Local squash players are putting Revelstoke on the map

By Kevin Dorrius
Bear’s Den Racquet Club
The weekend’s Classic Squash Tournament at the Bear’s Den Racquet Club saw three local players finishing in the Top 5 positions of their divisions.
“We had 36 players from Revelstoke, Nelson, Trail, Cranbrook, Vernon, Penticton, Abbotsford and Prince George,” said organizer Kevin Dorrius. “The weekend featured some great squash action.” Of local note, Julia Dorrius dominated the ladies’ B/C division, despite being a junior playing adults.”
Other local notables were Sophie Dorrius winning the Women’s B/C Consolation and Norm Lazzarotto finishing fourth in the Men’s B Event. Overall, the weekend went very smoothly. Local players were: Julia Dorrius, Sophie Dorrius, Amelia Brown, Josh Larsen, Austin DesMazes, Conner McCabe, Andrew Danyluk, Norm Lazzarotto, and Philipe VonTrzebiatovski.
The winners were:
Mens A
1^st – Brett Miller, Abbotsford
2^nd – Darryl Buhler, Abbotsford
3^rd – Derek Carnell, Penticton
4^th – Chris Torrie, Vernon
Womens B/C
1^st – Julia Dorrius, Revelstoke
2^nd – Terri Stewart, Prince George
3^rd – Jean Verecki, Penticton
Cons Winner – Sophie Dorrius, Revelstoke
Men’s B
1^st – Steve Limbert, Trail
2^nd – Kevin Limbert, Trail
3^rd – Gerald Watson, Penticton
4^th – Norm Lazzarotto, Revelstoke
Men’s C
1^st – Jamie Deba, Abbotsford
2^nd – Dave Reichelt, Abbotsford
3^rd – Tim Reimer, Nakusp
4^th – Shane Douglas, Nakusp
Revelstoke is increasingly being recognized as a powerhouse in the world of BC squash.
“Due to the growth of Junior Squash in the Interior, Squash BC has formed an Interior Regional Development Team to mirror development teams on Vancouver Island and the lower mainland,” Dorrius said. “These regional teams are set up to provide high performance training at a regional level, to monitor the progress of players and to feed the provincial teams. There were nine kids invited by Squash BC to join the interior team (only 8 accepted the invitations as one player from Vernon declined due to an injury), and 7 were Revelstoke players.”
Local players named to the squad, listed from youngest to oldest are: Ryan Howe (Boys U11), Austin DesMazes (Boys U13), Josh Larsen (Boys U13), Sophie Dorrius (Girls U13), Julia Dorrius (Girls U15), Amelia Brown (Girls U15) and Conner McCabe (Boys U17). So out of the entire interior of BC, 7 of the 9 top juniors were from our club, as well as one each from Kelowna and Penticton.”
The club’s young players also performed exceptionally well during the recent BC Junior Open at the Jericho Club in Vancouver. The BCJO is one of two major junior tournaments on the Squash BC Junior Calendar.
Seven Revelstoke players competed: Ryan Howe (BU11) Austin DesMazes (BU13), Josh Larsen (BU13), Aiden McCabe (BU13), Conner McCabe (BU17), Julia Dorrius (GU15) and Sophie Dorrius (GU15).
“We had some amazing breakthroughs, as two of our kids Semi-Finaled and a third qualified for the Third/Fourth Final due to a round-robin format,” Dorrius said. “All three played in the Third/Fourth final.”
Here’s how they did:
Ryan Howe came Third in Boys U11
Sophie Dorrius came Third in Girls U13
Julia Dorrius came Fourth in Girls U15
“Again, this is a huge sign for the competitive advances we have made,” Dorrius said.