The Cayman Islands junior squash team left the British Virgin Islands with an unexpected second-place overall finish at the 2026 Caribbean Area Squash Association Junior Championships.
The Cayman squad’s overall placement earned during the 10-16 July event, which included more than 150 junior squash players from across the Caribbean, marked its highest placement in years in the tournament.
Cayman’s top performances
In the singles girls’ under-19 division, Cayman’s second-seeded Milanna Lamontagne secured a second-place finish after a loss to top-seeded Mehar Trehan of Jamaica (11-1, 11-6, 11-6).
Lamontagne doubled her medal count by capturing second place in the mixed doubles alongside Charlie Makin, falling short against the host nation, British Virgin Islands, in the finals.
“Coming second in individuals and doubles is the best I have ever done these past five years of competing, so I am very happy with my results, especially this being my last year,” said Lamontagne.
“Something that I have learned is that it’s not always about winning or losing. It’s more about trying your hardest and not giving up. Those are the games one looks back on,” she added.
The singles girls’ under-15 division saw Cayman’s second-seeded Kaylee Pierre secure a third-place finish by defeating Barbados’ Olivia Watts in straight games (11-7, 11-4, 11-5).
Pierre also teamed up with Sienna Scarpa to claim third place in the girls’ doubles, while the boys’ doubles duo of Maxi Woolf and Adriano Vera narrowly missed out on medalling.
“This year, the competition on court felt even more intense, especially with the Dominican Republic joining the tournament,” said Pierre.
“Every single member of our team never gave up and fought extremely hard for every single point and I’m proud of myself for winning all but one match and staying focused under all the pressure,” she added.
Pierre recalled the overwhelming disbelief and joy the team felt when the final results were announced.
“We were hoping to place in the top four, so when they didn’t announce us as third, we assumed we came fourth, so imagine our shock when we heard we came second,” said Pierre.
“The moment was surreal and I’m still in shock. It is the most incredible feeling knowing that every point you score contributes to your country’s success,” she added.
In the singles girls’ under-13 division, Scarpa earned a fifth-place finish by overcoming Barbados’ Ella Griffith in a tight four-game battle (12-10, 11-6, 12-14, 13-11).
Spectacular comebacks defined the boys’ singles, as seen with Alexander La-Roda Thomas, who showed great resilience to come from behind twice and defeat Bermuda’s Rian Moloney in five games (8-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-7, 11-8) to take fifth place in the under-11 division.
In the under-13 division, Ylon Chambers, after trailing two games to love, turned the game around by defeating Elian Hamati of Barbados (9-11, 8-11, 13-11, 11-4, 11-8) for ninth place.
Meanwhile, Adriano Vero took sixth in the boys’ under-17 division and Charlie Makin claimed fifth place in the under-19 division after delivering a dominant, straight-games victory over Bermuda’s William Frith (11-7, 11-2, 11-1).
From last to second place
Assistant junior national coach Julian Jervis could not hide his pride when reflecting on Cayman’s achievements.
“Cayman did something huge,” Jervis shared. “Our men’s and women’s teams both placed fourth in the team events, respectively. Our women were the fourth seed, so we met our seeding there, but our boys were the seventh seed so we made massive upsets to come fourth.”
Jervis shared that based on the doubles and the team events, there’s an overall CASA championship ranking for each country.
“For the first time in 16 years since my first Junior CASA, we medalled in the overall category with an amazing overall finish of second. For context, we finished dead last in the overall category two years in a row prior to this,” Jervis highlighted.
“And for my first CASA as coach, to see it have such an impact on our team left me so emotional, I can’t lie. We have the Caribbean on watch and we’re making waves,” he added.
Further highlighting the significance of this year’s results, Jervis shared that the overall CASA ranking is usually regarded as an indication of the strength of the country’s programme.
“For us to show that kind of growth in just one year is beyond encouraging [and] inspiring, and now I hope we can ride this momentum to building out a programme that not only carries an abundance of quality but an abundance of players. Cayman is primed to be a force in squash regionally and globally,” said Jervis.
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