Playa of the Week

He's fit. He's fast. And his shots are on the mark.

Darren Chaisson has always been good, but his natural talent for squash combined with fitness and more experience on the "T", has made it so that in a short period of time, he's become one of the best players on the Island. Darren has had a huge month with squash already, representing PEI at the National Men's Team Championships, along with brother, Mitch, and buddy Mike Buchanan. Darren performed spectacularly well, with big wins again New Brunswick and Saskatchewan, and tough, hard-fought losses to Manitoba, BC, and Nova Scotia. Darren and his teammates hard work on and off the court resulted in PEI securing a 7th place ranking, out of 12 teams. 

This past weekend was also a good one for Darren. In the Junior Fundraiser Tournament, Darren met brother and teammate from the week before, in the semi-finals. Several long rallies and many crazy shots later Mitch came out on top - but we expect more entertaining match ups from those two in teh future. Darren took that loss in stride, however, and took down patriarch of our own squash dynasty, Lester Jinks, in 3.

It seems the only way to get ahead of Darren is to find out some of his secrets . . . he shared a few with us!!

How long have you been playing squash? How many times a week do you get onto the courts?

I have been playing Squash for almost 5 years. I try to get on court twice a week.

What is one of your biggest strengths on the court?

I don't know if I have any strengths, but I really try to use my fitness to help me win matches.

You just participated at the National Team Championships. What was that experience like?

I had the time of my life at Nationals.  It was lots of fun hanging out with Mitch, Mike and Chansey and  

free breakfast, lunch, supper and beer, didn't hurt the experience any.  Just being around that level of squash  

for a full weekend was extremely exciting. 

What did you learn at the Nationals that you plan to bring back to your game on the Island?

Something I've learned at Nationals hmm...I need to minimize errors, my shots need to be tighter, harder and I need to be fitter.

What racquet do you use and what would your strongest and weakest shot be?

I use a Harrow racquet (thanks to Mitchell), and my weakest shot would be any type of drop shot, and my strongest  

shot would be my forehand cross court nick...haha

I would like to thank the many volunteers that run squash PEI, from the time spent with junior development programs to tournament directors, you all do an amazing job!!

Thank you Darren!