LAURA Robinson has an infectious enthusiasm for everything she does - and after ten years as a key member of the BSRA's National Junior Squad she can lay claim to being the best girl squash player the Bermuda junior squash programme has ever produced. .

It was fitting that Laura was captain of the Bermuda Girl's Squash Team which recently took second place honours at the Junior CASA (Caribbean) Squash Championships held in the British Virgin Islands. During the whole tournament Laura lost just one match, against the No.1 seed in Singles competition, where she finished third overall. During the team event she was unbeaten in every match, and was inspirational to her fellow teammates. The performance of the Bermuda Girls Team has been described as the "surprise package of the tournament" according to Caribbean sports correspondent Shane Slater, writing in a major international squash publication.

Laura first picked up a squash racquet at the age of five when she says: "I signed up for everything in primary school, and squash was one of them. We used to play with big foam balls and little racquets with Jane Parker (then Director of Squash), who was a major influence on my squash career." At the age of ten Laura decided to drop her other favourite racquet sport - tennis - to concentrate on squash. That was the year she played in her first Junior CASA championships in Trinidad, placing 4th in Girls Under 12. Since then Laura has played in every age group in Junior CASA and placed in the top three each time, including being crowned Junior CASA Champion in Under 17.

"I'm very competitive and I like that aspect of squash, but I also love the social side of the game. On court it's all about trying your best to win, but off court the atmosphere is always friendly. I've made lots of friends throughout the Caribbean and around the world from playing squash."

"It plays an important role in my life because I even looked at their squash programmes before choosing a university. I was looking for a university that would be academically challenging and also have a good squash programme. In the fall of my senior year at Saltus I competed in the US Junior Squash Open at Yale, where the squash coach from Mount Holyoke came to see me playing. She was keen to have me on their team. I was accepted at Mount Holyoke where I'm majoring in economics. I was also fortunate enough to be awarded a scholarship from the Bermuda Foundation for Insurance Studies.

We have a very competitive squash team at Mount Holyoke, with 14 players on the squad and ten players chosen for each inter-collegiate match where we play for points. We just had a great season where we started ranked in the upper 20's and finished ranked 13 in the US. I regularly held the number four spot and remained unbeaten for the season. One of the highlights was competing in the Seven Sisters Tournament at Vasser in January this year. This is the female equivalent of the Ivy League. Our team won the tournament and most of us on the Mount Holyoke team were unbeaten, including me. It was extra special because I also gave me the opportunity to meet up with my first coach in Bermuda, Jane Parker, who now coaches at Vasser."

As Captain of the Bermuda Girls Team at the recent Junior CASA squash championships, Laura was especially delighted with the Girls Team's performance, heaping praise on her fellow team members for playing so well in the team event. She picks out 11-year-old Emma Keane as a youngster with great potential, describing her as always very positive and determined on court. Her performance in beating the Under 13 number2 ranked player from Trinidad and Tobago in the Team Event was a key win for the Bermuda Team, as was Kelly Barnes' superb victory against Brook Burrowes of Jamaica in a match she was not expected to win. Kelly really showed her fighting spirit says Laura. She also praised Rachel Barnes in Under 15, and Alex Furtado in Under 19 who both won crucial matches against Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

Laura was reluctant to mention that despite her team losing to a very strong Girls Team from Guyana in the Finals, she was the only member of the Bermuda Team to win her match.

Said BSRA squash spokesman Roger Sherratt: "Laura has been tremendous asset to the Bermuda Junior Squash Programme, and a great role model for other young girls to follow. There is no doubt that she will continue to be a force to be reckoned with in Bermuda, the Caribbean and beyond as she joins the ranks of our senior players."

Anyone interested in obtaining details about how to get youngsters involved in junior squash can call the BSRA in Devonshire through telephone 292-6881.