2009 Junior State Championships
(May 12, 2009)
The Junior State Championships were held on May 2nd at ClubSport of Pleasanton and provided some interesting twists on this yearly event. Thanks to the many volunteers and helpers, we were able to run the entire tournament over one day. We received a lot compliments and thanks from the parents for managing 55+ junior players and a multitude of events (including singles and doubles) in one day; especially those parents who traveled a long distance to have their children compete. It was great to welcome 9 players from the Southern California area. Thanks for making the trip!
Another innovative bonus was that the CSRA picked up the cost of the first year membership for all of the first time tournament entrants. This, too, was greatly appreciated by the parents and by the tournament directors, since the generous offer enlisted more junior players into the event. As coaches, racquetball directors, and CSRA board members, we are exploring more ways to encourage kids to get involved in the sport and accommodating the families is high on the list. There were 25 new Junior members as part of this tournament.
We used a format that R2 does not have programmed into its system, but one that allowed the juniors to play more games against different opponents than usual. The players were in pools, initially, and every player from these pools advanced to draws: Gold for the top players; Blue, red and white (if enough players) for the rest of the competitors. So, in addition to top finishers listed on R2, players did well in some of the other draws: 10 White singles 1st Brant Kickhofel 2nd Vittoria Tommasini; 14 Red singles 1st, Tyler Llapitan, 2nd Mikey Neishi, semis’ Logan Nance and Ben Koos. 14 White singles 1st Sara Leon, 2nd Michael Hinsberg. The 14 singles girls champion title was won by Sabrina Viscuso over 2nd place Sara Leon.
We offered both 6 and under and 8 and under multi bounce divisions. The youngest division had Ken Stone on the court with the little juniors while they played. He modified games and rules so they, too, could participate in the state championship. Let’s get the kids playing as young as we can!
We’d like to give a special thanks to people sponsoring this event: Larry Steiner, CSRA president and co-owner of Lee and Larry’s Bad Ass BBQ who provided the funds for our lunch. Gil Cepeda, racquetball director and junior coach at Los Gatos Health & Fitness club, provided the ice cream for our afternoon ice cream social. The members of Club Sport (too many to list) who spent so many hours refereeing, making and serving our delicious lunch, running errands, handling the check in desk, and generally assisting in any way they could are the greatest support for junior racquetball anyone could ask for.
Elaine Dexter
Tournament Director
ClubSport Pleasanton Racquetball Director
Women's Pro Stop in the news
(Apr 29, 2009) The Women’s Pro Ektelon Championships held this past weekend in Stockton got the attention of CBS Channel 5 News:
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Beyond the Short Line - March/April 2009
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Collegiate Nationals
(Apr 12, 2009) Collegiate racquetball players descended on the ASU courts in Tempe, Arizona for the 2009 USAR Collegiate Nationals in the first week of April. California was represented by players from CSU Fresno, CSU Sacramento, UC Berkeley, and San Joaquin Delta College. This was Delta’s first year on the national collegiate stage, but they brought California junior veterans Jose Rojas, Teresa Diaz, Ismael Aldana, David Horn, and Jose Serrano. Even with just 5 players (out of 12 on a full team), they captured the men’s individual title, 2nd place men’s team, and 5th place overall team. Awesome.
 Jose Rojas playing Anthony Carson (CSU, Pueblo) in the Men’s I semi-finals. Jose went on to win the men’s individual championship. |
 The Cuerno Windmill—click on the photo to see the windmill in action. Contest |
| Images from the racquetballonline.tv live video streaming of collegiate nationals. Used with permission. They have videos of Div I finals matches on their site now. Viewers will need to sign up for a free account. | |
Additional information and results are available at USA Racquetball.
Racquetball Warehouse CSRA State Singles
The Wrapup
(Apr 10, 2009) The CSRA State Singles Championship was held March 20–22 in Fresno. Thanks to Racquetball Warehouse and our other sponsors for their help in building the event, and to all of the organizers and players who made it such a great event.
Results at r2sports.com |
Photos
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Videos at racquetballonline.tv |
Discuss at meetandplay.com |
The state singles championships came to Central California this year taking place at Sierra Sport and Racquet Club along with Centerpoint Athletic Club… Players from throughout the state attended the event held March 20-22.
John Ellis, Steve Cook and their band of tournament elves made the tournament run smoothly the whole weekend. Several CSRA Board members were on hand to help where needed. Merijean Kelley did an excellent job organizing the terrific Saturday night banquet.
The event began Friday afternoon with play at both clubs. Matches were self ref other than Open matches or if players requested a ref. This seemed to work out smoothly. Matches were on time for the most part.
Play continued early Saturday ending with a great match between Stockton buddies and junior stars Jose Diaz and Marco Rojas…
From there the players moved on to the banquet—an excellent Mexican dinner with the decor to go with it was arranged by Merijean along with Colleen Keating and Debra Nathan.
As players were eating their enchiladas etc. an awards presentation was done. First honored were the 2008 Junior Stars of the year. Seven Junior players were honored who made some significant accomplishments in 2008. Brian Dixon, CSRA Junior Director, made the presentations. Those honored included (by age): Sabrina Viscuso, Sawyer Lloyd, Devon Pimentelli, Jose Diaz, Marco Rojas, Aubrey O’Brien and Jose Rojas.
The awards proceeded with the presentation of the Presidents awards. Peggine Tellez (past CSRA President) made the presentations to the recipients who earned the honor by having an impact on Racquetball in 2008.
Play started up again Sunday with continuation of some round robins and the playoffs of pool play. The day culminated with the final of the Open match. This saw the new rivalry of John Ellis versus Junior star Jose Rojas. It was an exciting match with the crowd divided in who they should root for...It went to a tie breaker with John pulling it out 11-9!! You can catch this match as well as some others at www.Racquetballonline.tv.
Stay tuned for the State Doubles coming up in the Fall…
Again, a big thanks to our title sponsor Racquetball Warehouse as well as other sponsors Ektelon, Head, Gearbox, E-Force, and Pro Kennex…
Collegiate Racquetball Update
(Mar 23, 2009) On February 28th, players from University of Southern California (USC), Azusa Pacific University (APU), and Claremont University Consortium (CUC) met at the Claremont Colleges to represent their schools in the collegiate shootout. After a grueling day of round-robin play, with each player playing a minimum of 4 matches, Pascal Cooper (USC) beat Jeffrey Weiss (CUC) in the finals. In the consolation game, Ankit Bhargav (USC) and Joel Roberts (APU) tied for third due to the exhaustion of both players.
The support of Pro Kennex is gratefully acknowledged for providing prizes for winners of the tournament, as is the work of Jeffrey Weiss and the Claremont racquetball team for hosting the tournament.
The next collegiate racquetball event is going to be the UC Santa Cruz Surf & Slam, May 2nd–3rd. Collegiate events are open to all full-time college students. Visit the WCRC website for more information.
Upcoming Events for Juniors and Masters…
Juniors Racquetball:
- San Diego Open Junior Racquetball Tournament
Saturday, February 21, 2009
American Athletic Club, National City, CA
Flyer: 2009_0221_SanDiegoOpenJunior.pdf
- Juniors Camp: Sorrento Valley and Aaron Embry
Saturdays (Mar 7th, 21st, 28th; April 4th)
Flyer: 2009_Sorrento_Jr_Club_Flyer.pdf
- Juniors Camp: American Athletic Club and Aaron Embry
Fridays 4:30pm – 6:00pm (Feb 20th; Mar 6th, 20th, 27th)
Flyer: 2009_AAC_Jr_Flyer.pdf
Masters:
- National Masters Racquetball Association Championships
Canoga Park, March 11–14.
Tournament website: www.r2sports.com/tourney/home.asp?TID=4089
Wishing you were at National Doubles?
(Feb 12, 2009) Selected Men's and Women's US Team Qualifying matches are being streamed via live video through the Team USOC website:
So Where Did You Last Play Racquetball?
“Beware Jet Blast”
Racquetball Pros Join the Fleet onboard USS BONHOMME RICHARD (LHD 6)
[see MilitaryRacquetball.com for more photos and videos]
(Dec 5, 2008) For the first time in history, a portable outdoor racquetball court was placed on the flight deck of a naval vessel to showcase the benefits of racquetball as it relates to fitness for Sailors. The USS BONHOMME RICHARD (LHD 6) welcomed the top professional racquetball players from the International Racquetball Tour, Women’s Professional Racquetball Organization, World Outdoor Racquetball and Classic Professional Racquetball Tour. “We’re making history onboard this vessel, as we promote health and fitness for our Sailors through the sport of racquetball,” said Lt. Cmdr. Steven Harper of Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron Five and event organizer. “This is an opportunity to show Sailors how to play the game and promote the sport in the military,” said Alvaro Beltran, the number four ranked player on the International Racquetball Tour.
The idea of merging Navy fitness with the game of Racquetball began two years ago, while Lt. Cmdr Harper was deployed to the Gulf onboard a Norfolk based Cruiser. “Initially I was only thinking of how cool it would be to bring some type of court onto my ship while underway.” says Lt. Cmdr Harper.” But then I learned about the possibilities of portable outdoor racquetball courts, and I thought it would be more exciting to bring the game of Racquetball directly to Sailors who have never been exposed to it and who know nothing about the physical and mental challenges of the game”.
He put his idea into action while attending the 41st USA Racquetball Association National Singles Championship, where he met Hank Marcus with World Outdoor Racquetball and Peggine Tellez with the California State Racquetball Association. Together, this dynamic team orchestrated the two day demonstration onboard the USS BONHOMME RICHARD, November 12-13, then seamlessly launched the All Military National Championship at Naval Base San Diego, November 14-16.
The planning of such a huge undertaking took massive coordination between organizers, sponsors and the ship’s staff. In fact, timing was critical as the BONHOMME RICHARD had just returned to port (San Diego) from for a four month exercise – conducting maritime exercise missions with coalition forces, and it was scheduled to fulfill additional operational mission requirements. Yet, even with such a tight schedule, the ship’s Commanding Officer, CAPT N. Parrott and CMDCM T. Verschueren thought this would be a unique way to introduce the sport and feature a new option for physical fitness to Sailors.
The day before the event kickoff Chuck West, of GIMEL Properties, and his crew transported and built the portable outdoor court on the flight deck of the ship. Working from sunup to sunset, they meticulously erected the court that would be used to make naval history. Then it was time to play.
The clinic began with exhibition matches between the professional players. Sailors were also given the opportunity to test their racquetball skills against the pros so see if they could score a few points. The professional players in attendance were IRT Professionals Rocky Carson, Jason Mannino, Alvaro Beltran and Chris Crowther; WPRO Professionals Rhonda Rajsich and Angela Grisar; CPRT Professionals Bret Harnett and Jimmy Lowe; and WOR Professionals Greg Solis and Craig Lane.
Between games, the sponsors, players, and guests were given the opportunity to tour the ship and have lunch with the crew. Professional players Rhonda Rajsich and Rocky Carson, agreed that this event was unique, as it was the first time either player had an opportunity to experience life on a warship. “We are pro’s in the sport of racquetball, but these Sailors are dedicated and committed to keeping this country free and democracy strong.” said Rhonda. “We are the ones who are honored, just to be able to promote the sport to these Sailors.” she continued. Rocky added, “We see the camaraderie amongst these Sailors, and pride they take in serving this country.”
The Sailors expressed gratitude and admiration for the Pros as they, in most cases, received their first introduction to the game of Racquetball. “It’s a very challenging sport and it’s an awesome way to keep in shape,” said Seaman Darren Larsen. “This was a successful event overall, both in terms of a morale boost for the crew and in promoting the ships continuing commitment to a culture of fitness,” said Anne Bolton, BONHOMME RICHARD’s Afloat Recreation Specialist. “We support a variety of fitness programs on BONHOMME RICHARD, and this racquetball clinic introduced the crew to an alternate method of staying in shape. It was a great event and it’s awesome that we [BONHOMME RICHARD] were the first to host such an event.”
As the clinics and demonstrations on the USS BONHOMME RICHARD; aimed at promoting racquetball to a new military audience, came to a close, the All Military National Championship, hosted by the Southwestern Region MWR, was just getting started, thanks to the generous support of Romano’s Macaroni Grill, E-Force, Ektelon, GearBox Racquetball, Head, ProKennex, Wilson, NMRA, & CPRT.
Over 100 military players from across the country and abroad (Germany and Italy) came to compete in this tournament; the first of it’s kind in over 15 years. In a celebration of military service, active duty and veteran service members from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard convened on Naval Base San Diego over Veteran’s Day weekend in Round-Robin competitions to determine who would rein as the military Champion. “It’s a passion and the Inter-Service competition keeps me coming back,” Lt. Cmdr Chhem Young-Pen, from SPAWAR System Center Pacific “I mean, this tournament brought out the best players.” Ron Dorst of Saratoga, N.Y. at 74, Dorst was the oldest player in the competition. The retired Vietnam-era veteran, who served in four branches of the military, has been playing racquetball for more than 25 years, said"It's fun coming together to have fun and see my friends."
“This week was a success for the sport of racquetball as we were extremely well received, not only by the tournament players, but also by those Sailors who had never heard of the game.”, said Lt Cmdr Steven Harper. “Getting the Military Racquetball-family back together again was just Great”, said Jeff Elder, (Air Force MSgt, ret.), former Presidential aircrew member of AIR FORCE ONE. “After 15+ years, it’s been a long time coming, and a dream of many to put on this type of event. We have to keep this program alive in the military”. And that is exactly what the supporters of this event intend to do!
To view photos, to read more about the demonstration onboard the USS BONHOMME RICHARD, or for a complete list of winners from the All Military Racquetball Championship visit www.militaryracquetball.com.
State Doubles Results
Los Caballeros in Fountain Valley was the site of the 2008 State Doubles Championships. Pool Play and Round Robin formats insured that there was no shortage of matches to play. You may view the winners and finalist on the CSRA below. Also check out photos from the event in the photo gallery. Thank you’s all around to the CSRA Board of Directors and Don DiPalma and Los Caballeros. And a special thank you to Terri Ann Rogers, she just knows how to make a tournament flow smoothly!!!
| Division | Winners | Finalists |
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| Men’s Elite | John Wong/Scott Davis | Keith Fisher/Kevin Watson |
| Men’s A | Alberto Gutierrez/Michael Myers | Mark Root/Warren Pettit |
| Men’s B | Joshua Buras/Larry Stephens | Steve Levine/Scott Mortensen |
| Men’s C | Joe Rosales/Pedro Jimenez | Alex Fischler/John Fischler |
| Men’s 25/30+ | A/B Mark Root/Warren Pettit | Steve Levine/Scott Mortensen |
| Men’s 35+A | Bryan Handlen/Ruben Lopez | Brad Levine/Joe Hayward |
| Men’s 35+/40+ | Keith Fisher/Kevin Watson | Gabe Medina/John Wong |
| Men’s 45+ A/B | Hatch Saakian/Tom Keefe | David Horton/Steve Amezaga |
| Men’s 55+ | Pete Chmielewski/Steve Cohen | Bill George/Mike Lippitt |
| Men’s 50/60+ | Steve Cohen/Pete Chmielewski | Dennis Riggs/Mike Alderson |
| Men’s 65+ | Hal Price/Luis Guerrero | Frederick Roe/Howard Nellor |
| Mixed Elite | Kris Kaskawal/Scott Davis | Debra Nathan/Randy Long |
| Mixed Age | Solanna Taragan/Grant Beatsen | Margie Der/David Aguirre |
| Mixed A | Vivian Schneider/Ernie Dominguez | Nico Richardson/Juan Diaz |
| Mixed B/C | Julia Mouser/Vic Martinez | Mickey Bellah/Dionne Reid |
California State Racquetball Association (CSRA) Chooses Ektelon as Official Ball
(Oct 1, 2008) Ektelon is proud to announce that the California State Racquetball Association (CSRA) has chosen Ektelon to be the official ball of the CSRA effective immediately and continuing through August 31, 2012. CSRA has chosen the Ektelon Classic (black) as its ball of choice for most tournament play. However, all 3 Ektelon balls will be used throughout the term of this agreement – including Premium Select and Fireball which will be used at selected events.
Over the past three years Ektelon has taken an extremely proactive role in developing the best quality racquetballs in the sport. This development of three different yet consistent types of racquetballs is reflected in Ektelon’s partnerships as the “Official Ball” of the Women’s Professional Racquetball Organization (Fireball), World Outdoor Racquetball (Fireball), Classic Professional Racquetball Tour (Classic Ball), National Masters Racquetball Association (Classic Ball), Commonwealth of Virginia Racquetball Association (Fireball) North Carolina Racquetball Association (Fireball) and now the CSRA.
“We are proud and excited to become a partner with the CSRA. California is the most active state in the sport, consistently boasting the largest number of indoor and outdoor events in the country,” said Scott Winters, General Manager at Ektelon. “We look forward to working closely with the CSRA Board and members in developing new and exciting events for all types of players and working together with them to grow the sport.”
In addition to providing top-quality balls to the various CSRA tournaments, as part of the agreement, talented California-based Team Ektelon players such as Rocky Carson, Rhonda Rajsich, John Ellis, Jose Rojas, Greg Solis and Craig Lane, will hold ongoing CSRA junior camps and complimentary clinics throughout the state to help grow the sport among younger players. Players and fans will be able to find these events and clinics by visiting the CSRA website: www.californiaracquetball.org.
“Ektelon has always been one of the premier names in racquetball and the CSRA Board of Directors is delighted to begin this new alliance” commented CSRA President Larry Steiner. “Aside from their providing elite quality product, we appreciate the partnership with Ektelon because they, like us have a sincere interest in growing racquetball in the state of California.”
Based in Bordentown, New Jersey, Ektelon is a division of Prince Sports, Inc. For more information they can be contacted at (800) 283-2635 or through their website at www.ektelon.com
Junior National Championships
come to Concord California…
(July 9, 2008) The Junior National Championships were hosted at the Big C in Concord this year. There was also additional play at the Renaissance Club Sport in Walnut Creek. Thanks to CSRA Board members Jack Hughes and Margaret Pederson for assistance there!...There were over 200 players from across the country (32 states) attending the event. For the third year in a row, California won the state competition over second place Oregon. The next three were Ohio, Colorado and Michigan.. Play began Wednesday morning and wrapped up Sunday afternoon. Part of the result of the Nationals is determining which players make the National team. Of the 30 players on the team, 9 are from California. This team will compete in the World Championships to be held in December at Arizona State University.
California players finishing in the top three in the Gold Division include (alphabetical order):
- Ismael Aldana—3rd 18 Doubles
- *Jose Diaz—2nd 14 and under singles; 1st 14 and under Doubles
- Teresa Diaz—3rd 18 and under Singles
- Cameron Ghoddoucy—3rd 8 and under Multibounce
- David Horn—3rd 18 and under Doubles
- Dillon Huang —1st 6 and under Multibounce
- *Victoria Leon—2nd 8 and under singles; 2nd Multibounce; 3rd 10 and under
- *Sawyer Lloyd—2nd 12 and under singles; 1st 12 and under Doubles; 1st 12 and under Mixed doubles
- *Aubrey O’Brien—1st 16 and under; 2nd 16 and under doubles
- *Devon Pimentelli—1st 14 and under singles; 1st 14 and under doubles; 2nd 14 and under mixed doubles
- Antonio Rojas—2nd 6 and under multibounce
- *Jose Rojas—1st 18 and under singles; 1st 18 and under doubles
- *Marco Rojas—1st 14 and under singles; 1st 14 and under doubles
- *Bobby Sehrgosha—3rd 12 and under singles; 1st 12 and under doubles; 3rd 12 and under mixed doubles
- *Sabrina Viscuso—1st 12 and under singles;1st 12 and under doubles; 3rd 12 and under mixed doubles..
Those marked with an * have made the National team. Others finishing in the top three of Non-Gold divisions included: Logan Nance, Luke Sewall, Zach Brancato, Cody Alsup, Mauro Rojas, Conor Pimentelli, Dima Gafarov, Tyler Lanman, David Horn, Cameron Ghoddoucy, Antonio Rojas, Andres, Barrera, and Michelle Hernoko.
Congratulations to all of the player who participated and good luck to the National team! Thank you to Jim Evans and his crew at the Big C for making this a great event. Thank You to John Ellis and Larry Steiner for some of the behind the scenes negotiations for this to take place
See the Juniors News page for coverage of the CSRA State Juniors Championships in May.
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2008 WOR Ektelon Championships
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Older news articles continued in the news archives…