THE Bermuda Squash Racquets Association in Devonshire is abuzz with excitement as Bermuda prepares to host the Bank of Bermuda Foundation Junior Caribbean Area Squash Association 2008 Squash Championships from next Friday, July 11-19, featuring the top junior players from throughout the Caribbean.

BSRA spokesman Roger Sherratt said: "Our juniors have been competing in the annual Junior CASA championships since its inception in 1981, and despite being one of the smallest Islands involved (only Cayman is smaller in population), Bermuda has had more than its share of junior champions.

"Our first individual winners were Tracy Harvey (Girls Under 14), Nick Kyme (Boys Under 12) and Tommy Sherratt (Boys Under 16), in 1992 when Bermuda hosted Junior CASA for the first time. Since then two more of our girls, Kelly Barnes and Laura Robinson, have won individual titles, while our boys have won a whopping 13 titles. Other winners in Boys competition have included James Stout, Michael Shrubb, Noah Browne, and Robert Maycock. "

Kyme won three titles, while Stout has the distinction of not only winning in every age group, but also winning the Under 17 title two years in a row. Another exceptional young Bermudian is Robbie Maycock who has won at Under 13, Under 15, and Under 17, and may be the No.1 seed in this year's Boys Under 19. If he wins this year he will join James Stout as the only other player in the history of Junior CASA to win in all four age groups.

Bermuda Boys have won the Boys Team Championship twice, in 1998 and 2006, and our Boys and Girls Team have been crowned Overall Champions once - in 1998.

Last year in BVI, Bermuda's juniors finished runner-up in the Girls Team competition - their best ever performance - and third place in Boys Team competition.

According to Sherratt, competition is expected to be very stiff this year even though two countries, the Bahamas and Venezuela, are not sending teams to the Island. Participating will be Barbados, Cayman, Guyana, Jamaica, OECS, Trinidad and Tobago, and Bermuda, with Guyana expected to be the toughest squad in both Boys and Girls

Ross Triffitt, Director of Squash, said: "We are all set to host this exciting tournament. Our juniors have been training very hard for months, and competition for places on the team has been fierce. An additional feature of schedule this year has been physical fitness and strength training under the direction of International Fitness Pros trainer, Devrae Noel-Simmons.

"We are allowed a maximum of seven players on each Boys and Girls team, including two Under 19s one Under 17, one Under 15, and one Under 13, and two reserves. As hosts we're also permitted to allow extra players to compete in individual competition. In fact, we have also extended this invitation to all the other teams so we are going to have more juniors than ever, both local and from overseas, playing in the championships. At last count we have over 120 taking part in the championships.

"We're also delighted to have Bank of Bermuda Foundation as title sponsors for this prestigious tournament. The Foundation's strong support of Junior Squash in Bermuda has been a terrific boost to our junior squash programme which continues to grow from strength to strength. It is this kind of exposure to exciting international competition that helps to raise our standards and keeps our youngsters enthusiastic about squash. "

For anyone interested in watching the action at the Devonshire Courts, entry is free, and the matches take place from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily starting next Friday, July 11.

*In next Friday's Mid Ocean News we will feature Bermuda's team, and assess their chances of winning individual and team titles