A weekend squash tournament that will double as a Canada Winter Games test event could feature a battle of the ages.
The tournament, which starts tonight at 6 and wraps up Sunday at the Northern Sport Centre, features 24 players, including crafty veteran Greg Ames and 10-year-old newcomer Tristen Graham. Ames - who has been swinging a racquet for close to 50 years - will probably step onto the court with Graham on Saturday afternoon.
"It's meant to be fun and not too competitive," organizer/player Bill MacIver said of the tournament. "We will play best-of-three matches, and normally you'd play best-of-five. We're playing rally point and the whole idea behind that is, almost anyone could come and play. It's not going to be incredibly physically taxing."
In the spirit of the Canada Winter Games, there will be six teams of four, each representing a province and wearing the appropriate colours.
The gathering will also be a warmup for the minor officials who will help out with squash during the Games, which will be held in Prince George from Feb. 13 to March 1. Squash will take place during the first week of the Games and will utilize the NSC courts and some portable ones that will be set up in the facility's fieldhouse.
Other players who have registered for the weekend tournament are Reg Foot, Riley Trottier, Rick Urquhart, Rick Kovach, Josh MacIver, Nick Wetaski, Barry Hirtz, Peter Zell, Debbie Ward, Adam Spurrell, Dave Saengasathit, Marc Sorrie, Brett Nelson, Jordan Duncan, Brooklyn Ward, Lori MacIver, Deb Schweder, Judy Kehler, Lebo Kolisang, Ben Hirtz and Grant Emmond.
The event will follow a round-robin format, with playoffs. Matches on Saturday and Sunday will start at 10 a.m.
