If you've been reading our blog for a while, you'll probably remember me writing about Squash Junkies a few times in the past.
Often the biggest challenge with Junkies is getting a team together and myself and the usual team unfortunately missed last year's event due to a mix of injuries and unavailability, which was disappointing.
But, I'm really excited that we managed to get a team together for the 29th edition of Junkies in Hoofddorp (Netherlands) and played the event last week.
As expected, it absolutely didn't disappoint.
Here's my tournament summary ...
I've mentioned it before, but Squash Junkies isn't just another tournament. It's four days of squash, socialising, questionable decisions, very little sleep, and somehow having to play decent squash despite all of the above.
This year was made even better because I drove my camper van over instead of flying. After spending the last seven months slowly converting it into something actually liveable, this was its first proper European adventure.
Like plenty of the other teams, I parked up in the MeerSquash car park and slept there for the tournament while the rest of our team camped in tents.
It certainly isn't luxury accommodation, but waking up just a few metres from the squash courts definitely has its advantages!
I also brought tents and luggage over for the rest of my team who pitched up next to my van so we had our own little team section of the carpark!
Our team (named Angels of the North) consisted of:
- Myself (Alex Robertson)
- Jonathan Wright
- Andrew Black
- Kyle Chatterley
- Tegan Younger
- Emma Turnbull
It's actually worth mentioning that we very nearly didn't make it to the tournament at all.
Like many amateur team events, getting six people to commit several months in advance to travelling to a different country for a tournament can be difficult.
We had numerous players agree to come before eventually pulling out for various reasons, while both Emma and Tegan had been dealing with injuries leading up to the tournament.
Thankfully, they both decided to battle through because nobody wants to miss Squash Junkies once they've experienced it once.
On paper, we were probably a little weaker than we've been in previous years too. Normally we've had somebody playing above me at number one to help us compete if/when we come up against the stronger teams, but this time I was leading the team as number one and captain.
But, thankfully, standard doesn't really matter at Squash Junkies.
One of the reasons I love the event so much is because there really is something for everyone.
You'll find complete beginners playing alongside professional players, with every standard imaginable somewhere in between.
In previous years we've watched Paul Coll and Nele Gilis competing and partying, while this year the tournament welcomed current Women's World No.6 Satomi Watanabe for the first time, which was awesome.
It's always surreal warming up on the next court to players you've spent years watching on the PSA Tour.
Above is our team dressed in our themed outfits for the third night of the event (from left to right: Jonathan, Kyle, Andy, Emma, Tegan, and me being carried)
As always, the tournament officially began on Thursday evening with what has become something of a legendary tradition...
The free bar.
For one glorious/hectic hour, drinks are free, everybody catches up with old friends, meets new people, and players from all over the world mingle together before the squash begins the following morning.
However, having our first match at 9am on Friday wasn't exactly ideal.
Our opening opponents were a team called the Foxholes.
I managed to win my match 2-0, while two other members of our team also picked up victories. Unfortunately, three of our players narrowly lost, leaving the match tied at 3-3.
As always at Junkies, tied matches are decided on total points won across all six matches.
We lost by two points, making it about as close as it gets.
We all reflected on our matches and how easily we could have snagged two more points between us.
It then transpired that Andy and Jonathan had both served out once each in their matches. We decided to stick the blame on them and leave it at that, taking no further responsibility for the loss (of course, joklingly).
Afterwards, the player I'd just played (Daniel Stamford) told me that none of their luggage had even made it onto their flight from England, so I suppose they had suffered enough bad luck already!
Since our group only contained three teams, we only had that single match on Friday, leaving us free to enjoy rest of the day's activities.
Jason Morris, who somehow continues to organise bigger and better Junkies tournaments every year, had another fantastic itinerary planned.
Friday evening involved an all-you-can-eat buffet at a restaurant before everyone piled onto coaches and headed into Amsterdam city centre for a night out.
It probably wasn't the smartest preparation for Saturday morning's squash, but it's all part of the event!
Nobody goes to Junkies expecting to be fresh all weekend.
Saturday began with what I had been looking forward to most all weekend.
We were playing The All Black Outs from New Zealand, and I was up against Lwamba Chileshe, currently ranked World No.134.
I've met Lwamba a few times before and knew it'd be played in great spirits, although I was quietly worried for another reason.
When professional players are trying not to completely destroy you, they often play a little more patiently.
That sounds nice in theory ...
In reality, it usually means they're controlling the middle of the court while you sprint into all four corners trying desperately to stay in the rally.
Add a fairly hefty hangover into the equation and things become even more interesting.
I don't know how many of you have played squash after a late night, but everything suddenly becomes much harder.
Tracking the ball feels more difficult.
Finding the sweet spot seems impossible.
Your legs feel twice as heavy.
Despite all that, it ended up being one of my favourite matches of the weekend.
I somehow managed to take the opening game before Lwamba levelled things up in the second.
The deciding game was incredibly close and I'm fairly sure I even had a match ball before Lwamba eventually edged it.
He was comfortably the better player and obviously deserved the win, but he made himself an absolute pleasure to play against.
Andy also produced a brilliant performance to win his match, but unfortunately the rest of us couldn't quite follow suit and we lost the overall tie fairly comfortably.
Thankfully, by this point, results almost become secondary.
The social side of the tournament is what makes people return year after year.
Below is me losing one of the more crucial points against Lwamba ...
Later that afternoon we played an English team called No Strings Attached.
This time things finally clicked.
I won my match 2-0 and four of our six players picked up victories to give us our first team win of the weekend.
That gave us plenty of confidence heading into our final Saturday fixture against a Dutch team brilliantly named Let The Drop Be With You.
After consuming what felt like several million litres of water and then starting on the beers again, we somehow dragged ourselves back onto court.
Just like our opening match, this one finished 3-3.
Thankfully, this time the points went our way.
We finished four points ahead overall to secure another victory and end Saturday on a real high.
Saturday night then brought more great food at MeerSquash before everyone changed into this year's fancy dress theme ...
Hippies!
As always, the effort people put into the costumes was incredible and the squash club quickly transformed into another fantastic party that carried on well into the early hours.
Which brings us to Sunday morning...
Needless to say, standards had again dropped slightly.
I genuinely felt like I was playing with three squash balls flying around the court at once and I couldn't seem to hit any of them.
Our final opponents were a German team appropriately named Here For Beer, which probably summed up quite a few people attending the tournament by that stage.
Jonathan was the only member of our team to pick up a win as we finished the tournament with one final defeat.
Did we win the tournament?
Definitely not.
Did we have another unforgettable weekend?
Absolutely.
I still think Squash Junkies is one of the very best events our sport has to offer.
The atmosphere is unlike anything else I've experienced, the organisation is exceptional, and the mixture of competitive squash and social fun somehow works perfectly year after year.
I know most of you reading this are over in Canada, so getting to the Netherlands is obviously a much bigger commitment than it is for me.
However, if you've ever thought about putting together a team, I'd genuinely encourage you to do it.
Finding four men and two women is often the hardest part, but once you've got your team together, I can almost guarantee you'll want to come back the following year.
As for me, my trip didn't end when the final match finished.
Rather than heading straight home, I pointed the camper van south and spent a couple of days exploring Belgium before crossing into Germany.
I've been sleeping in the van each night, tackling a few hikes, visiting some beautiful little towns, and thoroughly putting the camper through its paces.
In fact, as I'm finishing writing this article, I'm sitting in a lovely little café overlooking the streets of Cochem in Germany after a morning of exploring the Moselle Valley.
It's a pretty nice office for the day!
I still don't feel fully recovered from Junkies, but this little roadtrip is making that process a lot easier!
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