A small racquet club here is producing some of Canada’s top talent – two of them from the same family.
Brothers Cameron and Ravi Seth are among Canada’s top ranked squash players in their respective age groups. Their father, Shaman Seth, said the story is not just about his sons, but the club, its involvement in the community, and the quality of players from it.
The quality is evident from Cameron’s participation in February in Halifax – at the Canada Winter Games. As part of Team Ontario, four boys and four girls, he helped bring home gold for the boys. The girls team won silver.
Cameron, a grade 12 student at Centre Wellington District High School, was one of 2,700 athletes representing the provinces for 20 Sports across Canada. The games are held only once every four years and athletes qualify over four years. Cameron had to set a rigorous goal and work extremely hard for four years, balancing sport and fitness while maintaining top marks (97-plus average) in academics.
He was under-17 boys finalist in the December 2010 Canadian Open Junior Championships in St. Catharines. He is also on the nine-member national Junior Men’s team – of which three are selected for the Pan American Games. He turned 17 the day prior to the interview late last month. Until his birthday, he was ranked number one in Canada for under 17s. After his birthday his rank dropped slightly in the new age category. Now in the under-19 group, he is ranked number 5 in Canada. In December he also took part in the U.S. Open in Boston, finishing 10th, with over 140 in his draw and over 600 at Harvard University.
In February, Cameron placed first at a Squash Ontario tournament in Oakville and in April he won the provincial title.
Shaman Seth said coincidently, at the same tournament, his other son, Ravi, was ranked at 5 in Ontario for under-13s.
Ravi moved to third in Ontario when he won that tournament.
“It was kind of a treat for us because both of them were in the finals and both ended up winning the tournament,” Shaman Seth said. “I was just happy that they did well; never mind winning.”
Cameron recently won the club championship, marking the third time in a row he’s done that. In late April, the boys went to the Canadian Junior Nationals in Calgary. Cameron then went to the Canadian National Squash Academy from May 4 to 7, playing against pros.
Cameron admitted to starting the sport really young. “When my dad used to come, he’d play in the leagues, and I’d just play around. I had a couple of buddies here.”
There were junior squash camps and summer at Racquets, which are popular. This year, Cameron moved up to be one of the counsellors. He played a number of different Sports, including tennis, badminton, and squash. “Then I picked squash and started going to tournaments.”
He said his older sisters also played squash, “so I kind of followed what they were doing.”
He found the competitions interesting, and “very competitive.”
Two years ago, he had been losing ground to other players, so, “Over the past year I’ve really started training and things have been picking up. I’ve been doing a lot more fitness and watching what I eat. I’ve seen a big difference in my game in the past year.”
Shaman interjected that about two years ago Cameron experienced a really tough match at the Ontario Open in 2009. “After that, he dedicated himself to the game and gave up other Sports.”
He played soccer and other Sports.
“He made a serious commitment to squash, which meant training, diet, weight room, fitness strengthening, along with illness and injury prevention.”
Shaman Seth said there are vitamins, rest plus care from a massage therapist and a chiropractor, to ensure Cameron is working at a high performance.
“It was a two year process where he has come from and did a lot of work. It’s a huge life lesson.”
Cameron has learned “hard work pays off. I’ve put in a lot of work and a lot of effort, and a lot of time. We’re from this little club, but it makes a big difference.”
He estimated he has hit hundreds of thousands of balls – whereas others might do a bit of training and matches with high performance players.
“It’s just not the same time and effort. I think that’s what I’ve taken out of this, that hard work pays off.”
He practices five to six days a week for an hour-and-a-half per day. There are tournaments every other week or so – generally on weekends.
Ravi Seth started in a way similar to his brother when he was around age 5.
“I just went with my older siblings … watching them play.”
Then he started playing with them.
Like his brother, Ravi considers the sport a good experience.
Shaman said in 2009, Ravi was the Ontario champion for boys under 11.
“After that, he fell back in the pack,” Shaman said.
He said Ravi was the one that other players were chasing, and they caught up.
“This year, Ravi’s had some challenges but in the past couple of months, he’s really been working hard, and focussed. Some of the success has come because of that.”
Shaman Seth considers it a cycle where all of the players improved as a group.
“They are still good friends off the court and those friendships remain both on and off the court – even though they are fierce competitors.”
Cameron’s immediate plans included coming tournaments plus, he said, next summer there are the World Junior Games, which are held every two years.
“I’ve been picked for the national squad, which means I have a chance of making that team.”
Next year, Cameron is also heading to the University of Waterloo to study math and physics.
“I’m going to continue playing squash. They have some squash courts and a lot of players.”
He said both of his sisters are there.
“I’m going to continue playing squash and doing the best that I can.”
Shaman Seth was quick to recognized Black Knight, which has sponsored them for the past 10 years by providing equipment as a key sponsor.
In addition, he cited the sponsorship of the Elora Racquets Club and it owner, Jake Doering.
Shaman Seth described the club “as the gem on the Grand [River],” which has a long history in the community.
“It’s a private club, but it provides a lot to the community.”
Shaman said a lot of schools take part in programs there, and the club has a positive impact on the young people.
Some of them become counsellors, then head off to be successful young adults.
“This environment is very conducive to success,” Shaman said.
Even with the limited resources of the club, it still produces a championship calibre members.
He explained that in larger clubs such as Toronto and Vancouver, there are more resources – often with three pros on staff.
Comparably, Shaman said the Elora club has a skeleton staff, quarter-time pros, with parents playing a larger role the smaller facility.
Though he agrees it may not be considered a world class facility, “It is amazing. For a little club out in the sticks, most people in Toronto ask where it is – in horse and buggy area? – how do you get to the club? I think the story is more about the community, the club, and owner Jake Doering and the stars created here.”
Shaman added that in recent years, Doering was recipient of two chamber of commerce awards, one for community service and the other for citizenship. “This club is providing a service not only to us, but for 500 members. The key is, with our family, and all the club with Jake Doering at the helm, the sport is first and foremost fun. If you make it not fun, people will not continue.”
Doering said “without families like the Seths to help, “We wouldn’t be doing as well as we are.”
Last November marked the 30th anniversary of Racquets. Doering has owned it since 1997.
Shaman said, “Jake always encourages juniors and kids. He wants young families to join and he wants kids to play, whereas other clubs might be for adults only.”
Doering said “It’s a good place for kids to be. It’s a healthy place and a chance for parents to be with their kids.”
He compared it to other Sports where parents drive their kids to hockey and just sit and watch them. This way they can play together.”
He said summer camps are the best way to introduce young people to all ten Sports offered. Camps averaged 285 participants a year over the past decade.
“For a lot of kids, the summer camp was their first opportunity to play squash or tennis.”
Shaman added that many of the young people going to the camps end up becoming the best instructors later on “as three of my kids have done- and the fourth is on deck.”
