Media Coverage |
|
 |
$15,000 WISPA Squash on Fire Series 2012
Washington Post Coverage
D.C. standout Camille Lanier is among the players in the Squash on Fire tournament
(Katherine Frey/ THE WASHINGTON POST ) - Camille Lanier lunges for the ball as she practices for the upcoming Squash on Fire tourname
(Katherine Frey/ THE WASHINGTON POST ) - Camille Lanier lunges for the ball as she practices for the upcoming Squash on Fire tourname
By Matt Breen, Published: August 15
Emerging from a towering inferno, Camille Lanier dives across the court and stretches her body in hopes of returning a ball. The advertisement, which stands near the entrance of Georgetown’s posh Sports Club/LA, attempts to draw attention toward the 18-year-old’s appearance in this week’s Squash on Fire tournament.
Squash is a relatively anonymous sport in the District, and Lanier said the aim of the tournament, which opens Thursday, is to bring in national talent while creating a buzz in the area.
The name is in accordance with the title of a squash complex that Lanier’s father, real estate mogul Anthony, plans to construct atop the We st End fire station.
“I wish he would have done it earlier,” Lanier laughed. “It would have made more sense.”
Earlier this year, Lanier was ranked third in the nation as a junior player. She competed in her third straight Under-19 European Championship, playing as part of the Portuguese National team.
Through her mother, Isabel, Lanier possesses dual citizenship and is the team’s top female-singles player. Lanier finished in 12th place at April’s tournament in Portugal.
The Portuguese team first discovered Lanier while she was playing in Spain with a group of top-American youth players. After a match, Lanier approached the players in hopes of acquiring a Portugal shirt.
“Then they saw me play and it was a like a lightbulb went off, and they attacked my parents,” Lanier said. “They needed a girl player.”
Lanier graduated from National Cathedral School and will enroll this month at the University of Pennsylvania. She’ll play squash, as each Ivy League school has a team, and is leaning toward majoring in architecture.
This weekend’s tournament will be Lanier’s third professional tournament but her first since leaving the junior division. Most of her opposition will be older.
“A lot of them have been doing this for years,” Lanier said. “Definitely experience-wise, they’ll have an advantage.”
Lanier played soccer and lacrosse when she was younger and only began playing squash as a way to stay active during the winter. Her mother then started a camp at the sports club to keep her involved. Two years ago, she began traveling to Baltimore to train with four-time NCAA champion Lefika Ragontse.
She was able to configure her high school schedule in order to end classes by noon and then travel by car or train to Baltimore. She’d be back home by 5 p.m. and eat dinner before she started her three or four hours of homework.
“It was really difficult,” Lanier said. “But over the years I learned how to manage it and National Cathedral was really helpful.”
Emerging from a towering inferno, Camille Lanier dives across the court and stretches her body in hopes of returning a ball. The advertisement, which stands near the entrance of Georgetown’s posh Sports Club/LA, attempts to draw attention toward the 18-year-old’s appearance in this week’s Squash on Fire tournament.
Squash is a relatively anonymous sport in the District, and Lanier said the aim of the tournament, which opens Thursday, is to bring in national talent while creating a buzz in the area.
The name is in accordance with the title of a squash complex that Lanier’s father, real estate mogul Anthony, plans to construct atop the We st End fire station.
“I wish he would have done it earlier,” Lanier laughed. “It would have made more sense.”
Earlier this year, Lanier was ranked third in the nation as a junior player. She competed in her third straight Under-19 European Championship, playing as part of the Portuguese National team.
Through her mother, Isabel, Lanier possesses dual citizenship and is the team’s top female-singles player. Lanier finished in 12th place at April’s tournament in Portugal.
The Portuguese team first discovered Lanier while she was playing in Spain with a group of top-American youth players. After a match, Lanier approached the players in hopes of acquiring a Portugal shirt.
“Then they saw me play and it was a like a lightbulb went off, and they attacked my parents,” Lanier said. “They needed a girl player.”
Lanier graduated from National Cathedral School and will enroll this month at the University of Pennsylvania. She’ll play squash, as each Ivy League school has a team, and is leaning toward majoring in architecture.
This weekend’s tournament will be Lanier’s third professional tournament but her first since leaving the junior division. Most of her opposition will be older.
“A lot of them have been doing this for years,” Lanier said. “Definitely experience-wise, they’ll have an advantage.”
Lanier played soccer and lacrosse when she was younger and only began playing squash as a way to stay active during the winter. Her mother then started a camp at the sports club to keep her involved. Two years ago, she began traveling to Baltimore to train with four-time NCAA champion Lefika Ragontse.
She was able to configure her high school schedule in order to end classes by noon and then travel by car or train to Baltimore. She’d be back home by 5 p.m. and eat dinner before she started her three or four hours of homework.
“It was really difficult,” Lanier said. “But over the years I learned how to manage it and National Cathedral was really helpful.”
Wispa Dread 2 - October 2011
Camille Lanier Interview
The Examiner
Local star hopes to Squash the competitionBy: Jim Williams | 10/14/11 11:20 AM
Sports Columnist Follow Him @WordmandcThis weekend Washington will host one of the countries most prestigious Squash Tournaments the second leg of the Women’s International Squash Players Association (WISPA) Tournament in the “Dread Sport Squash Series.”
The action will take place downtown at The Sports Club/LA with the quarterfinals starting at 4p.m. today, the semifinals at 4 p.m. on Saturday and the finals being held on Sunday at noon. Admission is free of charge so you can't beat the price to see some of the top players in the world like Deepika Pallikal, who is a super star in the sport and one of the favorites to win. She has a huge following and is one of India's top sports stars.
Squash is a sport that has a very strong fan base in the Washington area and playing in the tournament is an local girl who is one of the sport emerging young star's. 17 year old Camille Lanier is the number five ranked (junior) women in the USA and the senior at the National Cathedral School looks forward to playing in front of her home town fans this weekend.
We talked about what attracted her to the sport and what makes squash such a challenging sport.
JW: Most young women play tennis. Why squash?
Lanier:"Tennis is a very popular sport and I played it for 4 years myself. One day I just picked up squash because the courts were convenient to my house. Once I started taking lesson squash was just a much more interesting and complex sport to me. I found that squash was more intense and a challenge for me. I loved all the different shots you could make and even create. Also it was a much faster pace then tennis which meant anything could change in the score. You could win easily or if need be you could make a amazing comeback. "
JW: Explain for those who might not know how squash is played?
Lanier:"To play squash you need two people a racket per person and ball. The goal is to keep the point going without making a mistake. The ball has to hit the front wall below the high line and above the low line(tin). When you serve the ball must go above the middle line and land in the opposite box in which you serve from. The points system is win per point and goes up to 11. If two players reach 10 - 10 then the player has to win by two points. Also in squash you have to learn how to move out quickly and recover to make room for the other player to get your ball. If a person is in your way of a shot you can call and Let or Stroke. Let you replay the point and stroke is when the point is given to the player who could not have hit the ball because the player was in the way of the swing."
JW: So you get to play in front of the home crowd this week.
Lanier:"I am both excited but nervous to play this tournament. Because of the college process I'm in the middle of squash has not been my top priority. I'm just looking to gain experience, have a good time, and play my best."
This has been a very busy time for Lanier who is like most young women and men her age on the "college tour" and she hopes to find a university with a top notch squash team.
Once again the tournament will be going on all weekend and admission is free.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/watch/2011/10/local-star-hopes-squash-competition#ixzz1b8jVo48q
Sports Columnist Follow Him @WordmandcThis weekend Washington will host one of the countries most prestigious Squash Tournaments the second leg of the Women’s International Squash Players Association (WISPA) Tournament in the “Dread Sport Squash Series.”
The action will take place downtown at The Sports Club/LA with the quarterfinals starting at 4p.m. today, the semifinals at 4 p.m. on Saturday and the finals being held on Sunday at noon. Admission is free of charge so you can't beat the price to see some of the top players in the world like Deepika Pallikal, who is a super star in the sport and one of the favorites to win. She has a huge following and is one of India's top sports stars.
Squash is a sport that has a very strong fan base in the Washington area and playing in the tournament is an local girl who is one of the sport emerging young star's. 17 year old Camille Lanier is the number five ranked (junior) women in the USA and the senior at the National Cathedral School looks forward to playing in front of her home town fans this weekend.
We talked about what attracted her to the sport and what makes squash such a challenging sport.
JW: Most young women play tennis. Why squash?
Lanier:"Tennis is a very popular sport and I played it for 4 years myself. One day I just picked up squash because the courts were convenient to my house. Once I started taking lesson squash was just a much more interesting and complex sport to me. I found that squash was more intense and a challenge for me. I loved all the different shots you could make and even create. Also it was a much faster pace then tennis which meant anything could change in the score. You could win easily or if need be you could make a amazing comeback. "
JW: Explain for those who might not know how squash is played?
Lanier:"To play squash you need two people a racket per person and ball. The goal is to keep the point going without making a mistake. The ball has to hit the front wall below the high line and above the low line(tin). When you serve the ball must go above the middle line and land in the opposite box in which you serve from. The points system is win per point and goes up to 11. If two players reach 10 - 10 then the player has to win by two points. Also in squash you have to learn how to move out quickly and recover to make room for the other player to get your ball. If a person is in your way of a shot you can call and Let or Stroke. Let you replay the point and stroke is when the point is given to the player who could not have hit the ball because the player was in the way of the swing."
JW: So you get to play in front of the home crowd this week.
Lanier:"I am both excited but nervous to play this tournament. Because of the college process I'm in the middle of squash has not been my top priority. I'm just looking to gain experience, have a good time, and play my best."
This has been a very busy time for Lanier who is like most young women and men her age on the "college tour" and she hopes to find a university with a top notch squash team.
Once again the tournament will be going on all weekend and admission is free.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/watch/2011/10/local-star-hopes-squash-competition#ixzz1b8jVo48q
What player Said
Final
I started the final well today, taking the ball early and attacking at the right times. I managed to get a 9-5 lead in the first but lost the next 6 points through errors and good play from Dipika, so she took the first game 11-9. In the second I was not patient at all trying to play winners instead of building rallies. I hit too many tins and my length was too short which allowed her to dominate the middle of the court, which is exactly what she likes to do! In the 3rd I was more patient but couldn't keep the ball away from the middle enough and although I put up a good fight, Dipika closed out the match by taking it 11-7.
Although I was slightly disappointed with today's scoreline, I have had a great week here in Washington. The organisers and everyone involved have been fantastic and I would not hesitate to come back here again (I hear they are putting us in the Ritz next time!)
Getting to the final will boost me up the rankings next month so I'm really happy about that.
I am currently at Washington Dulles airport waiting for my flight back to Heathrow. Then less than 48 hours in the UK before I head to Stantiago, Spain for a $4k WISPA event where I am playing 4th seed Laura Pomportes from France in the first round. Hopefully I can take everything I have learned this week into practise and push my ranking up further.
Her Blog: http://sjsquash.blogspot.com/
I started the final well today, taking the ball early and attacking at the right times. I managed to get a 9-5 lead in the first but lost the next 6 points through errors and good play from Dipika, so she took the first game 11-9. In the second I was not patient at all trying to play winners instead of building rallies. I hit too many tins and my length was too short which allowed her to dominate the middle of the court, which is exactly what she likes to do! In the 3rd I was more patient but couldn't keep the ball away from the middle enough and although I put up a good fight, Dipika closed out the match by taking it 11-7.
Although I was slightly disappointed with today's scoreline, I have had a great week here in Washington. The organisers and everyone involved have been fantastic and I would not hesitate to come back here again (I hear they are putting us in the Ritz next time!)
Getting to the final will boost me up the rankings next month so I'm really happy about that.
I am currently at Washington Dulles airport waiting for my flight back to Heathrow. Then less than 48 hours in the UK before I head to Stantiago, Spain for a $4k WISPA event where I am playing 4th seed Laura Pomportes from France in the first round. Hopefully I can take everything I have learned this week into practise and push my ranking up further.
Her Blog: http://sjsquash.blogspot.com/
WISPA Dread 1 - August 2011
