CRA Rollout | Spring 2016

CRA Rollout, Spring 2016

The Colorado Racquetball Association Quarterly ENews STATE SINGLES #43 STARTS BIG NEW SEASON 2016 Kicks off an Exciting Lineup

SPRING 2016 ON YOUR PHONE

One hundred hardy players entered the 2016 State Singles, then faced unpredictable Springtime-in-the-Rockies weather to report for scheduled play in 41 divisions of CRA's own brand of March Madness.

Men's skill divisions built the largest brackets, followed by respectable numbers of women and juniors fielded into age and skill pool play. In Men's Open, Matt Melster earned his first title with a close straightgame victory over Michael Nigro, 15-12, 15-14. On the women's side, defending champ Erika Manilla locked up a record-setting fourth consecutive title, by defeating Janelle Williams 15-9, 15-4.

IN THIS ISSUE • SPRING PREVIEW • State Singles Recap • Tourneys & Clubs • New Board Members • Junior Report In what became the largest age division field (combined Men's 45-55+), • Upcoming Events Lee Beckwith edged out Peter Perez in pool play to claim the top spot in • Instruction the playoff, then defeated John Miller in the semifinal and Craig Clayton • Know your Rules in an 11-8 tiebreaker for the title.

• Board Update • From the Editor It's been over a decade since there was • National News an entrant ... much less a winner ... in the Women's D division at State • WINTER Results Singles. In 2003 Sarah Warhaftig had • CRA State Singles claimed the title, then gone on to play • Racquet for the Cure on the women's pro tour and serve on • Apex Open the CRA Board of Directors. This year, • Blizzard Bash April Johannesen re-activated that recordbook listing by going undefeated All photos are provided in her round-robin, with wins over up- with permission to and-comers Yurae McCallister and publish, by contributors MaRiley Burke. or acquired from public sourcing; unattributed Throughout the weekend, April was content is copyright cheered on by husband Wil Swindler, Editor. who also battled his way out of pool play in Men's C to claim a position in the playoff. Wil defeated Martin Jacob in that semifinal to advance, then added a silver medal to the family's haul, after facing Michael McConnell of Colorado Springs in the final.

Clearly excited about their finishes, these particular athletic performances marked a bit of a departure for the talented couple. When they're not on the courts, Wil is the Associate Director of Jazz Studies at Colorado State University and April performs 2nd Clarinet at the Fort Collins Symphony.

Also pictured below are medalists (l-r): Joe Williams, Jorge Valencia and Martin Jacob. Photo courtesy CJ Sanders. Find full results online >>

The Colorado Racquetball Association strives to get a sanctioned event on the calendar every month in the season, so look for the Rocky Mountain Regionals, April 14-17 ...

Cinco de Mayo, May 6-8 ... National Singles, May 25-29 ... Rocky Mountain Senior Games

June 10-11... Rocky Mountain State Games, July 22-24 ... so go inside and play!

Questions about the qualifiers below? Contact TD Joe Williams at 402-309-4260

Rocky Mountain Regionals = a qualifier for National Singles that can impact your seeding

For 50+ the Rocky Mountain Senior Games = a qualifier for the 2017 National Senior Games

RFTC Wins | Fundraiser hits $100,000 donation mark The Colorado Racquetball Association has supported the Denver Racquet for the Cure Benefit Tournament since very early on in its 17-year history. Organizers celebrated a fundraising milestone this year by donating a cumulative total of over $100,000 to the Denver Affiliate of Komen for the Cure.

Marcia Richards is one of the event's founders, and shared: I am always amazed by the RFTC turnout, and the most rewarding piece for me is how this event transforms the

participants. Without attending our award presentation, it's hard to fully understand how this event sets itself apart from other tournaments.

The outpouring of gratitude and enthusiasm for our novice divisions, the donations - and all the hard work - always renews my dedication to remaining part of something much bigger than myself. It's all about new women players and making their experiences unique and fun!

Long-time photo historian John Foust also dropped by and later uploaded an album to Facebook, showing how doing good while having fun always brings out the best in Colorado!

First drink on us ... to restore some of the sport's unique culture, the CRA hosted a Happy Hour on Saturday night at State Singles. A modified schedule allowed tournament directors and players to meet up for some off-court socializing ... just like the good old days!

Blizzard Bash | Tournament Director Bruce Burkland uploaded a photo archive of winners from the first tournament of the year.

In Longmont | Despite a spirited protest by long-time racquetball members, the Ed and Ruth Lehman YMCA recently decided to reduce the sport's footprint by half in the facility. Several players contacted CRA for support and were provided with some strong retention argments (like the one shown below), but the input was too little, too late.

According to Club Industry: The fitness industry has a history of focusing primarily on sales. Many club owners keep track of their acquisition rate, simply because getting new member sales is easy to measure.

Yet, acquiring a new customer is more than five times more expensive than keeping an old one. With sales continually disproving that they will ultimately equal growth, it is becoming more important than ever to keep existing clients satisfied.

Denver Athletic Club Update | Ralph Graham reports that Craig Clayton defeated Bruce Evans for top honors in DAC's Winter Open/Elite League, and that Spring Leagues will start up in the week of April 18.

Junior Racquetball also begins on April 7, on Thursdays at 4:30pm. Email Debbie Beldring or call 720.931.6732 for added details or to register. Here's more of what's coming up ... downtown.

Ralph Graham was among several CRA board members to help staff National Singles last year, and he's already signed on for 2016. Contact Peggine Tellez at USA Racquetball if you'd like to volunteer! Photo courtesy Ken Fife / USAR.

April 8-9 | 24 Hour Challenge To Benefit The Doreen Katz Memorial Cancer Foundation

Adam Katz will be taking on all challengers from 6pm Friday, April 8 through 6pm Saturday, April 9. Donations will help children with a parent fighting any form of cancer. Those that are able to beat Adam will have their name put into one hat for a special drawing at the end of the event and those

that he is able to beat will have their name put into a different hat for a different prize (or prizes). May 13-14 | US National Championship Preparation Clinic with Woody Clouse This $99 clinic will help you ...

1. Take your game to the next level so you will be 100% ready for the nationals.

2. Learn winning strategies to bring out your best, while making your opponent play their worst.

3. Know what you need to work on and how to improve on your shortcomings.

4. Be a better server and a better receiver with an improved return of serve.

5. Become a smarter and more consistent player!

Racquet for the Cure 2016 group photo courtesy: Gabby Omapas and David Guentert

MEMBER PROFILES | Players step up for Board Seats The last two available seats on the CRA Board of Directors were filled by appointment in March, and we're happy to share some excerpts from their statements of interest in serving below. Please welcome them both!

Matthew Dockter ... I wanted to join the CRA Board to help keep racquetball alive and growing in Colorado Springs. Previously, I served on the Montana Racquetball Association board as Secretary / Treasurer for about a year before I moved to Colorado. I'm a sponsored player for Ektelon, specifically to be their outdoor rep. I think that I could help grow that part of our sport here in Colorado to keep players involved through the summer months. I also make nearly all the in-state tourneys, so I can offer help and feedback to keep them running properly, or promote new ideas and plans we have as a board. I'm a huge supporter of the sport. I feel this will give me another opportunity to help give back and support the game with the group currently on the Board.

CJ Sanders ... The reason I became interested in the CRA Board is my passion for the sport of racquetball and my desire to see it grow! One of the reasons I moved to Colorado was for the racquetball community, and it has surpassed my expectations. In Kentucky, I used to help with every tournament, from getting people to sign up, setting up/tearing down, and helping to keep things running smoothly. I started assisting in the same way here and would like to build upon that. I also feel I could help with the online presence and social media, since it's such a powerful a tool (especially with our youth!) and my true passion is staying active in any capacity. I'm very welcoming and encouraging of people to try new things and often hype up our great sport in an effort to get people on the courts!

JUNIOR NEWS | Youngsters on the Road Coach Carol Pelloski gave us some added detail about the handsome group of youngsters she brought over from the Western Slope to compete at State Singles. She reports that MaKayla and MaRiley Burke have played less than one year, and Matt Miller had only limited racquetball experience atop a little tennis background. With only the Rangely tourney under his belt, he entered the Men's B level and will be one of at least six players to compete at nationals from Crossroads.

Back Row (l-r): MaKayla Burke (1st G14-), Matt Miller (2nd B16-), Chance McCallister (1st B16-), Ender McCallister (1st B14-). Front: Yurae McCallister (1st G10-), MaRiley Burke (2nd G10-), Kapp McCallister (1st B12-). Not pictured: Lily Caldwell (1st G12 & 2nd WB). Photo by Brenda Burke.

June 22-26 in Minneapolis | Taking a rookie young player to the Junior Olympics? USA Racquetball has offered the first 100 first-time players their first division at no charge. The small print: Entrant cannot have played in last three years; membership required; and you must call (719) 635-5396 x 0 during business hours - by May 18 - to take advantage of this offer. If your player fits the bill, call now to save!

Saturday, April 30 | Volunteers needed at Highlands Ranch from 11:30am - 2:30pm, where Bill Fearing will be hosting Colorado's First Annual High School Racquetball Championships. Each high school roster will contain no more than ten students, who will play in a format arranged and managed by Duane Barone and Janelle Williams.

Bill and his team have done a great job in building out this important junior program, and their goal over the next year is to have 5-10 high school teams competing in Colorado's High School Championships. The latest addition to the lineup is STEM High School, which will start its first after school program for its student athletes, starting this Fall.

Bill is pictured below, surrounded by a group of very eager youngsters, who are certain to become lifelong enthusiasts if they're set on the right path ... with your help! Email Bill or call him at 1949-510-2989 if you can devote a little time to sharing your racquetball expertise. Play it forward!

SPONSORS & SUPPORTERS ENTRIES & REGISTRATION • USAR Regional - April 15-17 • Cinco de Mayo - May 6-8 • National Singles - May 25-29 • Senior Games - June 10-11 • State Games - July 22-24 CRA Tournament Player's Guide

CERTIFIED INSTRUCTION | by Marcia Richards On the Road Scrimmage ... CA vs. CU The Colorado Academy Racquetball Team travelled to CU for a scrimmage, and the opportunity to go off site for an away match was a huge shot in the arm for our athletes.

If you think you’d like to share your expertise by working with novice or junior players, there are plenty of opportunities.

Just contact the CRA and we'll connect you with an event or program director.

This winter trimester elective is very popular option for our high school students. The program is designed to teach them how to compete and we start off playing very low-key shuttles and king of the court games, which are fairly easy between friends and classmates. The emotion commitment is not that intense most of the time, and coaches welcome opportunities for the team to challenge their skills in additional competitive settings.

After the winter holidays the class enters a tournament that will ultimately set the CA team ladder.

The players learn to manage their emotions, utilize timeout options, and begin to apply skills learned under more competitive conditions. As the ladder tournament progresses, the competition

increases. Then the players' conditioning begins to factor into their success as more matches go into tiebreakers.

The coaching staff is always looking for outside competition and we landed a scrimmage with the college club team at CU. We reconnected with Chandler Harvey, who graduated from CA last year and now attends CU and participates on the club team. Most of the CA players wanted a chance to play against Chandler and, as usual, it was hard to stop him. The CA participants were able to test their skills against many of the college students. Colorado Academy players included Bridget Sutter, Blake Aschenbrener, Christian Luskey, Justin Ferrugia and Travis Washington.

On the CU side, Adam Manilla (pictured in red hat above) added a little background: The CU racquetball team is a very tight knit team that has people from all across the globe. We currently have two foreign exchange students on our team, one girl named Clara from Sweden and a boy named Carlos from Spain. Nick Riffel and I took the reins from Mike Smalley last year, and our boys team took third place in the nation and our girls team placed #9 or #10.

Everyone enjoys playing racquetball and we all enjoy each other's company. Our youngest player is Chandler Harvey, he is a freshman and is working his way up on the ladder. Our oldest player is Nish who just started this year, he has improved a lot and looks to cause some havoc at the collegiate nationals. The teams favorite tournaments are Intercollegiate Nationals and Racquet For the Cure and we are all working hard to do well at collegiate nationals again.

KNOW YOUR RULES ! Signal Not Ready

by Ray Cornell In order to have fair competition in any sport, a defined set of rules are known to the participants. Racquetball is no different. There are many rules that govern the game, not only during play, but also in standardizing court dimensions, equipment specifications for racquets, balls, and protective eyewear, and tournament management.

The racquetball serve and return of serve have many rules that cover just that one part of the game. How can not knowing the rules affect the outcome of a game or match?

I recently encountered a tournament rookie who did not know the service rule regarding the receiver signaling not ready. The applicable rule is 3.5(a): “ . . . It is the server’s responsibility to look and be certain the receiver is ready. If a receiver is not ready, they must signal by raising the racquet above the head or completely turning the back to the server. (These are the only two acceptable signals.)”

The companion rule 3.5(b), states: "Serving while the receiving player/team is signaling 'not ready' is a fault serve."

Together, what do those two rules mean? If the receiver's racquet is not above the head, and if the receiver is not facing the back wall, then the server may serve the ball after the referee has called the score or "second serve." Even if the receiver is tying their shoe while facing the server, or pacing in the back court, the server is free to serve the ball because neither acceptable signal is being used (just be careful about doing that safely).

Back to the tournament first-timer who was unaware of this rule. At one point in our first game, I signaled not ready - with my racquet above my head - as soon as the score was called. My opponent did not check me and served the ball. The referee called the fault serve. My opponent was upset, but was informed that raising the racquet above the head indicated "not ready" and that he had to check me before serving. It was not his habit and he faulted twice more, but on his second serve, a side out was called. He got more upset.

During my serve a little while later, I checked the receiver, and he put his racquet up. I waited. He put his racquet down while facing the front wall, and I served right away (even though he may have wanted to make some other preparation for the serve). Service ace for me. Now he was really upset, and ultimately lost the first game.

In the second game, his attitude was one of not caring about the outcome - only halfway swinging at the ball, if he connected at all. The points came easily for me. He continued that way for most of the game and eventually lost the match.

It's important to note that while some people complain that signaling not ready is just a "trick" on the part of the receiver, its purpose is safety. It serves as a communication tool between receiver and server, and ensures that the receiver is not unduly hit with a ball being served. As the above scenario shows, not knowing a rule can change the momentum (and make a difference in the outcome) of a game, but being well-informed can help you play an entire match with confidence.

Normally, the Know Your Rules column is presented as a preview in the Rollout, with the full article made available on the CRA website. We'll return to that delivery method with the next edition, but wanted Ray's first rules piece to be published "in full" - along with renewed thanks to Dave Stone, who is moving on to other editorial (and Board!) assignments. But before he re-directs his efforts ...

At the 2016 Colorado State Singles, we piloted a program whereby those players who showed up early to referee a first-round match received tickets for a drawing on Sunday. The drawing arbitrarily selected three individuals to recoup some of their entry fee, and almost 20 players volunteered to show up early (thank you!).

As it turns out, all three drawing winners were juniors who travelled from the western slope with Carol Pellowski. Kudos for their participation and excitement for the game!

For the most part, we received positive feedback on officiating at State Singles; however, there were a few issues that needed clarification. Questions arose as to what constituted an appeal, while a couple of players questioned the referee’s interpretation of the rules. Upon review, I discovered that I had addressed many of these issues in an article written a couple of years ago: A Players Guide to Officiating. Check it out to learn about referee appointment, line judges, appeals, rules interpretations, and more.

BOARD REPORT | by Dave Stone Reach the CRA Board at "firstname @ColoradoRacquetball.com" As reported in the past two issues, the CRA has welcomed new board members and said goodbye to others. On that note, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has served the great sport of racquetball on behalf of players in Colorado. I'd like to renew my personal appreciation for Larry and Avril Hammerle, who led the CRA with distinction and are missed dearly. We also bid brief adieu to Dennis Chandler and Deven Naik (who still show up behind TD desks) and we thank Art Prott for his tireless service (no pun intended!).

At the same time, we've added new board members Kathleen Erickson, Alyssa Street, Kim Pedrie, CJ Sanders, and Matthew Dockter. On behalf of Colorado Racquetball, I thank everyone for their willingness to contribute by stepping up to board service, and I encourage you to welcome them and provide your feedback on how to improve local programs.

As many of you are likely aware, one of the functions of the CRA is to run state singles and doubles tournaments annually. The state singles were held in mid-March and proved to be a great success. That being said, we continue to review our strategic objectives and develop plans to grow the sport. We are always excited about our state championships, but understand that our work impacts many more players than the 100200 that routinely participate in these tournaments.

In the coming year, the CRA intends to take a more hands-on approach to developing programs at clubs and recreation centers throughout the state. We want to see more active programs that include junior, senior, and collegiate players. Obviously, only twelve CRA directors will not be able to oversee every program, but we want to help put the tools in place that will invigorate racquetball.

We'll be looking for experienced and passionate players to help grow racquetball in Colorado, so I urge you to consider this opportunity and help build this sport back to prominence. Also, I encourage everyone to contact the CRA to discuss any plans that help promote the sport - we

FROM THE EDITOR Since transparency and full disclosure have become common buzzwords ... do you know if your club is even thinking about removing a court?

If they are, how soon do you think you'd be notified of those deliberations? Would it be before or after plans were finalized? Either way, then what?

As much as we all love racquetball, we need to do more than just schedule our matches, show up to enjoy them and go home.

Over time, your sustained membership just to play racquetball has serious bottom-line impact to club management. Calculate how many years of dues you've invested (retention), and voice your strong opinion about what the sport means to you, when asked (usage).

appreciate your comments and look forward to hearing from you.

Then make sure you are asked ... before any of your courts are lost.

Preparation is key! Linda Mojer

Colorado was well-represented at National Doubles, by (l-r): Steve Strahler, Mark Sikorski, Kim Coates, Tana Blass (Wy.) and Keith Sapp. In Tempe, the pairings were Steve & Mark in Men's Centurion A ... Mark & Tana in Mixed Centurion ... Tana & Keith in Mixed Elite ... and Keith & Steve in Men's Elite ... with Kim cheering them on from the stands! Photo by Roby Partovich.

The full roster of Colorado players competing in Tempe included: Tony Carson, Woody Clouse, Steve Czarnecki, Kevin Deyo, Joe Massa, Shirley Parsons, Ryan Rodgers, Keith Sapp, Mark Sikorski, Kyle Smith and Steve Strahler. Congratulations for stepping up to the national level!

NATIONAL NEWS In RACQUETBALL Magazine ... A CRA update by Kathleen Erickson appears in the Spring edition of RACQUETBALL. In it, she shares these new perspectives, with enthusiasm: To kick off the new year, the CRA Board revisited its strategic goals and crafted a new mission statement which dedicates CRA "to promote awareness and involvement through strong and supportive community engagement."

Our re-energized CRA Board convened in January to both re-frame its mission and brainstorm ways to grow the sport. After all, we all agree that it's time to take back the courts that have been re-purposed over the years - right?

Toward this end, the CRA Board has taken a closer look at how our sport differs from others - even down to the minutia of how we run and promote tournaments. We felt that one key differentiator was the sense of community and social interaction among players, and that - by nurturing that unique culture, the sport will grow in Colorado, and we'll see courts converted back to their original usage.

In the coming months, the CRA Board plans to work on various strategic initiatives designed to:

... Generate awareness through social media and at clubs that have racquetball courts

... Support coaching programs and current coaches as they develop players

... Assist clubs in developing and growing racquetball programs

... Promote tournament events throughout Colorado

... Develop social functions to build, nurture, and engage our community

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