The 5th Juniors Only racquetball tournament held at ClubSport of Pleasanton on Saturday, December 8th hosted junior players from Petaluma Valley Athletic Club, Auburn Racquet & Fitness Club, Meridian Sports Clubs in Novato, Fitness West Daly City, Solano Athletic Club, Supreme Court 1 in Sunnyvale, Cross Court Athletic Club, ClubSport San Ramon and ClubSport of Pleasanton. Seeing the improvement in these players, most of who are returning players in our junior events, should make the program directors and junior coaches from these clubs very proud. The participating juniors were examples of fine players showing great sportsmanship. Not only do they love to play, they love to referee! Running an event for junior players is such a rewarding experience, not to mention a “breeze” compared to hosting adults. Hopefully we will have more of these fun, one-day events for our very deserving junior players. They are our future league, tournament and possibly professional players, and also our future program directors, racquetball teachers and coaches.
Results from the tournament are as follows:
| Under 10 | |
| 1st | Ryan Neishi, ClubSport Pleasanton |
| 2nd | Samuel Dover, ClubSport Pleasanton |
| Additional players in event: Noelani Lee, Kai Marshall and Jared Lee | 12 Intermediate |
| 1st | Nathaniel Amidei, Fitness West Daly City |
| 2nd | Chris McCrary, ClubSport Pleasanton |
| Additional players in event: Mikey Neishi, Grayson Ross, Nick Bayley, Amir Jabbari, John Crane, Manny Brazil and Gregory Painter | 12 Advanced |
| 1st | Sawyer Lloyd, Petaluma Valley |
| 2nd | Bobby Sehrgosha, ClubSport Pleasanton |
| 3rd | Sabrina Viscuso, Auburn Racquet Club |
| 4th | Luke Sewall, Petaluma Valley | 14-16 Intermediate |
| 1st | Travis Tidd, Auburn Racquet Club |
| 2nd | Christian Skegrud, Meridian Sports Clubs, Novato |
| 3rd | Mikey Bray, Auburn Racquet Club |
| 4th | Matt Grover, Meridian Sports Clubs, Novato |
| 5th | Christian Reyes, Supreme Court 1, Sunnyvale | 16 Advanced |
| 1st | Victor Frausto, Cross Court Athletic Club |
| 2nd | Tyler Lanman, ClubSport San Ramon |
| 3rd | Cody Alsup, Solano Athletic Club |
| 4th | Zach Brancato, ClubSport Pleasanton |
| 5th | Adam Acrich, Auburn Racquet Club |
CSRA Supports US Juniors Team
The CSRA Board and its members are pleased to announce a $1000 donation to the support of the US Junior Racquetball Team, specifically for the players representing California.
Thank you to all the players who have donated generously to this cause and to the coaches of our players. These are the future greats of our sport!!
-Peggine
California Juniors in Tempe, AZ for National Championships…
There were 31 Junior Racquetballers at the Junior National Championships, held June 20-24th at Arizona State University. This was second in numbers to Oregon’s 38…Despite this, California was the point champion over Oregon for the second year. Players throughout our state traveled to this event to compete against players including those from Alaska and Hawaii.. The average temperature outside was 115 degrees, making the air conditioned courts a nice haven…
Those attending from California included (in alphabetical order): Adam Acrich, Ismael Aldana, Cody Alsup, Sam Barrera, Esteban Diaz, Teresa Diaz, Jose Diaz, Victor Frausto, Alex Guzman, Omar Guzman, David Horn, Justin Ivers, Julia Lanman, Tyler Lanman, Sara Leon, Victoria Leon, Sawyer Lloyd, Logan Nance, Ashley O’Brien, Aubrey O’Brien, Devon Pimentelli, Jacob Prichard, Jose Rojas, Marco Rojas, Mauro Rojas, Bobby Sehrgosha, Jose Serrano, Cobey Smith, Sue Sublaban, Sabrina Viscuso, Jessica Winn, and Kevin Winn.
Play began Wednesday morning and continued on until Sunday afternoon. With most division either Olympic Style or Round Robin players had a lot of matches to play. A highlight for California was the dominance of Jose Rojas from Stockton. He won the 1st place medal for both 16 and under as well as 18 and under. In the 18’s he faced his friend Ismael Aldana in the final winning in two games. Jose’s brother, Marko, won the 14 and under division.
For a list of all the results, you can go to the tournament web page at r2sports.com.
It was a fun time. Check out some photos of the action in the Photos section of this site. Currently the location of next year Junior Nationals is to be determined. Start drilling now for next year!!
Brian Dixon
Junior Liaison
CSRA State Junior Championships
The CSRA Junior Racquetball Championships were held May 5th and 6th in Stockton run by John Ellis, Steve Cook and the Stockton/Lodi crew...Players from throughout the state showed up to participate in this fun event..
All divisions were either Pool Play or Round Robin offering players a lot of time on the court....Ages ran from 6-18...Many of the players in attendance plan to go on and represent California at the Junior Nationals June 20-24th in Tempe, Arizona.
It was a long weekend ending with the 18 and under Boys final having Jose Rojas beating Ismael Aldana and the Girls 18 and under final with Ashley O'Brien overcoming Sherrika Darnell...
Other winners and finalists included: Esteban Diaz, Mauro Daniel Rojas, Alex Guzman, Devon Pimentelli, Jose Serrano, Marco Rojas, Bobby Sehrgosha, Sawyer Lloyd, Andrew Glaros, Logan Nance, Adam Acrich, Kevin Winn, Andrew Meyer, Jacob Pritchard, Jose Diaz, and Tyler Lanman...
For a full listing of the results you can go to the tournament website.
Congratulations to all who played and we hope to see you next year..
Brian Dixon
CSRA Junior Liaison
Juniors Open Results
Results of Pleasanton Junior Open from Saturday, March 24th. We had 44 participants which is the most players we have had at one of our one day events so far.
| 8/10 beginning | |
|---|---|
| 1st | Julia Lanman |
| 2nd | Ryan Neishi |
| 3rd | Eleanor Amidei |
| 4th | Kai Marshall |
| 8/10 int/adv. | |
|---|---|
| 1st | Bryan Crabtree |
| 2nd | Zephan Huang |
| 3rd | Dima Gafarov |
| 4th | Geraldine Villa |
| 12 Beg | |
|---|---|
| 1st | Stone Skegrud |
| 2nd | Tyger Cohen |
| 3rd | Mikey Neishi |
| 4th | Amir Jabbari |
| 5th | Alex Johnson |
| 12 int/Adv | |
|---|---|
| 1st | Bobby Sehrgosha |
| 2nd | Sawyer Lloyd |
| 3rd | Luke Sewall |
| 4th | Nathaniel Amidei |
| 5th | Michael Zanides |
| 6th | Wes Kalbus |
| Girls 14+ Division 2 (intermediate) | |
|---|---|
| 1st | Michelle Hernoko |
| 2nd | Jessica Lanman |
| 3rd | Sabrina Hsu |
| 4th | Megan Crask |
| Girls 14+ Division 1 (advanced) | |
|---|---|
| 1st | Jessica Winn |
| 2nd | Sabrina Viscuso |
| 3rd | Tanya Sehrgosha |
| 4th | Brittany Mayo |
| Boys 14-16 Division 2 (Intermediate) | |
|---|---|
| 1st | Adam Acrich |
| 2nd | Andrew De La Roziere |
| 3rd | Johann Huang |
| 4th | Kevin Winn |
| 5th | Neal Kennedy |
| 6th | Drew Jones |
| 7th | Nathan Cox |
| 8th | Michael Sorich |
| 9th | Joshua Crabtree |
| 10th | Derric Caporaso |
| 11th | Christian Plazola |
| Boys 14-18 Division 1 (advanced) | |
|---|---|
| 1st | Victor Frausto |
| 2nd | Tyler Lanman |
| 3rd | Cody Alsup |
| 4th | Zach Brancato |
| 5th | Dan Brown |
The High school results are as follows:
| School | Points |
|---|---|
| Pioneer High School, Woodland, Ca | 280 |
| Montevista High School, Danville, Ca | 227 |
| Petaluma High School, Petaluma, Ca | 202 |
| Amador High School, Pleasanton, Ca | 201 |
| Vacaville High School, Vacaville, Ca | 185 |
| Colfax High School, Colfax, Ca | 134 |
| Foothill High School, Pleasanton, Ca | 122 |
| Good Shepard Christian Academy, Fremont, Ca | 65 |
| California High School, Sam Ramon, Ca | 53 |
| Rodriguez High School, Fairfield, Ca | 43 |
| Mission San Jose High School, Fremont, Ca | 23 |
| James C. Enochs High School, Modesto, Ca | 19 |
| Granada High School, Livermore, Ca | 15 |
| Casa Roble High School, Folsom, Ca | 15 |
I hope we can encourage more clubs to have these one day events for juniors only. I know that Garyn Scott of ClubSport in Fremont (who came and helped out in the morning at our event) said he would be happy to host one. That club has 5 courts but because of his racquetball efforts they are turning one of the squash courts back into a racquetball court so they will have 6 courts.
Thanks,
Elaine Dexter
Juniors from California have impact at Junior Worlds…
The IRF World Junior Championships were held in Tempe Arizona from December 16th through December 21st…Players from California played a significant part in the USA finishing second to Mexico in this championship…The finish between first and second was a very slim margin. Many players from Jody Nance’s junior program in Stockton participated as well as other Juniors from the state. Players from California participating included:
Ismael Aldana, Jose Diaz, Ricardo Diaz, Teresa Diaz, Alex Guzman, Omar Guzman, Logan Nance, Jordan Nance, Ashley O’Brien, Aubrey O’Brien, Devon Pimentelli, Daniel Rojas, Jose Rojas, Marco Rojas, Bobby Sehrgosha, Jose Serrano, and Sabrina Viscuso…
There were many finishers, and I would like to just highlight a few significant ones here. To get complete results, visit the http://r2sports.com website…
- Ismael Aldana and Jose Rojas placed second in boys 16 doubles
- Ashley O’Brian and Sabrina Viscuso finished third in girls 10 and under doubles
- Bobby Sehrgosha and Sabrina Viscuso took second in the Mixed 10 and under
- Marco Rojas teamed up with Elizabeth Brenner from Oregon to take first in the mixed 12 and under…Alex Guzman and Devon Pimentelli took second
- Jose Serrano and Teresa Diaz placed second in the mixed 16 and under
- Ismael Aldana beat Jose Rojas in the tie breaker for first and second in boys 16 and under
- Aubrey O'Brien played a tough match making it to second in the girls 14 and under
- Many other finishers…
Please check out website for all results…Congratulations to all who participated. You have done California and the USA proud!!
Brian Dixon Board of Directors – Junior Liason
December ClubSport Junior Tournament
Saturday, December 9th, 2006 was the day of ClubSport’s 3rd annual Junior’s Tournament. I guess the “3rd time is a charm” saying is really true as this event ran more smoothly and successfully than any had to date. 35 junior players entered the event in 6 different categories...
Read the rest of writeup in the next issue of the CSRA Newsletter. Individual results below:
| 8/10 Beginning (one bounce) | 10/12 Intermediate |
| 1st place Alex Dunham, Pleasanton | 1st place Sabrina Viscuso, Auburn |
| 2nd place Geraldine Villa, Salinas | 2nd place Sam Cesarini, Petaluma |
| 3rd place Zephan Huang, Fremont | 3rd place Christian Plazola, Pleasanton |
| 4th place Brandon Cook, Lodi | 4th place Nathaniel Amidei, Daly City |
| 12 Beginning | 14/16 Beginning |
| 1st place Michael Zanides, Novato | 1st place Johann Huang, Fremont |
| 2nd place Grayson Ross, Pleasanton | 2nd place Nathan Cox, Pleasanton |
| 3rd place Nick Bayley, Pleasanton | 3rd place Matt Grover, Novato |
| 4th place Amir Jabbari, Pleasanton | 4th place Sabrina Hsu, Fremont |
| 12/14 Intermediate, Pool B | 12/14 Intermediate, Pool A |
| 1st place Nicholas Riffel, Auburn | 1st place Adam Acrich, Auburn |
| 2nd place Matthew Bluhm, Petaluma | 2nd place Sawyer Lloyd, Petaluma |
| 3rd place Christian Skegrud | 3rd place Bobby Sehrgosha, Pleasanton |
| 4th place Tanya Sehrgosha | 4th place Ryan Giannini, Novato |
| 5th place Brittany Mayo, Petaluma | |
| Play-offs 12/14 Intermediate | |
| Nicholas Riffel and Adam Acrich Byes | |
| Sawyer Lloyd def. Christian Skegrud, 15-1, 15-0 | |
| Bobby Sehrgosha def. Matthew Bluhm, 15-1, 15-7 | |
| Semi finals | |
| Sawyer Lloyd def. Adam Acrich (scores not recorded) | |
| Bobby Sehrgosha def. Nicholas Riffel, 15-2, 15-4 | |
| Finals | |
| Bobby Sehrgosha def. Sawyer Lloyd, (11), 10, 0 | |
| 14/16/18 Advanced Pool A | 14/16/18 Advanced Pool B |
| 1st place Tyler Lanman, Danville | 1st place Cody Alsup, Vacaville |
| 2nd place Zach Brancato, Pleasanton | 2nd place Anthony Alvarez, Madera |
| 3rd place Preston Tuttle, Madera | 3rd place Dan Brown, Petaluma |
| 4th place Hayden Richter, Petaluma | 4th place Drew Jones, Auburn |
| Play-Offs 14/16/18 Advanced: Semi Finals | |
| Tyler Lanman def. Anthony Alvarez, 6,10 | |
| Cody Alsup def. Zach Brancato, 8, 8 | |
| Finals | |
| Tyler Lanman def. Cody Alsup 8, 3 | |
2006 Juniors Nats - “Zach’s Nats”
Last summer, a few of my racquetball buddies and I went to Lansing, MI for the Junior National Racquetball Tournament. This was the second time I went to the Nationals but it was my first time going with just my friends.
![[Zach]](Juniors/zak_portrait.jpg "Zach")
Zach
We left on red-eye flight the Monday before the tournament began to Detroit, we then drove two hours to Lansing. We finally arrived at the Kellogg’s Hotel. There were many other tournament players staying in that hotel. The hotel was nice except that I shared a room with some friends to save money. But this also was fun because we could hang out together. The next day we got settled, for the tourney began the day after.
We went down to the gym to see how nice it was. When we walked in it looked more like a hotel, then down the stairs out of nowhere there are twelve glass courts and a full sized basketball court right in the middle. For the full glass courts the ref would stand outside with the microphone to ref.
One day, we had some time when none of us had matches so we drove three hours down to Chicago to see the Bulls’ stadium and Micheal Jordan statue and get deep dish pizza. At the Bulls’ stadium we got pictures of the famous Micheal Jordan statue. We made the drive back the same day and got lost by Detroit.
Close to the end of the trip there was a pool party taking place at the gym. The swimming pool looked equivalent to a community center - water slide and everything. The day of the party was also my 14th birthday so a bunch of us went to the movies right after the party. I celebrated my birthday at last year’s tournament in Oregon. Last year, though, my parents were with me.
The next day there was a Head meeting at the bowling ally. Doug Ganim was there to talk about all of the new Head gear. During his presentation he passed out headbands. The next day was the last day of the tournament. The jamboree was that day too. They gave awards to all of the players who got in to the semi finals for the gold division. They hired a band for the tournament for dancing and they served chicken parmesan for the food.
At the tournament, I played mixed doubles. We lost in the first round of the gold division and dropped down. Then we won our next matches and won by forfeit because the other team didn’t show up in the finals. We were awarded the gold medal. Then the team that forfeited showed up and we had to play them and lost. So the day after I had my medal and the director asked for the medal back. I gave it back but I just thought it wasn’t really cool that the other team showed up a day late and we had to play them.
I had also played boys 14s doubles. For our second match we had to play a really good team. We played our best but we lost and the team that we played came in first for the entire division. At the tournament, I was supported and coached by my coach Elaine Dexter.
Since returning from the tournament, I have been playing a lot more at our club and playing a lot of challenge matches. I am more confident in working on my game and in challenging adults. So far, I have moved up about 15 positions on our challenge ladder. I have also played some local tournaments and will play more in the fall.
Zachary Brancato
14 year old Junior – Club Sport Pleasanton
2006 Juniors Nationals
There were 31 Junior players who attended the National Championships held in Lansing, Michigan in June. When the points were added up, the California juniors finished on top of all other states! ...
2005 Juniors State Championships
Check out the results here!
Photos of the
juniors are in this directory:
http://californiaracquetball.org/junior_images/
Unfortunately, I haven't had time to sort and label them, so the
quickest way to view them is to download them to your PC. Each file
is very large.