Junkies weekend is the ultimate squash party
By JASON MORRIS – The Man Who Runs The Junkies Festival
Last weekend saw the 20th edition of Junkies. It’s an international team squash event combining great squash and intense socializing. We are based at ‘Meersquash, Hoofddorp, Netherlands. Its a 10 court club, 10 minutes from Schiphol airport and 20 minutes from Amsterdam.
Teams are made up of at least 4 guys and 2 girls although reserves are a good idea due to the brutal nature of the schedule!
This year boasted 22 teams with a very international flavor, Players from Russia, Ukraine, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Colombia, Israel, Uk, Holland and plenty of hard partying germans.
At the top end there are professional and semi professional players, Tim Weber, Dylan Bennet, Natalie Grinham to name a few this year and playing for the lower places club players looking for a unique experience. There is a good balance between performance and a real fun time.
We kick off every year with a welcome party on Thursday nite, a chance to meet up with players from past years and to ease into the weekend. For some the 9.00am start on Friday for squash is a bit of a struggle! We played until late afternoon this year then headed to Amsterdam for a boat cruise on the river with a thai buffet on board, this was very well received and a moment of relaxation before a night in the city.
We are lucky to have the use of Club Smokey in the entertainment square of Rembrandtsplein for the rest of the evening. A DJ, drinks and cool ambiance lends itself to a good vibe.
Those who wished too the buses provided back to base, arriving at 2am, giving players the chance to grab a few hours rest before the 9:30am start on Saturday morning, I am sure we lost a few participants to the early morning delights of Amsterdam!
Every day we provide a breakfast at the club for the players, especially for those camping in the small village that springs up in the club car park. The tents add to a festival atmosphere. The glory chimneys arrived a week early with their camp to prepare for the event!
Saturday sees the bulk of the squash, this year London’s Team Coolhurst led by captain Alex Crouch reaching a Sunday afternoon final to meet Germany’s Glory Chimneys Boastbusters under the control of master organizer Mr Michael Gaede.
Our third party nite is a themed event at ‘Meersquash. This years’ neon glow theme proved a tremendous success yieding a packed dancefloor until 4am and a multitude of great fotos. Everybody made a great effort with the fancy dress with some stunning results.
A late start, 11:00am Sunday morning gave the partygoers a brief chance to recover before finishing the squash tournament. The final at 2pm saw an injury hit Coolhurst unable to resist the efficient German machine of the Boastbusters who claimed the title of Junkie 20. Columbian/German/Scottish combo “Drop it like its hot” came in a commendable third.
It was a great very long weekend, with great people creating a great atmosphere. There were some standout moments and performances. I loved Henry Pelham of Coolhurst singing Happy Birthday junkie in Mandarin chinese on Saturday night! Damon Chase’s glow morphsuit was also impressive.
Myself and Mariska my wife are very grateful to all the players who made everything so special. From me personally many thanks for the incredible gift I received from the players at prizegiving to celebrate 20 years of junkie! I will enjoy it.
Pictures by JASON MORRIS and his team