REME Sport
REME Squash Championship 2021 Scribe: SSgt White
W
ith COVID-19 adversely affecting many sports there was a danger of the Corps Championships being postponed once again. However, with COVID-19 restrictions being relaxed and with the determination of the REME Corps Squash Secretary, WO2 Chris Morris and the Army Sports Control Board (ASCB) the event was given the go ahead. In Total there were 64 players in attendance. The format followed that of previous years with various competitions and Trophies up for grabs meaning that lots of squash was able to be played over the 3day period from the 27th to 29th October. The event took place at the home of Army Squash, Aldershot Garrison Sports Centre. In the age group categories, Cfn Matthews, a newcomer showed his skill on court winning against LCpl Sugden in the Final of the Under 25’s. A great achievement which also saw him get a call up to play for the Army U25’s squad. In the 25 to 35 category Cpl Barker was swiftly despatched by an in-form Cpl Bert Godfrey in a fixture that always proves to be
entertaining. The Over 35’s, for the second time in a row was contested between Sgt Warren Mitchell and SSgt Fraser White. With SSgt White retaining the cup. The over 40’s was won by Major Daniel Proctor who beat SSgt Dave Parkin in a battle that proved that age is just a number. There were 2 competitions also run for the top Units in the REME. The Minor Units’ runners-up were 5 Rifles and the winners were 47 Regt RA Wksp. The Major Unit runners-up were 8 REME and the winners were 3 REME. The Open event was won by LCpl Adam Smart who beat SSgt Fraser White in the Final and securing his place as the top player in the REME. The female event was won by Cfn Elaino Pinheiro from 8 Bn REME who beat Cpl Lauren Broadbent. Two other competitions were also organised to enable those who were knocked out of the main competition in the first 2 rounds to play some more squash. These were the plate competition which was won by Sgt Owain Evans who beat Sgt Willet and the Roberts Cup which was won by the veteran WO1 Ritchie Fewtrell who beat WO2 Chris Morris. The competition was a great success with the top 16 players from the competition being selected to represent the REME in the InterCorps Championships. All trophies were presented by the Chairman Lt Col Daz Ward.
A Team Player’s Experience: Cpl Godfrey Going into this year’s Inter Corps Championships there was a feeling of uncertainty within the REME squash fraternity. It was also very difficult to predict just how strong the other Corps would be after not being able to play for so long. The first match saw us pitted against the Royal Signals A Team where we took a 5-0 victory. Our second match was against the Infantry A Team; this was a much tighter affair which saw SSgt Fraser White narrowly lose out to their No 3 seed however we secured the win, 4-1 which meant we finished the first day on a respectable 33 points. Our first match of the second day was against the RLC A Team, where after some very close games we managed to scrape a 3-2 win and our second match against the Royal Engineers resulted in a 4-1 victory. We were now clear of relegation with 61 points and in contention for winning Division 1! LCpl Smart, Male Open Cup Winner 2021
LCpl Smart in action against the Army number 1 Squash player; Maj Miller (RA) 32 craftsmaneditor@reme-rhq.org.uk
Cfn Pinheiro, Female Open Cup Winner 2021
