USAR's New Board Members, Coaches of the Year, and 2021 World Games

USA Racquetball announced its newly elected Board of Directors: Mike Grisz, JD Shelton - both new board members - and Cindy Tilbury, who was re-elected. Grisz is also the President and CEO of the International Racquetball Tour.

Three athletes were also elected to the USAR Board to be the Athlete Representatives. Michelle De La Rosa, Danielle Maddux, and Charlie Pratt, will be the athletes’ voices on the board. They succeed outgoing representatives Aimee Ruiz and Jose Diaz.

All of these newly elected board members will serve three year terms.

USA Racquetball Coaching Awards

Coaching is an important activity, but rarely awarded. But this week USA Racquetball announced its Coach of the Year award recipients. Brian Ancheta - Head Coach at Barlow High School in Gresham, Oregon - is the High School Coach of the Year. Sara Moulton - Assistant Coach at Brigham Young University - is the Intercollegiate Coach of the Year. Also, Dr. Tim Miller of Baldwin Wallace University received the Collegiate Lifetime Contribution Award.

Congratulations to all three coaches.

2021 World Games, now in 2022

The 2021 World Games that were scheduled for July 15-25, 2021 in Birmingham, Alabama will now be played July 7-17, 2022, because the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decision to postpone the 2020 Olympic Games to summer of 2021. That change meant there would have been an overlap in dates with the 2021 World Games, so the World Games also pushed back its event by a year.

This, of course, is all due to the COVID-19 virus situation that is ongoing across the world. The World Games change seems like the right thing to do, and we look forward to seeing racquetball players participating a multi-sport event in the USA for the first time ever.

We hope that you are staying safe during this crazy time. Best wishes.

Follow the bouncing ball….

Weekend Round Up - Camacho & Murray win doubles & WRT gives out awards

Felipe Camacho and Samuel Murray won the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) Future Doubles division on the weekend at the John Pelham Memorial / ProKennex Tournament of Champions in Portland, when they defeated Adam Manilla and Nicholas Riffel, 15-4, 15-7, in the final.

It’s the second straight tournament Camacho and Murray have reached the final. They lost to Jake Bredenbeck and David Horn last time out at the IRT Winter Rollout in St. Louis.

World Racquetball Tour Awards

The World Racquetball Tour (WRT) 2017 season ended on the weekend with the Alamo City Open in San Antonio, Texas. Thus, the WRT year end awards were given out.

The 2017 Player of the Year was David “Bobby” Horn, who also won the Alamo City Open on Sunday. The Rookie of the Year was Erick Cuevas, and Sportsmanship Award went to Gerardo Franco with Rodrigo Montoya named the Fan Favourite.

Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour

This week’s big event is the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) Christmas Classic in Laurel, Maryland. Look for our coverage of it later this week.

2017 IRT John Pelham Memorial / ProKennex Tournament of Champions, November 30-December 2
Portland, Oregon

IRT Futures Doubles Final

Felipe Camacho & Samuel Murray d. Adam Manilla & Nicholas Riffel, 15-4, 15-7

Follow the bouncing ball….