To enter the Members section, please login here.

The club is actively seeking to broaden the membership throughout the United Kingdom. 

Please download a Membership Form, sign up your friend and send in to the Hon. Secretary, remembering to fill in all Bank details!

Nigel Belle, The Red House, Church Road, Sundridge, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN14 6EA. Tel: 019595 65444.

The Championships for 2019/20 have been cancelled. Hopefully the 2020/21 Championships will take place in March or April 2021. Watch this space!

Having celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2013, please remember that the Anniversary Book is still available.

New kit is available - go online. Go to www.iprosports.co.uk, click on 'Club Zone', scroll down and click on the GB Vets logo and then follow on-screen instructions.

 Due to the current situation the 2020 Club Championships and the 57th AGM, due 14/15th March, have been postponed until later in the year.

In addition all ‘friendly’ matches have been postponed or cancelled until further notice.

We hope you are keeping fit and well and wish you all a safe emergence from these difficult times.

I note that annual Chairman’s reports usually comment on all the activities and accomplishments of members during the year and would end this report here!

However, as members cope in different ways with the pandemic and associated closures/lockdowns GB Vets turns its attention to preparing for the future.

As your new Chairman I wish to broaden the geographic scope of our organisation and make every effort to set up Golf Days regionally. Doubles events could follow if we can find suitable venues that would allow for the replication of the RAC weekend.

The Championships have been losing numbers in recent years despite the tremendous efforts of Geoff Howes to make it work as locally as possible in early rounds. Consideration is being given to allowing competitors to qualify for the finals weekend on a regional basis.

At a time when very little squash is being played and then only in social bubbles I want to keep everyone interested with news of fellow members. The new feature on players by Aubrey Waddy is a great start. Finding out how everybody is keeping fit has elicited some surprising stories. This Newsletter has a new slant on fitness and will publish easy fitness hacks from members that you can try (or not!). I have taken the liberty of doing the first one myself and the benefits of 16 hours fasting are presented for you to try (or not!).

December 3rd brought a reassessment of the Covid-19 regulations that has allowed some socially distanced squash play whilst leaving others, in the highest tiers, unable to do much at all. The new vaccine that will be available gradually in 2021 may herald the return of more conventional squash and allow us to leave a dismal 2020 with some hope for the future. I hope the 5 days lifting of restrictions over Christmas gives you all a chance to see close family members and I send Christmas cheer and good wishes to all members from myself and the GB Vets committee. I thank them, on your behalf, for all their hard work this year.

Ian Graham Chairman

‘Oxit’ follows Brexit but better planned and no trade deals on lets or points!

Following leaving the EU a more important occasion arose on the following day, namely the GB Vets Touring Team match versus Oxford University held at Oxford’s very traditional squash club.

The comparative age ranges were an interesting arithmetical algorithm and if GB Vets certainly won on aggregate age unfortunately this apparent numerical advantage did not follow them on to court.

16 players lined up for each side and it was decided to play from the bottom of the order. As it started it was going slightly in GB Vets favour however after 8 matches it had ended in an honourable draw 4 matches each. Although all these matches were decided 3/0 there were some close fought individual games with the inevitable battle of age versus experience, a psychiatrist’s dream as it arrived at a balanced result.

Unfortunately, when we moved on to the top 8 this dream of the balance of mankind was shattered. The exception was a sterling performance from Allen Barwise winning 3/0, who also managed to avoid any photographic evidence of being there, something to do with his modelling agency contract apparently.

Oxford fielding their Varsity team in the top order won a decisive 7/1. There were some major scraps, Andy Murray, Mark Shildrake and Nigel Bacon for GB Vets playing enormous rallies against amazingly agile opponents, all the matches were keenly contested with a plethora of 12/10s and 11/9s but to no avail the top 8 went down 7/1.

The overall match score was then 11/5 in Oxford’s favour.

Matters took a turn for the better when a group of the Oxford team joined the GB Vets team for dinner and a few drinks somewhat later. Here in a more static environment the GB Vets team came to the fore. Student prowess at alcohol consumption was I believe eclipsed during the evening by the GB Vets during a convivial evening.

A few words of thanks, firstly to the organiser of the Oxford Team, Mike Sauvage and to Nick Sheppard the GB Vets Captain for arranging between them another spectacularly successful team match.

I think a special mention for Laura Nell the Oxford Captain for marking several games as well as winning a close match herself.

Probably most importantly to the Oxford Team of Students for joining in the spirit of the day with great enthusiasm.
A good day.

Robert Smith

more and photos..

The seventh annual Festival of Squash organised by the GB Vets was held at the RAC, Woodcote Park, Epsom on Sunday 3rd November.

By 9.30 a.m. groups of keen players, with ages spanning from 25 to 85, representing the GB Vets, the Army and the Escorts, began arriving to join the players from the host RAC team.

The Army team was somewhat down on numbers given the absence of Phil and Yvette Ashman. The former has left the Army but has taken on the job of running the Army’s overall sports- so squash is now only one of his sports… However, in the spirit of the Festival of Squash, the GB Vets loaned Nick Sheppard for the Singles, and (Lt. Col) John Woodliffe and Lance Kinder for the Doubles! John and Lance won one of their two matches with a large gallery impressed by the amazing staying power of a pair now aggregating over 168 years!!

Richard Green and Len Westover (The Army) were the overall stars in the Singles, winning all three of their matches. In the Doubles, Mandy Akin and Karen Hume (GB Vets) won all three of their matches, whilst Alan Thomson and Dave Clarke played four matches and won them all! Mike Stewart and Karl Newland (RAC) won two of their Doubles matches whilst James Dubois (RAC) won three of his Singles matches… although he essentially played Nick Sheppard twice- with Nick representing both GB Vets and the Army in the same match! That really is the spirit of the event! Shayne Baillie (RAC) had a fine day, narrowly losing to Richard Green whilst winning her other two matches. Dean Newberry (GB Vets) and John Goodrich (GB Vets) again performed strongly with both winning two of their Singles matches, whilst Jeremy Wilcox (Escorts) did likewise.

more...

Now you can view and purchase Club Merchandise on line! We've also added some new items - not only do we sell the regular polo and tee shirts for both men and women but now also shorts and warm-up jackets. The order process is very simple:

- Go to www.iprosports.co.uk and click on the 'Club Zone' link at the top of the Home Page.

- Scroll down to the Vets Club logo and click on it. All garments are then displayed, click on product(s) required, select size, colour, personalisation (if required), click on 'add to cart'.

- When finished go to checkout, place order, pay, that's it!

Exceptions: Lamb's wool v neck pullovers are bought from another source and can't (yet) be obtained on line. For information on these and to order contact the Hon.Sec.

Old stock at low, low prices: There are a few men's tee shirts (large and XL) and a number of ladies shirts (all sizes) available from the Hon.Sec. All at £10, buy now, first come first served!