US SQUASH Releases Scheduled for National Championships

US SQUASH has released the schedule for the 2016-2017 National Championships. All tournament dates now are available on the tournament calendar.

Extensive planning and research goes into the scheduling of all national tournaments. US Squash’s goal is to find dates that best accommodate the varied needs of our constituents, taking into account but not limited to: holidays, academic schedules and testing dates, facility availability, and local and regional tournaments.

Full information regarding facilities and locations will be released as agreements are finalized over the coming months.

Scheduling all nationals remains a challenge due to the extremely busy calendar. To this end, the thought processes behind date selections for several events are explained below.

U.S. Junior Open Squash Championships (December 17-20, 2016)
The Junior Open generally sits the weekend after the Canadian Junior Open and prior to winter break. Due to the dates falling further from Christmas Day than normal, the junior community was surveyed as to whether families would prefer the tournament to run Sunday through Wednesday, December 18-21, so that players would not have to travel during potential exams on Friday, December 16. A strong majority of respondents, including a majority in every region, indicated their preference for the December 17-20 dates. Many players remain in school for at least part of the week of December 19, which was a factor in the decision process for many families.

U.S. Squash Doubles Championships (March 3-5, 2017)
U.S. National Squash Championships (March 10-12, 2017)
The two major adult events of the March calendar–the National Doubles and National Singles–are played on separate weekends due to an intermingled pool of players. The National Doubles was moved earlier in March to avoid conflicts with school breaks and holidays (and the consequent parent travel obligations) towards the end of the month.

The college National Individuals is March 3-5, and in balance there is more of a conflict between that event and the National Singles than there is with the National Doubles. Some college players and coaches may be restricted from the doubles event, but US Squash is committed to bring top U.S. college players into the fold of the U.S. Singles Championships. Hosting those March 10-12 allows college athletes to participate after conclusion of their school season, while still being early enough to avoid many spring break weeks.

U.S. Junior Squash Championships (March 17-19, 2017)
Many possible dates were considered for the Junior Closed Championships, and this date appeared to be the best of several tough choices where challenges remain. The first weekend of the month would conflict with college National Individuals, and there is heavy cross-over in families who have players in both events, as well as college coaches interested in attending National Juniors to assess potential recruits. March 4, 2017 is also a potential ACT testing date. The second weekend, March 10-12, features a potential SAT testing date on the Saturday. While National Juniors has been held on an SAT weekend before, it proved challenging for many families and added an unnecessary element of stress for players trying to balance their play in nationals with academic pressures.

The March 17-19 weekend does fall either in the middle or as a bookend to many spring breaks, both public and private. However, pushing to a later weekend would encounter similar issues, and holidays begin to come into play in April as well. Based on past community feedback looking to prevent National Juniors from encroaching too late into the spring, the March 17-19 date was determined to be the most appropriate.