USA Racquetball News

USA Racquetball made some notable announcements this month. They have appointed Jim Durham to be the Head Coach of the USA Adult Racquetball Team. Durham succeeds Dave Ellis, who has coached Team USA for most of the past decade or more.

You might be thinking “Jim who?” And that was the reaction of some of The Racquetball Blog staff. But Durham has been involved in racquetball since 1978, and has competed as an open and open age level player. Also, he has “decades of experience coaching championship football, basketball, baseball, and track teams,” according to the USAR press release.

Durham is from Fresno, California, and will be the coach for two events this year: the 2020 Pan American Championships in April and the 2020 International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in August.

Durham, a relative unknown coach, will have a team with several veteran players. Aimee Ruiz, Sudsy Monchik and Alejandro Landa all qualified to be on the Worlds team based on winning National Doubles earlier this month, and Rocky Carson is the leading player in the race to claim a men’s singles spot. That’s a lot of veteran experience to manage.

But in addition to that there will be some young players on the team. Erika Manilla was Ruiz’s partner in winning the Women’s Doubles title, so she’s on the team. Further Hollie Scott has the inside track to earn a spot in singles. Manilla and Scott have international experience via the USA Junior Team, but neither has played at Worlds - or the Pan Am Championships.

Couple that combination of players with the fact that Team USA will go to Worlds having won no gold medals in 2018, which was a first in racquetball history, and you can see how it’s an interesting time to be the Team USA Head Coach.

USA Racquetball Hall of Fame

The 2020 USA Racquetball Hall of Fame inductees will be Jason Mannino, Gregg Peck, and Hank Marcus. They will be inducted in May at the USA Racquetball National Singles Championship in College Station, Texas.

Mannino was an elite level player for 15 years, finishing in the top 10 on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) in each of those years. He was the #1 player in 2002-03, and won the US Open Championship twice: 1999 and 2006. His 22 IRT wins is the 7th on the all time wins list. In addition to being an elite player, Mannino was IRT President for 8 years - 2009 to 2017, and has led numerous racquetball clinics over the years, often in conjunction with Fran Davis. Mannino and Davis co-authored Championship Racquetball in 2011.

Peck, like, Mannino, was an elite player. He won 4 times on the IRT (20th all time). He was in the top 10 for seven consecutive seasons: 1981-82 to 1987-88. In addition, Peck coached the USA Junior Team in 1999 and 2000 with great success. Furthermore, he brought in both Cheryl Gudinas and Mike Guidry, who were key contributors in the following years. Peck joins his older brother Dave Peck in the Hall of Fame; Dave Peck was inducted in 1997. They are the only siblings in the Hall of Fame.

Hank Marcus’s most significant contributions to racquetball have been off the court, as he’s been a tournament organizer and tour administrator for decades. Marcus was the head of the men’s pro tour from 1989 to 2001, including when its current name - International Racquetball Tour - was adopted in 1991. In addition,, Marcus founded World Outdoor Racquetball (WOR) in 2004.

Mannino, Peck and Marcus are all very deserving of a place in the USAR Hall of Fame, and we congratulate them on receiving this honour.

Follow the bouncing ball….