Murray Smith was in tough at the World Police and Fire Games in New York City - and it wasn't just the competition on the squash court.
Smith was in New York City last month when Hurricane Irene hit. He and his family were not really affected by the storm, but the squash competition, as well as many of the other 65 events, were either cancelled or rescheduled.
Smith ended up losing in the quarterfinals, dropping his final match 3-0 to the eventual champion from Northern Ireland in the 50-plus grand master category.
Smith won his first two matches against competitors from Belgium and Australia, but when the event was revamped from a round robin to a 32-modified double knockout event, Smith was knocked out after only his first loss.
It was a disappointing finish for Smith, who won a silver medal at the last Games in 2009 in Vancouver.
"I was disappointed at the time because I trained very hard, but in the final match, the games were very close and could have gone either way," Smith said. "Had things not changed with the draw, I'm pretty sure I would have made the medal round."
But despite the loss, Smith said it was a great event.
"It was fun to hear all the different languages spoken around the squash court," he said.
"The opening of the Games was just incredible with more than 4,000 athletes among the 20,000 that came into the stadium. To see all the athletes from so many different countries in their uniforms was very cool."
And with the hurricane a major factor of the competition, what was going on in the city brought everything into perspective for the Sunshine Coast conservation officer.
"The Games are made up of primarily fire, police and corrections officers. We're all first responders, so we all understood that these things can happen," he said. "In fact, many whose events were cancelled were asked to help out in the relocating of people in the lower boroughs of New York City."
At the local level, the Sunshine Coast Squash League begins play on Oct. 15. Players of any level can sign up and connect with other players at the Gibsons and Area Community Centre.
The junior program, now in its fourth year, started last month and has 20 kids from ages six to 15.
Smith said the juniors will be going into Vancouver twice this year to the Evergreen and Hollyburn clubs to play matches along with Nanaimo with the idea of having both Nanaimo and West Vancouver come to the Sunshine Coast in the near future.
Smith said the adult league continues to grow with more than 40 players. To find out more about squash on the Coast, check out www.coastsquash.ca.
