John Oakley may not be a household name but as Susan Devoy's husband his participation - and that of three of the couple's boys - at this weekend's Northland Open, is tantamount to a royal appearance.
The event has always drawn its fair share of outsiders to the Whangarei-based event, Squash
Northland's Sharon Crawford said, but the next generation of Oakleys has already become a talking point.
"John comes up here quite often for work and sometimes calls into the club to have a game and a catch up while he's up here and this time he's staying a bit longer and bringing three of the four boys with him to play in the tournament," she said.
It's not the first time the family has competed here, with Devoy herself a former champion.
"It was funny because when we were dusting off the trophies this week someone noticed Susan's name on the women's open trophy and who knows? Maybe we'll get another of the family's name up on the board," he said.
It won't be easy for anyone to take the silverware out of the area, with the locals dominating the tournament's top seedings.
The men's division has a strong draw with Tate Matson, on a break from university, and Brent Lewis expected to make the final.
Waipu's Abbie Palmer, recently selected for the New Zealand team to attend the Junior World Championships, is the top seed in the women's open. If the draw goes as expected she will meet Mangakahia's Sacha Pou Tito in the final.
Because there are 106 entries, some matches will start tonight at the Whangarei Squash Club at Tarewa Rd. Play continues through tomorrow with the finals scheduled to start at around 3pm.
