WPRO - Great Balls of Fire Round of 32

The draw for the Great Balls of Fire tournament in Miami, Florida has been released, and most of the top 10 Women's Professional Racquetball Organization (WPRO) players are in the sunshine state.

Of note in this field is that of the 21 players only 9 are Americans (there are 5 Mexicans, 5 Canadians, and one Columbian and one Chilean). This could be the first time that the majority of players at a professional racquetball tournament have not been American. Six of the WPRO's top 10 (and 9 of the top 14) are American, but of those players only one is under 30 (Adrienne Fisher) and some are well over 30.

We've noted this before, but if you're an American coach looking to win internationally in the coming years, you've got to be concerned about this situation. And it doesn't look like it going to get better in the near future, as there were only four girls in U18 at last year's US Junior Olympics.

And in general, we think it bears asking the question "where are the women?" because the women's participation in many racquetball tournaments is low - 10-20% of the entries. Racquetball could grow considerably simply by attracting more women players.

2011 Great Balls of Fire Tournament, Miami, Florida
Round of 32

1 Paola Longoria - BYE
16 Laura Brandt v. 17 Frédérique Lambert

9 Susana Acosta - BYE
8 Krystal Csuk - BYE

5 Kerri Wachtel - BYE
12 Angela Grisar v. 21 Christine Richardson

13 Nancy Enriquez v. 20 Brigitte Richard
4 Samantha Salas Solis - BYE

3 Cheryl Gudinas - BYE
14 Anita Maldonado v. 19 Jocelyn Loredo

11 T. J. Baumbaugh - BYE
6 Adrienne Fisher - BYE

7 Jennifer Saunders - BYE
10 Cristina Amaya - BYE

15 Da'monique Davis v. 18 Brandi Jacobson Prentice
2 Rhonda Rajsich - BYE

Follow the bouncing ball....