After nearly two months of competition the 2007 Squash League, held at the Better Bodies Cross Training Center, began on Tuesday.

This was the 11th year that the league has been put on by Better Bodies, located on 133 Industrial Road and there is always a surplus of players who attempt to qualify.

' (The) league is really popular because it assures that a participant is entitled to one game a week, which is set in stone until the end of April when we have semi-finals and finals,' said Marie Desmarais, a squash pro for Better Bodies. 'It's fun, it's exciting, it's a great way to meet people too and it's also competitive.'

The squash season officially starts at the beginning of September, which is when the qualification round for the league is held. Only 56 of the top players who competed in the qualification round are eligible to play in the league. After the players are given a final ranking, they are then split into two divisions that are made up of 28 players in each. Both divisions have seven teams in total and must have four players on each one. Once a team has been selected, the players are placed in a one to four position category in an attempt to make the matches more competitive. Only two people can play on the court at once and the position numbers always have to be the same. Matches are then played in a best of five games format.

Division One plays every Tuesday night from 7-10 p.m. and Division Two plays on Thursday, at the same time.

This year approximately half of the people who qualified to play are first-timers in the league and some of them even earned a number one position ranking on their teams

Desmarais thinks the increased interest in squash at the centre is partly because of Whitehorse hosting the Canada Winter Games in 2007. Squash has been featured at the Canada Winter Games since 1991.

' I think the Canada Winter Games brought us a lot of exposure and because of that there are a lot of new people playing squash, so I think it's quite exciting,' she said. 'The courts are quite full right now.'

She said Better Bodies has also helped increase the sport's popularity in the community through a deal offered when an individual signs up for some type of membership with the centre.

'If you become a permanent member of Better Bodies they offer two free lessons,' Desmarais said. 'The hardest thing about squash is getting people on the court. Once you get them on the court it sells itself.'

Blaine Tessier qualified for Division One and has been playing squash for 14 years. He competed in the league last year where his team finished at the top of the standings before they were eliminated in the semi-finals.

Tessier said there are a lot of advantages to playing in the league.

'It's really a social league and everybody takes it fairly seriously, but really in the end the league is just a really good time to get together and play squash,' he said. 'It's always a lot of fun playing in the league. This is a good reason to play squash.'

Tessier plays in the number one position on the team and he is confident about their chances at winning the tournament.

Tessier, who has been playing at Better Bodies centre since it opened, doesn't care about what place his team comes in before the playoffs start and is even a little superstitious about finishing in first.

'There has always been this curse of first, whichever team finishes first usually doesn't win,' he said. 'We call it the curse of first. It took four or five years for the team that finished first to actually win the league.'

He said the only thing that's important is finishing the season in the top four in order to qualify for the playoffs.

Tessier won six points for his team,Yukon Brewing, which ended up with 13 points in total. They are currently in fourth place in the Division One standings.

Tuesday Night Squash League

In last night's action, Kilrich had a great first game. Three of their players were able to win all six possible match points against their opponents from Roche Financial.

Kilrich 20

Roche Financial12

With an overall total of 20 points, Kilrich is hanging on to slim lead in the standings of the Tuesday Night Squash League. Team consistency and overall good play was what helped Kilrich lock down their first place ranking, as Peter Mather, Charlie Hoeller and Richard Meredith all had really big nights. Although Roche Financial didn't win, the team's position one player, Kyle Marchuk, had a great game. He won the best of five format in four sets. Marchuk got the maximum six points, which helped Roche Financial secured fifth place in the standings.

MEDIAsolutions19

Pizza Hut 11

Trevor Mead-Robins went the distance in his five set match against Cam Grandy to join fellow teammate Mark Tubman with six points in total. MEDIAsolutions is currently one point behind Kilrich for first place. Shaun Stinson had a big game for Pizza Hut taking three sets out of four to defeat Gord Starko.

Ketza 14

Yukon Brewing 13

Ketza edged Yukon Brewing after strong performances by Phil Jackson, who ended up with a total of five points, and Jodi Tuton, who finished with six.