The squash camps at McArthur Squash Center are led by UVA Squash Head Coach Mark Allen. Coach Allen is fully involved in the teaching of the camps, actively coaching in every single one of the camp's technical sessions. All camp paricpants, regardless of playing level, can expect plenty of interaction and time on court with UVA's Head Coach.
Session Types
Assessment Session: Sunday's session is a shorter match-play based session designed to meet two goals: to introduce players and coaches to one another and to check the accuracy of each player's US Squash rating. During technical sessions we group players together based primarily on rating. And while the rating system is typically very accurate, there are occasional anomalies. The assessment session affords coaches an opportunity to catch any such discrepancies and ensure that all players are placed in the group that will best promote their growth and development over the course of the week.
Technical Sessions: During our technical sessions campers are split into 3-4 separate goups. Each group is assigned to one of our lead coaches, who takes responsibility for guiding the players in his or her group through the practices and drills most appropriate for their level of play. The technical sessions are themed and as a result they incorporate specific shots within a context that calls for tactical decision making, rather than treating these shots in isolation.
Day 1: From the Back to the Back
Day 2: Attacking from the Middle 1/3rd
Day 3: Defending from the Front 1/3rd
Day 4: Attacking from the Front 1/3rd
Day 5: [final day theme is based on observations from days 1-4]
The coaches rotate each day so that all camp participants will work with all lead coaches. During technical sessions players are usally 3 to a court with a 1:6 coach-to-player ratio.
Match-Play Based Sessions: Our match play sessions are in the afternoons and are usually designed to give camp participants the opportunity to put the morning's practice into action. The match-play sessions often include conditioned games played in a winner up, loser down format. They also include best of 5 head-to-head matches, usually played in a team dual match format. Match-play time is rounded out with other team games to ensure everyone is having fun and mixing up with one another! Match play sessions are usually 2 to a court.