The 2010 Baltimore Jesters Invitational Doubles tournament was held January 8-9, directed by Peter Heffernan and Jimmy  Hense, and featured eight teams from  five schools: Friends( 2), Park (2), McDonogh(1), Roland Park( 2) and Boys’  Latin (1- middle school). Five girls played in the event and 11 boys which included two players from middle school. Going forward, the goal will be to hold a separate middle school event.

Five of the teams had never played doubles before this event which accomplishes one of the goals of the event which is to introduce local junior players to the game of hardball doubles. The final was won by Lindsay Wong and Olive Waxter (Roland Park) over Sam Bogrov and John Harriss (Friends) 3-2 in games and a score of 15-12 in the deciding game. The girls won the first two games and the boys rallied by playing good defensive lobs to get them back into the match to tie the score at 2 games all and forcing a deciding fifth game.  Wong/Waxter defeated Drew Kaup (Park) and Hilary Kolodner (Friends) 3-0 in the semifinals and defeated Grace Muller/Stefan Allen (McDonogh) 3-0 in the first round.

Kaup/Kolodner defeated Heather Coughran and Sydney Rogers (Roland Park) 3-0 in round one. Bogrov/Harriss defeated Friends’ teammates Matt Ringler and Andy Strain 3-0 in the first round. Ringler/Strain defeated Conner Ward/Cameron Adams (Boys’ Latin middle school players) 3-1. Ward/Adams won 5^th place after defeating Muller/Allen 3-1 and Cunningham/Andrew Katz (Park) 3-1 in the consolation first round. The closest and longest match of the tournament was won by Muller/Allen 3-2 over Loughran/Rodgers in the consolation first round.  Neither of these teams had played before and the longer the match went, the better the points were played.

The Jesters provided terrific t-shirts, with a large Jester logo on the back of the shirt, for players, coaches, and two parents, Paul Harriss and Geoff Adams, who refereed multiple matches. Thanks to Paul and Geoff for their efforts and support of the event. Paul and Geoff play doubles and coached the players during their matches, which was especially helpful for the novice doubles players.

Pizzas for dinner were provided by the Jesters (amazing how many pizzas the group ate) and drinks were supplied by Nancy Cushman, owner of Meadow Mill Athletic Club, who also donated the courts for the event. The winning team prizes (bags) were donated by Harrow and Dave Rosen. Bob Everd refereed the final match.

I would like to thank the coaches who supported the event by encouraging their players to participate – Paul Harriss – Friends, Toby Gordon – Park, Barry Rollins and Alice Margraff – McDonogh, Pat Wong – Roland Park and Tom Lynn – Boys’ Latin middle school.

This was the second Jesters doubles event and the players all enjoyed the competition. This year we played full best of 5 games matches and the entire group had a great time on court. A second event will be scheduled for February 27 and 28, 2010. Baltimore Country Club has offered the use of their doubles court as the event continues to grow.

The Jesters, established in the UK, with organizations in the US, Australia, Canada and South Africa, promote squash, court tennis and sponsor international and regional competition in squash, golf and court tennis. The US Jesters will celebrate their 75^th year in September in New York. Meadow Mill hosted the UK Air Force squash team three years ago as a Jester event.

Visit The Jesters Club website at www.thejestersclub.org