Manu Yam Appointed as 2017 New Zealand World Junior Men's Team Coach

Squash New Zealand has selected 6 males and 6 females to represent New Zealand at the 2017 World Junior Championships in Tauranga on the 19th-29th July. The girls will be coached by Joanne Williams and Kylie Lindsay. The boys will be coached by Glen Wilson in the Individuals, while Manu has been appointed as the 2017 New Zealand Junior Men's team coach.

The 2017 World Junior Championship event promoters are organising a non-sanctioned Junior Men’s Teams Event in the second week of the Championships. It will add value to the countries travelling to New Zealand to compete in the world junior men’s individuals. New Zealand will participate in this event to add international exposure and competition for the New Zealand players on home soil on the 25th-29th July.

The six players in the New Zealand Junior Men's team are:

• Finn Trimble - Northland
• Matthew Lucente - Auckland
• Gabe Yam - Auckland
• Lwamba Chileshe - Waikato
• Mitchell Kempton - Southland
• Quinn Udy - Canterbury

Manu represented the Philippines in junior and senior representative teams and since moving to New Zealand in 2006 has been involved in the Squash New Zealand coaching system. Over the past few years Manu has upskilled himself in several modules from the Coach Development Framework and in 2009 Manu was named the Squash New Zealand Coach of the year, followed by being named Club and School Coach of the Year in 2015.

Manu is currently the high performance Auckland hub coach and is the lead coach for the Young Kiwi Squad. The Young Kiwi Squad consists of New Zealand's top juniors and transitional players moving from junior to senior ranks and meets every 6 weeks in Auckland. Manu is also the personal coach to two New Zealand top ranked juniors - Matthew Lucente and Gabe Yam. Manu's son Rafa has also been highly ranked in the New Zealand juniors for many years.

Manu and Glen will lead the New Zealand junior players throughout the championships and we wish them the best of luck in Tauranga in July.