From Cairns to Ballarat: Junior stars shine on state, national courts

Junior squash players have been punching well above their weight when it comes to representing on state and national stages. Henry Kross, and Max and Lochie Jones have competed in the Australian Junior Championships and Interstate Challenge with Henry and Max also competing in a Test Match against New Zealand. At the Australian titles in Ballarat Max was selected as the number one seed for the Under 15 boys. Ahead of the championships Max was feeling the nerves saying how big the tournament was for him and "being ranked one there's a bit of pressure". To prepare he increased his fitness and training to ensure he was in his best form coming up against some of the best under 15 squash players in the country. Obviously the competition was no match for Max who claimed the Under 15 boys title with a commanding 3-1 victory in the grand final. This victory marks the second year in a row the title has gone to a Parkes athlete following Henry Kross' win in 2024. Henry, now competing in the Under 17s finished runner-up after a tight final. Despite falling short, he was recognised among the top five contenders for the prestigious MC Hazel Award which honours sportsmanship and performance across all age groups. During the Australian Junior Championships Max and Henry also competed as part of NSW's division one team which claimed top honours, adding a second medal for the duo. Lochie competed finishing 16th in the Under 15 boys. The trio of Max, Henry and Lochie have also been busy representing Parkes High School, and NSW and Australia in other tournaments prior to the Australia Junior Championships. The three athletes were selected to represent CHS NSW in the Interstate Challenge against Queensland in Cairns. Despite the challenging hot and humid conditions, Max dominated his matches winning all his games against his Queensland opponents. Henry also had a strong campaign going undefeated. "The competition was tough mainly due to the conditions, making the ball bounce way more than I'm used to," Henry said. "I played fairly decent and managed to go through the tournament undefeated, which was made even better with Australia beating the New Zealand team for the first time ever." Following their success in the interstate competition, Henry and Max were selected to represent Australia in a Test Match against New Zealand where they helped secure the historic win, the first for Australia against the Kiwi side. This earned Henry his fourth cap for Australia and Max's second. Parkes squash coach Jay Kross praised Western's representation at the two competitions. "We are incredibly proud of all the Western region kids who played," he said. "To have eight Western kids in the NSW team is a huge achievement. While three are from Parkes, others travel from Cowra, Dubbo and Forbes to train and compete locally. "Then to have four Western kids make the Aussie team was fantastic! "They should all be proud of the hard work they've been putting in." But their representation of Parkes High School didn't stop in Cairns. This time the trio were joined by Zac Guy who together represented the school in Bendigo as part of the top four highest ranked open school squash teams in the state. The boys claimed silver and cemented their title of second best open schools boys squash team in NSW. And there's more. Henry has just been awarded his first Professional Squash (PSA) Wildcard. Next month he will compete in Sydney in a PSA Challenger 6 Tournament. At 15 years old, Henry will be the youngest competitor in the men's draw and will face world number 355 Muhammad Ammad from Pakistan in round one.