Those involved in squash know that it is a small community that can often feel like a big family. Family is a common theme in squash clubs around the country, as a love for the sport is often passed on from generation to generation, with little kids and siblings wanting to follow their family's footsteps onto the court.
With that, it's no surprise to see duplicates of surnames on draw sheets at many events, including the Canada Winter Games. The 2015 Games in Prince George are no exception.
Those involved in squash know that it is a small community that can often feel like a big family. Family is a common theme in squash clubs around the country, as a love for the sport is often passed on from generation to generation, with little kids and siblings wanting to follow their family's footsteps onto the court.
With that, it's no surprise to see duplicates of surnames on draw sheets at many events, including the Canada Winter Games. The 2015 Games in Prince George are no exception.
When combining together the Men's and Women's teams from each Province and Territory, 7 of our twelve teams at this year's Games have at least one pair of siblings competing. Nova Scotia, PEI and Quebec even have two brother-sister pairs on their roster.
"To play squash as a team event is quite a unique situation," says Matthew Toth, member of Team British Columbia along with sister Andrea, and the Men's Individual Bronze Medalist. "To compete on the same team as my sister makes it even more amazing."
The Baillargeon's of Equipe du Quebec have an even more unique story, as the siblings are competing in different sports at the Games – brother David is a top seeded Squash player, and sister Jasmine is part of the Sychronized Swimming team.
Sport has been an important part of both Baillargeon's upbringing, and is present in their daily life. Jasmine is part of the sports-studies program in Quebec City where she goes to school in the morning and trains with the SynchroElite Synchro Club in the afternoon. David made the move to Montreal over a year ago so he could set up a similar schedule and receive the top squash training in the area.
Competing at this level provides a lot of excitement for the family, though it does create quite the challenge for their parents, who are both in town for the Games. The scheduling has overlapped some, meaning the whole family isn't able to take in the biggest moments of the competitions.
Jasmine and Quebec's Syncro team took a slim lead in the Team Event after the Preliminaries on Wednesday, and have set themselves up for a great battle with Alberta in the Team Finals tonight at 6pm. David had a disappointing loss Wednesday night in the Individual Finals, losing in five games to Alberta's Michael Mehl and settling for the silver medal. He will get a second chance at Mehl tonight, as he and the Quebec Men's Squash Team are up against Alberta in the Team Semi-Finals at 6pm.
If all goes to plan, the Baillargeon's will have to make some more room in their trophy case.
