New England Boat Show

This weekend, we did not have any sporting events, so on Sunday, I went to the New England Boat Show at the Boston Convention Center. Even though it is still February, it is still nice to go to this show every year and start to get excited about the upcoming season. Upon first entering the show, one could tell how massive the show was, it could have taken days to see everything if one wanted to check out every booth. Around the perimeter of the expo center were accessories dealers and other service booths. These had the typical boating products such as boat cleaning products, as well as marine electronics, and many other accessories for boating. In the middle of the room was isle after isle of boats.
The booths at the show were good. It seemed however that the boats that were present at the show were more geared towards lakes or ocean cruising:not many serious fishing boats were there. I was disappointed not to see Seacrafts, , Contenders, or Southports which are some of the best center console fishing boats available. Despite this, there was still a good selection, and I would recommend going as it is open through next sunday. Overall, it was a good show, and it gave light to the upcoming fishing season!

Photo Credit: Charlie Brewer

As a result of the predicted snowstorm on Wednesday, our squash match against St. Marks was canceled(It is scheduled to be made up on Monday February 22). We did have a match on Thursday however against Brooks. The match started off with even numbers playing first, and from the start we took control winning the all of the first 4 matches in three games without any problems. The odd players then went on and all won 3-0 without any difficulty. To Brook's credit, they did have a lot of younger and inexperienced players but competed well, but they were no match for us.
This week we are scheduled to play at St. Pauls on Wednesday which has always had a strong squash program. Last year we beat St. Pauls, but two years ago we lost to them and they ended up winning the ISL. It should be a decent match and I will report back the scores later this week.

High School Nationals

This weekend the Belmont Hill Squash team competed in the High School National Championships at Yale. On Friday night, the team played Lawrenceville. Belmont Hill quickly won the first match 7-0. The next morning Belmont hill would compete against the Haverford School. Last year, Belmont Hill lost to Haverford in the 3rd/4th place playoff 4-3 in a very heated match, which came down to one call in a five game match. Because of this, the Belmont Hill players wanted to avenge their loss from last year. Belmont Hill came out strong, winning the first two matches, and then continuing to win the match 5-2. Now in the semi finals, Belmont Hill would go on to play Episcopal Academy, the number one seed, and last years champions. Everyone on Belmont Hill fought hard, with many close matches, but ended up losing to Episcopal 6-1, the score not really reflecting the closeness of the match. Our next match, on Sunday was for the 3rd/4th place playoff. Belmont Hill competed against the Brunswick School, a New England Rival of Belmont Hill squash for many years. Belmont Hill would end up losing 5-2 to Brunswick, with a bunch of close matches.
Overall, Belmont Hill came in 4th place. It was a great showing, and everyone competed to their fullest. Episcopal Academy ended up winning the High School Championships and Chestnut Hill Academy came in second place. The next major goal for the Belmont Hill squash team is to train hard and try to win New Englands in a few weeks.