CRA Rollout, Spring 2012
Read the CRA Rollout Online at ColoradoRacquetball.com
The Colorado Racquetball Association Quarterly ENews
Spring 2012
ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGIONAL + CRA STATE SINGLES The Rocky Mountain Regionals offer an opportunity for players throughout the nation to compete against the best Colorado players while qualifying for the National Singles Championships. This unique event will not only determine the Rocky Mountain Regional Champions in each division but also the Colorado State Singles Champions. All players will be seeded by division, with either Round Robin or Pool Play used to ensure at least two matches in each division. Each division will be playing for Regional Championshjp medals. Concurrently, all players who are Colorado residents will also be competing for the coveted State Singles Championship medals. If the winner of a division is a resident of Colorado, they will be awarded both the Regional and State Singles Championship medals. If the winner of the division is not a resident of Colorado, they will be awarded the Regional Championship medal and the highest finishing Colorado resident will be awarded the State Singles Championship medal. All of the second and third place medals for both the Regional and State Singles will be awarded similarly. In the event of ties in awarding the State Championship medals, either the round robin tie breaker rules will be utilized or playoff matches will be scheduled. This will be a very exciting format with double the normal medals being awarded! Thanks to Erin Gardner for her logo design - and to the many sponsors who have already stepped up to support this year's Rocky Mountain Regional.
In this issue: • Rocky Mountain Regional & CRA State Singles Together! • Mile High WPRO Am • Club & Tourney Update • Upcoming Events • Board News • Junior Corner • Know your Rules • From the President • From the Editor • National News Past Event Results: • Racquet for the Cure • Blizzard Blast • Colorado Madness • Spring Shootout
CRA Rollout, Spring 2012
THE FASTEST GAME JUST GOT A LITTLE FASTER by Sarah Warhaftig WPRO athletes all have their training secrets before tournaments: diet, training and mental work. However, coming to the city that sits one mile above sea level may not have been an easy factor into their plans. The first ever Mile High Pro-Am took place over the weekend of March 8th at the prestigious Denver Athletic Club downtown. Tournament Director Debbie Beldring worked tirelessly to provide a top-notch event that included a full amateur draw in one of the most picturesque cities in the country. A handful of WPRO players arrived a bit earlier to adjust to the altitude and the speed of the already fast Ektelon Fireball, hoping to gain some advantage over their sea level playing competitors. Cheryl Gudinas said, “I didn’t feel the altitude with my breathing, but needed to slow down the pace of the ball especially on ceiling balls. Next year, I would come out a day earlier, it takes two or three days to really adapt, but once I did adjust I loved it.” [ read the full article ]
CLUB & TOURNEY UPDATE At Highlands Ranch in February ... Organizers were fully tested at what might have become an unlucky 13th annual Racquet for the Cure event - first by having to postpone due to blizzard conditions, followed by national controversy surrounding the Komen for the Cure Foundation. Despite the curveballs, the popular event rallied with great support from both its long-time players - and donors who came together to overcome every obstacle. Fortunately, the great work of the Denver affiliate of Komen for the Cure overshadowed the organization's bad press, and player enthusiasm was rock solid. Over 90 entrants pulled together to enjoy great play, capped by a celebration that awarded thousands of dollars worth of giveaways, and a fundraiser that netted an $8400 donation to the affiliate after all was said and done. In short - great job everyone - and thank you! - RFTC Committee At Goodson Recreation Center in January ... Fortunately, bad weather did not torment the Blizzard Bash tournament, which allowed players to show up ready to work off their holiday cheer, and cookies. A double elimination format makes it possible to come out of the loser’s bracket and still win the tournament which happened in 6 of the 10 divisions offered - prompting TD Bruce Burkland to comment that “this is very unusual indeed”. True to form, the "Boulder gang" put in a good showing by making it to three different finals including Rick Sorenson, who announced in his 55+ final, that he was retiring from racquetball. He said, “it was a good run, but time to call it quits”. His support of Goodson events over the years has been greatly appreciated, and he will be missed. - Reported by Bruce Burkland. At the Mile High Pro Am in March ... Just in case you've forgotten, one of the primary reasons for choosing to compete in sanctioned events is to make sure you have extra insurance coverage associated with your USAR
CRA Rollout, Spring 2012
membership. Last month Chris Meyer sustained this tooth injury and will be taking care of the repair with (hopefully) no out of pocket expenses. The USAR injury insurance kicks in after your personal insurance bills are taken care of, and the secondary coverage is well worth it these days. We enjoyed her humor and hope that her new-and-improved grin will keep us all smiling in the future! Most players can go years playing this game and not have an injury that changes our lives. We may sprain an ankle, tweak the shoulder or knee, but some of us are not that lucky. I was playing in Houston at the National Singles when I blew out my rotator cuff. In hindsight, I had numerous signs over many years that I had a problem ... but racquetball players are tough (hard headed?) and will not allow anything to give them a reason to stop playing. So if you are injured, take the time to let your doctor have a look, so you can keep on playing this great game! - Reported by Marcia Richards
CRA SPONSORS & SUPPORTERS ENTRY DOWNLOADS & REGISTRATION • Rocky Mountain Regional • Cinco de Mayo • Pepsi Cup CRA on Facebook
THE BOARD REPORT | by Sarah Warhaftig Spring has sprung and - as the seasons change racquetball is hitting its stride with some great tournaments available to players who are gearing up for the final charge into summer. The CRA would like to welcome Colorado Springs resident Joe Williams to the Board of Directors. Joe was gracious in accepting an interim appointment and getting to work on the Rocky Mountain Regional right away. He brings a wealth of racquetball knowledge as well as an enthusiastic presence at tournaments, and he will be seeking an official term in this year's elections. Four board seats are open in this cycle, and this year's slate includes: Ralph Graham (Denver), Larry Haemmerle (incumbent VP, Castle Rock), Sean Hartling (Monument), Mike Kennedy (Colo. Springs), Deven Naik (incumbent Treasurer, Denver), Cliff Peterson (Fort Collins) and Joe
OPINIONATED MUCH ... ? Here's another chance to prove it ... with your vote on new CRA Board Members and winners of the 2012 CRA Player Recognition Awards. The official online ballot will be activated soon - and only current CRA members in good standing will be eligible to take part.
CRA Rollout, Spring 2012
Williams (incumbent, Colo. Springs). Look for an announcement on the CRA website when that ballot is activated, then vote! The WPRO made its first ever Tier 1 debut in Colorado, after a successful Mile High Pro Am at the Denver Athletic Club. It was exciting to have these talented ladies in town, and even though they're the best in the game, it was nice to see them struggle just a little bit with the altitude. The Racquet for the Cure tournament, even though postponed a weekend, turned into another successful fundraiser as the committee was able to donate over $8400 to Susan G. Komen. Each year, the event grows and the committee is always appreciative of the support of Colorado Racquetball. Thank You!
No matter what you like to do – it’s a good bet that CRA offers plenty of opportunities to show off your skills. So shall we sign you up? We’d love to have you on the team to help the sport continue to thrive throughout Colorado in 2012! Just contact any board member to volunteer!
The new Rocky Mountain Regional will declare Colorado’s best, as well as top honors for area players coming to compete for a title. The event will take place at the Highlands Ranch Recreation Center and the Littleton YMCA. The season's biggest event will feature local and national vendors, along with the area's best racquetball players looking to claim a state and regional title. CRA JUNIOR FOCUS | First Annual High School Interscholastic League This year a group of interested programmers developed a High School league to run though the winter months and establish a group of eager players to develop under the supervision of a facility or high school's sponsored club program. Students learned the fundamentals of playing racquetball and the program kicked off in November with organized practices and clinics. A total of 16 participants worked out of two facilities this year: Littleton Family YMCA hosted three area high schools and Englewood Recreation Center hosted Colorado Academy. Earl Mosley and college mentor, Steve Rimmer headed up the YMCA program, while Ben Kincses headed up the Englewood program for Colorado Academy. Formal competition started in January. The league started out with small pools to establish top-three finishers who were then seeded in the Gold, Silver and Bronze brackets. Detailed results of the matches are online with R2sports, since the league was officially sanctioned by USA Racquetball. If you know of any other high schools who might like to join us next year please contact Marcia Richards for brochures and posters. The young are the future of this sport and it is time to start filling the courts with young able bodies eager to burn off energy!
CRA Rollout, Spring 2012
KNOW YOUR RULES ! by Dave Stone When does a court hinder result in stoppage of play? Sounds obvious, although it depends on which set of rules are applicable. The Mile High WPRO stop was played using three sets of rules – WPRO, CPRT and amateur. Kudos to Deb Beldring and her tournament staff for managing these differences and running a great event. Although the majority of rules as defined by the USAR are applicable to all divisions, there are a few variations that make each of the professional tours unique. Examples of the variations include the number of games, point total, and the duration of timeouts. However, these modifications usually have little impact on the rally. In this article I want to address a subjective topic that is relevant to all divisions and the rally – the screen call. Enclosed in a 20’ x 40’ court, it is inevitable that one player (or team) will impair another player’s view of the ball. The screen call was designed to provide remedy to the receiving player or team when their view is obstructed by another player. Note the defensive player is not entitled to a clear view of the ball, and therefore, cannot receive a screen call. The subjective nature of the screen call makes it more difficult than one would think. First, let’s take a look at the definition of a screen as detailed in the official rules of racquetball: Any ball rebounding from the front wall so close to the body of the defensive player that it prevents the offensive player from having a clear view of the ball. (The referee should be careful not to make the screen call so quickly that it takes away a good offensive opportunity.) A ball that passes between the legs of a player who has just returned the ball is not automatically a screen. It depends on whether the other player is impaired as a result. Generally, the call should work to the advantage of the offensive player. [ full article ]
FROM THE PRESIDENT | by Marcia Richards ... The Importance of Planning Ahead ... Planning our schedule is both an organizational process of creating and maintaining a plan. That being said we try to accommodate our tournament directors by letting them pick dates that suit their parameters. This past season the CRA was asked by two TDs to move State Singles from its traditional mid-March date and we simply did not see a compelling reason to do so. We hoped the other events would understand the "state to regional to national" progression (one month between each event, leading up to National Singles) and find another suitable weekend on the schedule. In hindsight no one budged; however the CRA ended up moving States and combining it with the Rocky Mountain Regional in order to support DAC's pro stop. Overnight, those entries doubled and the event turned out to be a great success. The CRA will have to wait and see what impact the re-scheduling will have on State Singles participation. It's hoped that remaining flexible is always the best course of action for our
FROM THE EDITOR I don't know about you, but if there's a deadline to be met (like end-of-March for converting to Facebook's new timeline format) - I'm going to drag my feet. Unfortunately, it's just my nature. On the flip side of that, I'm all too well-aware of the challenges presented by late tournament entries - from planning hospitality to wrestling a drawsheet into submission after staring at seedings and club affiliations until your eyes bleed. So why on earth does it takes you (me ... us ... ) forever to decide to sign up for a tournament? Can anyone explain it? Are we waiting to see who else is going to enter?
CRA Rollout, Spring 2012
membership, when all is said and done. On the one hand, we realize that there are times when more events are welcome ... on the other we might have forecast that players would find it difficult to choose between two major events in one month. The CRA is all about win-win, but we do have a responsibility to make sure that Colorado player interests are served first and foremost ... and no one is served by low numbers that result in events being cancelled. With good planning we can predict just these types of scenarios - particularly now that we have experienced them firsthand. So as the CRA president, I would like to refine our procedures and prohibit sanctioning events on back to back weekends. Out of state or national events would not apply, but to put pressure on our own programs is just bad strategy. Our future is shaped by the consequences of our own planning and actions will be taken this year to keep our events well-spaced. As always, the longerstanding events have precedence, but we ask you to be flexible should there be conflicting views on the table. Each year the CRA invites tournament directors to get together so we can plan the coming season - and now is that time. It is important to the organization that all of our events thrive ... that players enjoy the weekend and plan to return next year ... that players can plan ahead themselves to attend more events ... and that your event becomes one of the permanent icons in Colorado Racquetball. We can achieve all of this with good planning!
Watching the weather? Holding out for a better offer (hoping for a hot date)? When we hold off, everyone starts second-guessing, right down to a final "go-or-no- go" decision. No one can afford to lose money on a tournament, so - when entry numbers are low - TDs have to decide what to do about souvenirs, hospitality, court reservations and volunteers. Do your part by entering often, and early, to show your commitment to competitive racquetball ... dedicated organizers will love you for it! - Linda Mojer
NATIONAL NEWS | by Larry Haemmerle This is a very dynamic time for our sport! Change is inevitable and racquetball is no exception - so the 45th National Singles Championships will roll out several new and creative options next month. State and Regional Champions who enter the Nationals will receive special credentials at check-in, and will be invited to an exclusive reception in the VIP tent, directly adjacent to the state-of-the-art glass exhibition court. ProAm rounds will be played during this mixer, where attendees will enjoy VIP hospitality while meeting USAR Board members, key industry representatives and pro tour principals. Adding non-championship doubles divisions to the National Singles is another new feature - with no qualifying required (for doubles only!). For the first time, players can compete for National Singles titles, while also maximizing their playing time with doubles. This also offers international players an opportunity to participate by entering the doubles divisions. This is all great news for Colorado players (who also love doubles!), since competing in the Rocky Mountain Regionals will provide title bids for both State and Regional medals in every division - and double the chances of receiving an invitation to the VIP mixer at Nationals - so play hard! By honoring our State and Regional Champions and offering doubles divisions, we hope to provide more variety and increase participation at Nationals. I hope to see many of our Colorado players at the event, where
CRA Rollout, Spring 2012
Avril and I will try to cheer on as many of you as possible again this year! These are exciting times for our sport and I look forward to seeing all of you at our upcoming events! Copyright Š Colorado Racquetball Association | With Substance, Inc. If you wish to cancel your subscription to this newsletter, manage your USAR preferences here