Graeme College U11/U13 Squash Festival 2026
What a fantastic weekend of junior squash at Graeme College!
This past weekend, Graeme College proudly hosted a hugely successful U11/U13 Squash Festival, welcoming schools from across South Africa for three days of competitive, entertaining and hard-fought squash. With 23 teams taking part, the standard of squash was exceptional, and every player gave their all in representing their school at this prestigious annual junior school event.
People often ask what makes Graeme College such a great school and enables us to compete at the highest level.
The answer is simple: teachers who coach, coaches who believe, and boys who are taught that our small boys’ school can compete with anyone and should never stand back for anybody.
Alongside that belief come two values that are equally important: respect and humility.
Once again, our Graeme College boys did not disappoint.
Our U13A team had an outstanding festival, winning four of their six matches, including a famous victory over Grey PE U13A.
The U13B team went one better, finishing the festival unbeaten. An excellent achievement and a wonderful reflection of their determination and teamwork.
Our U11A team was also exceptional, winning five of their six matches. Their only defeat came against a very strong Grey PE U11A side in a closely fought encounter.
The U11B boys found the going a little tougher, with most of their fixtures being against U11A teams. However, they showed exactly what Graeme College is about; fighting hard, supporting one another and never giving up, regardless of the score.
There were also some fantastic individual performances throughout the weekend:
Matthew Weber produced an outstanding performance, beating his Grey PE opponent 3–1 in a very close encounter.
Frederik Tladi also secured a superb 3–1 victory over his Grey PE opponent.
Daniel Burger showed tremendous composure to win a thrilling 3–2 match against his Balmoral/Queens opponent.
Jadon Byren produced perhaps the comeback of the festival, fighting back from 2–0 down against his Collegiate U13A opponent to win the match 3–2. What a display of determination!
For the first time, Graeme College hosted all the players, coaches and parents for a spitbraai at the Graemian Centre — and what a success it was!
It was a wonderful opportunity for everyone to relax, socialise and celebrate the weekend together. And, of course, the food was something special. A huge thank you to our very own Mr Donovan Bridger, a Graeme College parent, for producing what can only be described as the best lamb spit in South Africa!
A massive thank you must go to all the schools, players, coaches, parents, officials and volunteers who helped make the 2026 Graeme College Squash Festival such a memorable occasion.
Most importantly, well done to every Graeme College boy who took to the court. You represented the school with pride, determination, respect and humility, which is exactly what it means to be a Graemian.
We are incredibly proud of you.
We look forward to welcoming everyone back to Graeme College for the 2027 edition of the festival!
