7:20 – Come out and watch!

Women’s D semi finals (home game) – Thurs. March 12th – 7:20 – Come out and watch!

Men’s Div. 4 (quarter finals)- They will be playing an away game on Friday!  (good luck guys!)