Budding squash players battled for honours in the finals of the North Essex Junior League, held at the University of Essex.

Boys and girls teams - six from year six and under and six from year eight and under - participated in the event, which was sponsored by the North Essex Squash Academy (NESA).

School year six and under boys’ teams came from Harwich Sports Centre, Frinton, Holmwood House, Lexden and Wick Lodge.

Harwich emerged as the winners, defeating Frinton and Holmwood House in the final play-offs.

Harwich’s girls’ year six and under team emulated the boys, winning the most points and the league title in a round-robin style match against Lexden.

Last year, Harwich’s teams were third and second respectively and it was great to see the joy on their faces as the win was proof of the hard work put in by them and dedicated team coach Chris Chitty.

The stand-out performers at this level were Ben Richardson, Conor Adams and Chloe Rudkin, all from Harwich.

At school year eight and under level, the girls’ title had already been decided the previous weekend and Frinton’s girls were declared the league winners.

In the boys’ category on the day, there were very close matches with hard-fought rallies and enthusiastic support.

Lexden proved the surprise package as they had lost most of their matches in the previous two rounds.

They managed to win against Frinton and only just lost to an impressive Ardleigh team, who were without at least two of their best players.

Conor Gallagher and Alex Shuter, from Lexden, and Charlie Green, also from Lexden, were the stand-out performers at this level and it was evidence of their recent application and improvement.

However, their efforts proved in vain as both Frinton and Ardleigh began the weekend too many points in front to catch up.

Ardleigh were declared the deserved winners as they had been the best overall standard team since the start of the league in March.

NESA director and overall league organiser Chris Vine is hoping to repeat the success of this year’s competition next year.

He wants to add a year ten and under category as more local schoolchildren become involved in the Primary Schools Mini Squash League, which will commence in September.