Squash

Sports Awards for Alan and Heather. (Jun.2005)
At the Sefton Sports Achievement Awards Dinner, held at the Royal Clifton Hotel in Southport, Northern's squash coach Alan Hendry was voted Sefton's Coach of the Year. Heather Tweedle, recently called up on international squash duty by England, was highly commended in the Female Athlete of the Year category.
Having been voted Sefton Sports Club of the Year on the previous two occasions, this time we were highly commended in the Club of the Year category. The cricket section's Alan Majewska also collected a Senior Commitment award. 
Pictured are Heather Tweedle, Alan Majewska, vice president Paul Davies, Alan Hendry and president Mike Bishop. Our congratulations go to all concerned.

Heather victorious on England debut. (May.2005)
Northern's Heather Tweedle made a successful international debut in the Masters Home International Championships in Cardiff. Heather won each of her 3 matches, as England O40's recorded victories against all of the home nations.

Three league titles for men's teams. (Apr.2005)
Retiring captain Ray McGee can look back with great satisfaction on a very successful men’s season for Northern, with three of the six teams winning promotion and leaving captain-elect Steve Nemo a rich legacy of young talent. The 2nd team went into the final week having already clinched their Division 3 North West title, while the 4th team came from behind to defeat their closest rivals New Brighton for the championship of Division 5 West in an exciting final fixture. The 3rds and the 5ths both finished in respectable mid-table positions in the same divisions as the title-winning 2nds and 4ths respectively. The 1sts have endured a difficult campaign but ended the season on a high note, comfortably securing safety in Division 2 West. The 6th team, superbly lead by Jimmy White, and intended as a team to blood and develop young players, ended the season as champions of Division 5 West.

Ladies complete best-ever season. (Apr. 2005)

NORTHERN LADIES SQUASH 2005

Northern Ladies Squash have completed their most successful season ever in the Cheshire Ladies Squash League.

Northern field three Ladies Teams. The 1st and 2nd Teams dominated their respective Leagues. Neither side lost a match all season, sweeping aside all their opposition. The 1st team, having won the league, can now look forward to Premier League Squash from the start of next season.

The 2nd team proved equally formidable opponents, comfortably winning all their matches striding to first place in the league. Their magnificent efforts are clearly evidenced in the fact that they dropped only 36 individual games all season out of a total of 353. They have also deservedly been rewarded with promotion.

Congratulations also go to the 3rd team whose valiant efforts saw them finish in a respectable mid table position in the same league as the 2nd team. These efforts underline the overall strength of the Ladies Squash at The Northern.

The enthusiasm of the section is extremely encouraging. So much so that Northern will be applying for an additional place in the League and fielding a 4th Team in the forthcoming season.

It has been said before and we have no hesitation in saying it again, Northern Ladies are always looking for new players to join the Section, regardless of standard. Northern Ladies have a broad cross section of playing ability, together with qualified coaches within the Section who are able to nurture and develop potential.

Ladies training will continue until July at 7.00 pm Monday evenings. Everyone is welcome and for those ladies who may be interested in taking part, at whatever level, please come along or contact the club for the details of a Ladies Committee contact.

‘The Beast’ brings up the half-ton. (Mar.2005)
Northern squash legend Andrew Beeston this year clocks up 50 years with the club. ‘The Beast’ joined the club in 1955, and incredibly half a century later is still playing for Northern in Divisions 3 and 4 of the highly competitive North West Counties League. Earlier this year he was a finalist in the veteran section of the Merseyside Squash Championships, where he succumbed to fellow Northern vet Roger Kenyon. In his prime, Andrew reached county standard, and regularly represented Lancashire at county level. He has been club champion on nine occasions, and was a member of the Northern 1st team who were Division 1 champions of the North West Counties League three years out of four from 1967.
Andrew is keen that we seek to maintain our high standards of the past. ‘Thanks to many, many people, Northern has long been a force in local and county squash. If we aim only for the best, I hope that this will continue in years to come.’ Andrew, who was a student of the classics, points out that this translates loosely to ‘nil satis nisi optimum’.
He has also made his own contribution off the squash courts. For several years Andrew was Lancashire County secretary, which he views as having been an honour rather than a chore. He stresses the importance of putting something back into the game, whether at club level or above. He still contributes to the running of the sport as the current chairman of the Merseyside County SRA.
Andrew was squash captain as long ago as 1963, and in recognition of his 50 years with the club is this year rewarded with Life Membership at the March AGM.
Andrew continues, ‘I'm sure that the junior standard is much higher than when I joined. I wish Matt Davies, Alex and Jason Cunningham, Lauren Dixon and all the other fast developing juniors at the club as much fun over the next 50 years as I've had over the last 50.’ Congratulations Andrew, and let’s hope that there are a good few more encounters yet to come.

Heather selected for England. (Mar.2005)
Congratulations to Northern's own Heather Tweedle, who has received an international call-up, to represent England Women's O40's in the Masters Home International Championships, due to take place at Vale Country Club, Hensol in Cardiff on Friday and Saturday 13th and 14th May.

Northern success in Merseyside Championships. (Jan.2005)
Northern players were prominent in the recent Merseyside Championships, which the club hosted. Peter Stanton and John Sumner contested the Over-35 Final with Peter taking the title 3-2, while Ray McGee was runner-up in the Over-45 event.
Alan Hendry (pictured left) finished second in the Over-55 Final.
Steve Noakes (pictured left) took the Over-45 Plate.
Young Lauren Dixon (pictured left) put in a gutsy performance but could only finish runner-up in the Ladies Plate.
Heather Tweedle (pictured right) retained the Ladies Merseyside Championship. Heather also took the Over-40 title with Patricia Byrne finishing runner-up.
The Men's Title was won by Ian Thomason (above left) of New Brighton, who beat his brother in the final.
The Over-55 Plate Final was won by Roger Kenyon (left) who overcame Andrew Beeston (right) in the final.

No speed humps for car park. (Apr.2004)
The club has confirmed that it has no plans to install 'sleeping policemen' in the club car park. Confusion arose after one was temporarily installed there during the latter stages of the squash end-of-season dinner.