GET INTO THE FESTIVE SPIRIT!

I love Christmas. The presents, the time off, the excitement on my daughter’s face, my wife’s turkey… all the good stuff we celebrate just because countless elves that live in the coldest place on earth have slaved 364 days of the year making toys for no pay so an overweight man with a fetish for funny red suits can invade every home in the world in one night leaving them under a tree that should be out in the garden instead of our living rooms, then raid the fridge before flying away with magical reindeer. What a wonderfully logical tradition!

Going along with tradition, the 7th Annual Holiday Tournament is one jolly fun evening of squash and drinking. At 5pm on Thursday, December 2, the keg will be ready for consumption as matches get under way. A maximum 24 players can enter this one – each player will get 4 matches against opponents of different levels. We will be using the ‘Swiss System’ - which means that everybody will be placed in the same draw. First round matches are drawn out of a hat in front of everybody to make it completely random. Each match is 2 games to 15 points. Second round matches is against someone who ends up with the same first round result as you, and so forth. (Did I mention there is a keg?) This is of course for players of all levels. (No handicapping!)

The kicker is that each entrant has to bring a wrapped gift worth at least $20 as an entry fee. After the matches, the players get to choose their gift from the pile (sorry, we won’t have a tree) in order of the final rankings. Being in the Holiday spirit, this ensures no one goes away empty handed. Also, being in the Holiday spirit, we have to make sure that all the gifts are appropriate. Over the years, some items have been added to the ‘banned substances’ list. These include:

1. Muffins
2. Viagra
3. Cash
4. Canary yellow DAC t-shirts

Typically, booze is the most common, but try to be imaginative when choosing a gift!

So don’t be a Scrooge! Get some fun squash in and fun drinking in! Registration deadline is Tuesday, November 30. (Did I mention the keg?)