Junior development programme

Malta Squash recently started the second phase of a three-year development programme for juniors.

The initiative, aimed at producing a team for international tournaments in 2008, includes players from the U-13 age group.

National coach Paul Lake, who is in charge of the project, stressed the importance of juniors gaining experience in their early years.

"In all racket sports, to reach an adequate standard, junior players have to be quite proficient by the age of 15," he said.

"This kind of sport cannot be compared to team sport where one player can 'carry' the other or others. It's one-on-one and the individual has to rely 100% on his talent."

Lake previously worked as a full-time coach at the West Hants Club, Bournemouth, where the mini-squash and mini-tennis schemes cater for around 150 children in the 4-7 years age group.

Seeing Matthew Asciak, who this year won the Malta Tennis Open, competing against top players endorsed Lake's opinion.

"Matthew played some fantastic tennis and he was able to compete against tougher, older and stronger opposition," he said.

"Over the past years, he has developed into a real tennis player. However, the foundations for this were laid many years ago."

The juniors in the development programme all take part in regular training and 'mentoring' sessions, introduced by Lake last year.

Another aim of Malta Squash is to increase the number of juniors playing the game. The programme is the 'tip of an iceberg' with the foundation work playing an equally important role.

Those interested may obtain more details by sending an e-mail to info@maltasquash.com