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CSRA Collegiate Fund Raiser Recap
(Aug 31, 2011) Our Thanks to the supporters Mike Lippit , Harold Jagoda & Dana Lund and players of the Collegiate Fundraiser- one-day Doubles Shootout at the beautiful Renaissance Club Sport in Walnut Creek, CA.
The proceeds from this event will benefit California's collegiate racquetball teams who compete in a conference circuit prior to Regional and National Collegiate Championships.
One day Double Shootout, Sat Aug 27, 2011, at the
beautiful Renaissance Club Sport, Walnut Creek, CA.
The proceeds from this event will benefit California's collegiate racquetball teams who compete in a conference circuit prior to Regional and National Collegiate Championships: http://www.WCRCRacquetball.org
Renaissance ClubSport - The premiere East Bay location for your off-site meetings, team building events and other business needs. This unique blend offers contemporary surroundings, four diamond hotel, 175 guestrooms, flexible meeting space, a state-of-the-art fitness facility and more all conveniently located directly across the street from the Pleasant Hill Bart Station.
The Hotel - Stylish guestrooms and luxurious suites come with oversized spa style baths, two-line speaker cordless phones, complimentary high-speed internet access, an MP3 player, an executive-sized desk, dry cleaning service, On Command¨ Video with a huge selection of the latest movies and lots of extras to make your stay with us enjoyable.
The Club - Overnight guests have complimentary access to the 85,000 sq. ft. fitness facility. This includes an indoor NBA regulated basketball court (1 full court and 2 half courts), 3 squash courts, 3 racquetball courts, bocce ball, Group Fitness programs, 3 outdoor swimming pools, 3 Jacuzzis, steam room and sauna.
Spa & Boutique - Feel rejuvenated at R Spa, a full service day spa offering a complete menu of massage
therapy, body treatments, facials and nail services.
Dining - c-blue Wet Bar & Bistro, with its contemporary exhibition-style kitchen, serves the freshest in regional California cuisine. Relax and unwind by the fire with a signature cocktail on our outdoor patio. For a more casual meal, our c-blue Deli has a wide selection of sandwiches, salads, energy shakes and health conscious snacks for you to choose from.
There will be bagels, munchies, and a discount price on beer!
2011 Ektelon USAR National Singles Championships Recap
(Jun 30, 2011) This year's edition of the Singles Championships had a completely different feel. New location, portable court and the addition of Men's Pro Division all combined to kick off the first of five years at the Meridian Sports Club in Fullerton, California. 500+ players this year – 700 next year?
We will never forget the impact of all the years this that event was held in Houston. Over time, it grew from just using the YMCA to needing 2 other venues to hold all the matches. – That's Growth!! The history and the memories of our time in Houston will be cherished, even as we turn the page and grow into our new location and we look forward to creating new memories in these next few years – who knows, we could be hosting another 25 year anniversary right here in Fullerton!
Having the National Singles in Fullerton is unique in that there are very few facilities with this many courts that can house so many players in one location, but it seems it wasn't big enough - So we had to build one more court. In case you weren't able to make it this year, it has created quite a stir – you could see the glass court from the freeway.
Watching the glass court go up from scratch was inspiring. We put the call out for volunteers and we had an amazing turn out. These folks spent hours helping to build it, their enthusiasm was rousing and they had everything to do with how smooth the event ran this first time out of the gate. I can't say "Thank You" enough!!
How did the California players fare? Thanks to Terry Rogers and Jack Hughes, here are the results – CONGRATULATIONS!! If there are any omissions or errors, please contact us at email@example.com
|Gold Medalist
|Silver Medalist
|Bronze Medalist
|Janel Tisinger
|Solanna Taragan
|Christie Noller
|Kris Kaskawal
|Rebecca Wilkinson
|Rebecca Nielsen
|Peggine Tellez
|Cindy Herzeg
|Melissa McElfresh
|Rebecca Wilkinson
|Cindy Herceg
|Christie Noller
|Kris Kaskawal
|Debralynn Kahikina
|Betty Mota
|Laura Fenton
|Jody Nance
|Suzanna Fast
|Diane Mueller
|Peggine Tellez
|Andrea Allmon
|Jody Nance
|Kathy Gluvna-isett
|Suzanna Fast
|Vicky Birkmann
|Julia Mouser
|Terry Rogers
|CeCe Palaski
|Margie Der
|Merijean Kelley
|CeCe Palaski
|Nidia Funes
|Marquita Molina
|Marquita Molina
|Jose Diaz
|Brandon Davis
|Bart Landsman
|Enrique Loalza
|Ryan Moreno
|Robert Rivas
|Anthony Santos
|10 Under
|Jaden Elkins
|Cody Elkins
|14 Under
|Fausto Santana
|Dane Elkins
|Jaden Elkins
|18 Under
|O. Rion Ocampo
|Rebecca Nielsen
|Michael Nguyen
|Ford Rainey
|Joe Lara
|Jon Lillemoe
|Joe Rosales
|Mike Orr
|Orlando Mayo
|Steve Ivers
|Jeffrey Dorrington
|Durrell McAdoo
|Craig Canoy
|David Tedeschi
|Steve Levine
|Robert SpitsWamars
|Robert Siebert
|Butch Fish
|David Aquirre
|Ricardo Balderas
|John Guerrero
|Dean Ritter
|Mike Targon
|Greg Kearney
|Tony Vargas
|Robert Rivas
|Greg Young
|Mickey Bellah
|Frederick Roe
|Dave Shelburne
|Bob Bacharach
|Steve Covey
|Jerry Holly
|Vance Lerner
|Bill Gencarella
California Junior Wins Scholarship
(June 20, 2011) Dane Elkins was awarded one of two IRT racquetball scholarships to the USOC training seminar in Colorado Springs. Dane completed the entire application himself. He is 12 years old and attends Paul Revere Middle School where he is in the highly-gifted program and has straight A's. Dane, who started playing when he was two, is the 2011 California State doubles champion in the 12 and under, the two time world outdoor champion 2011 for singles and doubles 10 and under, and took 2nd place in the Ektelon Nationals in Singles 14 and under (losing to his doubles partner Fuasto Santana Jr) and semifinalist in the 18 and Under at Ektelon Nationals. He is sponsored by Ektelon and is coached by Debbie Tisinger Moore.
Junior Nationals Coming
(May 25, 2011) The USAR Junior National Racquetball Championships will be held in Portland, Oregon this year June 22-26th. Hope to see California Juniors once again make a great showing at the Nationals. This event determines which players will represent USA at the Junior World Championships. The top two singles finishers and top doubles team qualify for the national team. The World Cup consists of Boys and Girls age groups 14, 16, and 18. The Esprit Cup is made up of the 10's and 12's. The World Championships are usually held in November or December, giving national team members several months for training and fund raising for the trip. This year is unique with the Worlds happening in the Dominican Republic July, giving USA players only a month to prepare physically, mentally and monetarily…We are hoping people can help with the monetary part. Below are a couple ways that you can help to support the national Junior team in their trip to the Dominican Republic. . These have been provided by Terri Morse of USAR. For California players we will be looking at some one day shootout fund raisers. If you would like to host one or have thoughts on helping to fund the California players, please contact Brian Dixon (firstname.lastname@example.com or 707 766-9105)…
Per Terri Morse…
We have a junior team donation for the whole team but not specifically for the Dominican trip yet. The link is http://www.usaracquetballevents.com/cartProduct.asp?modelID=1001&cartID=28750&productGroupID=49&categoryID=136&brandID=102
If they want to do a specific donation for the Dominican Republic trip, they can call the office for a credit/debit (MasterCard and VISA only) card donation, send a check with a note regarding its allocation, or use the "Give Direct" option on our website (https://www.givedirect.org/give/givefrm.asp?CID=74). Give Direct only sends checks to us monthly but there are no fees on MasterCard, VISA, or Discover. American Express has a small fee that is taken out of the donation but it allows donors to use whatever payment type they would like and has a note area to specify where they would like the funds allocated.
The Meridian Sports Club in Fullerton features 24 Racquetball Courts,
There are 7 different skill division leagues held Monday night thru Thursday night.
The club also has two jogging tracks, full court basketball court with basketball leagues held on Tuesday and Thursday. It features two swiming pools with a co-ed jacuzi and cold pool. Full facility locker rooms with steam room, sauna, jacuzi and towels are provided.
The club has a 15,000 sq. ft. cardio and weight room along with three Group X Rooms holding a dozen different classes per day seven days per week.
The Meridian Sports Club will be hosting for the next Five years the United States National Singles Championships along with an IRT Men's Pro Stop, May 25-30.
Team California T-Shirts !
Front (click for larger image)
Back (click for larger image)
Attending the National Singles tournament in Fullerton, CA May 25-30, 2011 or just an avid California racquetball player – show your support by purchasing a Team California shirt for $20 including shipping. Wear your shirt proudly at the Nationals as we attempt to reach a CSRA goal of at least one medal winner in every event!
To purchase your shirt please email firstname.lastname@example.com and include your shirt size, name, mailing address, and a contact phone number. You will be contacted regarding payment.
March 18th—20th • Supreme Court Sunnvyale • Sunnyvale, CA
Our thanks to Racquetball Warehouse for sponsoring the state championship and also to Gearbox, Pro-Kennex, Head, Ektelon, E-Force, and Wilson for their support of this event and state racquetball. Thanks also to Supreme Court and Dave Ralstin for hosting the tournament and overseeing the BBQ.
» Visit the Supreme Court I web site ...
One of the key factors in any club's success is its general vibe. People want to feel good when they come into a club, want to know that management genuinely cares about their health and their experience once inside those doors. At Supreme Court 1 in Sunnyvale the positive vibe starts with its owner, Dave Ralstin. A dynamo of energy, he often works the front desk and greets his members by name. He plays handball, squash and racquetball, in fact won a gold medal this year in 55A's at National Doubles in Phoenix.
Supreme is a funky 70's era club with 7 racquetball courts (2 glass-backed) and 3 squash courts.
We have over 300 racquetball players and a great program to keep them busy, including leagues, challenge ladder, weekday challenge courts, clinics, want-a-game-board, pro shop and stringer. The court floors were recently refinished, and the lobby, halls and locker rooms were re-carpeted. New tables and chairs in the lobby make it comfortable to sit around and watch action on the 2 glass-backed courts while enjoying a cold one.
Did I mention that Supreme serves beer?
Dave and all of us on staff are proud to be hosting the CSRA 2011 State Singles Championships.
We look forward to the competition from players around the state.
At the 2011 National Doubles Championships our players took a total of ten gold medals, more than any club in the state and likely the country. So show up ready to play!
Here are the players who recently won at the 2011 National Doubles Championships:
|Dave Ralstin
|Men's 55+ A
Kevin Loop
|Men's 55+ A, Men's Centurion A
|Gil Cepeda
|Men's Elite, Mixed Elite
Tom Lonardo
|Men's Elite
|Merijean Kelley
|Women's 65+, Mixed 65+
Celia Vigil
|Women's Elite, Women's 35+
Hope to see you there.
Gene Paré
2011 National Doubles in Tempe, AZ
(February 18, 2011) 353 players from 35 states descended on the ASU campus as they once again hosted the USAR National Doubles, the weather was perfect and the competition fierce. 92 of those players were from our home state of California, second only to the host state of Arizona (102). Players competed in 80 events and California players were awarded over 55 medals. A complete summary of the event can be found on the USAR website, http://www.usra.org/. We would like to recognize the medal winners, listed here, and congratulate all those who participated. While we try to be thorough in gathering the result information, we may have omitted someone. Please contact us at email@example.com to report an error
|Jackie Paraiso/Aimee Ruiz
|Celeste Pafford/Kris Kaskawal
|Judy Hulen/Vivian Schneider
|Celia Vigil/Melissa Mcelfresh
|Judy Hulen/Vivian Schneider
|Carla Francis/Heather Colon
|Celeste Pafford/Beth Neff
|Celia Vigil/Melissa Mcelfresh
|Christie Noller/Suzanne Fast
|Leslie Pawka/C.Alatorre-Martin
|Lori Soares/Vicky Birkmann
|Debra Tisinger-moore/Malia Bailey
|Elaine Dexter/Linda Moore
|Sandy Rios/Vicky Birkmann
|Carla Francis/Elaine Dexter
|Leslie Pawka/ C.Alatorre-Martin
|Cece Palaski/Marquita Molina
|Merijean Kelley/Nancy Kronenfeld
|Terry Rogers/Joanne Johnson
|Merijean Kelley/Nidia Funes
|Marquita Molina/Mildred Gwinn
|Jackie Pariaso/Tony Carson
|Centurian O
|Ken Stone/Linda Moore
|Gil Cepeda/Kelani Bailey
|Ian Norton/Lori Soares
|Julia Mouser/Alex Baker
|Janel Tisinger/Bryan Crosser
|Celeste Pafford/Dale Valentine
|Ken Angelocci/Melissa Mcelfresh
|Christie Noller/David Daniels
|Dorcy Norton/Shane Pinkston
|Mike Alderson/Vicky Birkmann
|Elaine Dexer/Dave Azuma
|Jill Mitchell/Patrick Gibson
|Terry Rogers/Barry Hendricks
|Mike Pawka/Merijean Kelley
|Nidia Funes/Price Thomas
|Marquita Molina/Ron Adams
|Rocky Carson/Jack Huczek
|Chris Crowther/Shane Vanderson
|Jose Rojas/Andy Hawthorne
|Centurian O
|Sam Neer/Robert Siebert
|Centurian A
|Kevin Loop/Charles Hauser
|Gil Cepeda/Tom Lonardo
|Ken Courtney/Alex Baker
|Steve Harris/Steve Saragosa
|James Clark/Kennedy Clarke
|Fernando Pozo/Jose Luis Isalas
|Brian Fredenberg/Tim Doyle
|Darrin McNally/Ty Kelly
|Ken Courtney/Alex Baker
|Darrin McNally/Ty Kelly
|Charles Hauser/Steve Dayrault
|Kevin Loop/Dave Ralstin
|Geg Kearney/Julian Delreal
|Mike Pawka/Ed Remen
|Steve Lavorgna/Hank Estrada
WSMRA Nationals Recap
(January 27, 2011) The Women's Senior/Masters Racquetball 22nd Annual National Championships were held January 14-16, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. Five California gals braved the cold and traveled to the mile high city to the age group tourney. Congratulations to the participants, Terry Rogers, 1st/60+, Merijean Kelley, 2nd/65+, Nidia Funes 3rd/65+, Marquita Molina, and Darcy Bunn. Next year the tournament moves to warm, sunny Florida!
US Open Bucket List
by Sarah Warhaftig, WPRO player and staff writer
(January 11, 2011) The US OPEN is arguably the World Series of Racquetball. The best players from all over the world come to compete and compare themselves amongst the sports best. The atmosphere feel is like no other tournament; it's the most prestigious event for the best in the game. For many, the first time, is like a kid's childhood dream of going to the major league park. Players are engulfed in the play and the excitement for competition, but this year for one player the US Open's meaning went far beyond this.
|"Racquetball to me is family, a small family but one with love and compassion." — Garyn Scott
Meet Garyn Scott from Fremont California, a lifelong racquetball player. Garyn grew up in Brooklyn and later moved to San Jose where he worked as a police sergeant for many years. A friend introduced Garyn a former handball player to the sport of racquetball. That day, Garyn became hooked to the sport and has been a competitive player ever since.
In 1991, Garyn started competing and traveled to tournaments in California, Arizona and Nevada. He remembers taking Fran Davis's camp and went on to become AMPRO Certified in 1995. Today, Garyn is the head club pro for Club Sport in Fremont, California, where he has loved teaching and sharing his passion for the game. Since the first day he touched that racquet, Scott's dream was to get to the US Open the pinnacle of the sport. Work, family and life have yet to allow him to attend, but this year was Scott's year a trip to a new venue, the same US Open.
Garyn's excitement and enthusiasm was noticeable as I met him near stadium court on Saturday afternoon. His expressions and demeanor were similar of that first trip to the ballpark, a childhood memory. If you looked through the draws though you would see his name absent. Last August, Scott was given a grim diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. The doctor's treatments as of the Open had run their course and nothing further was to be accomplished through those protocols. He was preparing for an experimental treatment at Stanford University to start subsequent to his return from Minneapolis. For many of us such words could crush and break any lasting spirits. Garyn's spirits rose above this, and his lifelong dreams were not being stopped by these words. Garyn knows what lies ahead of him, undoubtedly a tough road, however his passion for this game and his support of the players would not hold him back from being in Minneapolis.
It's no doubt that Scott loves the game, and his favorite player is Rhonda Rajsich. Scott's dream was to play, and he got his wish. Saturday afternoon in between the mens' and women's' pro semi-finals Garyn teamed up with Rhonda Rajsich and played Ben Croft and Cristina Amaya on stadium court. Garyn's dream of playing at the Open was coming true, he played and competed with some of the worlds best. Rhonda said, "This was probably the biggest honor I have ever received in my whole playing career. For a player wanting to play with me was better than any tournament win, it makes you step back and realize how precious life really is."
I met up with Garyn right after his debut on stadium court and we got to chat about life. Gary's immense passion for life and racquetball was evident. His doctors told him that he should remain in bed for the next few weeks. Garyn said, "Why would I lay in bed and let this cancer get me? It's about living life and I am doing that everyday." When asked why racquetball, he says "Its Life". Racquetball to me is family, a small family but one with love and compassion. His most memorable match he said he worked the night shift until 7 am; his first match was 8 am. He was down in the first game 14-0 and came back to win 15-14. The second game same score down 14-0 and came back to win 15-14. Garyn summed up his whole week at the US Open as a dream come true. This dream came true with the effort of friend Denny Erardi. Denny contacted the WPRO, IRT and US Open Tournament staff to arrange a memorable week for Garyn. Denny planned on playing with Garyn at the California State Doubles Tournament, however at the time of the tournament Garyn wasn't well enough to compete. Garyn's son DJ stepped in for his father and he and Erardi made it all the way to the semi-finals before losing in the tiebreaker.
After spending only a short period of time with Garyn, it's easy to reflect on a true meaning of happiness. As racquetball players and athletes, it's so easy to get caught up in the competition and frustrations of performance. It's people like Garyn who remind us that racquetball is a sport, life is a journey, reflect on what it is that truly makes you happy and remember that nothing is guaranteed.Reproduced with permission from The Waves newsletter of the WPRO: http://www.wpro-tour.com/newsletter/wpro_newsletter_jan_2011.pdf.
(December 20, 2010) Dear Toys for Tots Players: On behalf of Gerry Price and myself (Mike Lippitt), we want to thank you for your gracious support of our second annual Toys for Tots Charity tourney. In a year where Toys for Tots is having difficulties collecting enough toys to meet the needs of children who might go without a toy in the San Ramon Valley, we were able to collect over 1200 toys and $2000 in fees, donations and auction items. Truly we couldn't have done it without you!
Photos now up: Toys for Tots charity tournament photos.
Featured Club: Sorrento Valley Racquetball & Fitness Center
February 23rd – 27th
(December 12, 2010) Sorrento Valley Racquetball & Fitness Center was built in 1975 and was bought by its current owner, John Brumfield, in 1983. John and his staff and management love to play Racquetball! You can routinely see John or his children Madison and Carson on the courts.
Sorrento Valley Racquetball & Fitness Center is known for its incredible racquetball history, players, courts, leagues, tournaments, & programs …
Jason Mannino making a diving get as the Wiz covers. Marty Hogan in the back court.
You can tell right away this is no ordinary Racquetball club. Sorrento Valley Racquetball & Fitness Center has a rich and storied history, and is considered the premier Racquetball and Paddleball club in the San Diego area. On any given day you can find Charlie Brumfield, "Dr. Bud" Muehleisen, Chris Crowther, Jason Mannino, Mike Orr or Aaron Embry playing here.
But, what really separates Sorrento Valley Racquetball & Fitness Center from other clubs is its friendly atmosphere and the incredible level of commitment to Racquetball and Paddleball. The club regularly hosts amazing tournaments, Monday Night Challenge Court, Weekly Round Robins, In-House Leagues, and offers one-of-a-kind programs for developing juniors and women players.
Sorrento Valley Racquetball & Fitness Center is the proud host of the 2011 San Diego Open Racquetball Championships (Tier 1) February 23rd – 27th, and the 2011 National Paddleball Doubles Championships April 15th – 17th.
For more information about Sorrento Valley Racquetball & Fitness Center, please visit our website at www.SVRacquetball.com.
November 5th—7th • In-Shape Sport • Stockton, CA
Our Thanks to Ektelon, E-Force, Head & Gearbox for their support
Show your appreciation for Racquetball Warehouse by visiting their website (http://racquetballwarehouse.com) and buying great stuff at great prices.
Photos now up: California State Doubles Photos
Wish Granted!
(November 5, 2010) The week of October 20, 2010, Garyn Scott traveled to Minneapolis for the US Open Racquetball Championships, the original and largest "Grand Slam" event and the most prestigious racquetball tournament of the year. Once he was there he received a VIP/GOLD pass, courtesy of the US Open and Doug Ganim, which allowed him to attend the Pro matches and enjoy all the special events and hospitality. On "Super Saturday" scheduled with semi-final matches for both the Men and Women Pro Divisions, Doug Ganim and Shannon Feaster (WPRO Commissioner) went to great lengths on very short notice to arrange for Garyn to have the opportunity to try out the all glass stadium court and play a game with partner Rhonda Rajsich, against opponents Ben Croft and Christina Amaya. All of the players obviously enjoyed the experience and Garyn can be proud of the way he held his own on the court with the three Pros. On "Championship Sunday" Garyn was court side to cheer on his "partner" Rhonda Rajsich as she won her record breaking fourth US Open Championship. Rhonda asked Garyn to join her on the court after the match and presented him with her winning racquet and a big hug. It was an emotional moment for both of them.
Garyn has given and continues to give so much of his time and passion to the game and people of racquetball. Garyn's trip to Minneapolis was one of those rare occasions when a sport was able to give a little something back to one of its special people.
CSRA Board Elections & CSRA Annual Meeting
(October 14, 2010) Four positions for the CSRA Board of Directors are open for election. California residents with active USRA memberships are allowed to participate in the voting by mailing in the ballot below. To be counted, the ballot must be received by November 4, 2010.
CSRA Annual Meeting Saturday, November 6th 1:00 pm at the state doubles tournament. All members are encouraged to attend to hear about the ranking system, automated tournament program and the state of the state.
Featured Club: Mariner's Square
(October 13, 2010) Mariner Square Athletic Club, located adjacent to Oakland, in Alameda, CA, is currently enjoying its 30th year in business. It has 6 racquetball courts with large glass viewing windows and a catwalk above the courts that makes it ideal for watching competitive matches. The club offers four leagues a year for both singles and doubles, has several in-house round-robin tournaments, and has become famous for its every-Friday-night racquetball social event. In addition to racquetball, the club also has a large indoor swimming pool, weight rooms, exercise classes, fitness trainers, a restaurant, excellent childcare and much more. For more information on MSAC, visit its website at www.marinersq.com. Non-members can check out how fun racquetball is at Mariner Square for free on the first Tuesday or last Friday of the month. Call (510) 523-8011 for more information.
And don't miss the Shootout being hosted at Mariner's Square on November 20th.
Congratulations to Nidia Funes
(October 10, 2010) At the recent IRF World Senior Racquetball Championships California's own Nidia Funes was this years recipient of the Al Wetherill Award. The award is presented annually at the IRF World Senior Racquetball Championships in Albuquerque, NM. The WSRC (World Senior Racquetball Council), which runs the tournament, selects a recipient for his/her demonstration of sportsmanship on the racquetball court. The award has been presented since 1988. Each recipient is awarded a traveling trophy for the following year along with a permanent memento of their having received this recognition.
Congratulations again Nidia on this well deserved award!!!!!!f
2010 Junior State Championships
(June 9, 2010) California's Junior State Championship tournament for 2010 turned out to be another very successful event. The tournament was held at ClubSport in Pleasanton with 56 participants. The All American club and L.A. fitness in San Diego brought up 10 junior players, almost all of them deservedly winning medals. David Leon runs their junior program and the players are hard working and dedicated to the sport. Carliza Valencia came up from Diamond Bar, California, so congratulations to all 11 players for making the trip from Southern California. As we know too well, California is a very large geographical state, so hosting a tournament in either the north or the south constitutes quite a journey for the other side. Having that great group of kids and parents from down south confirms junior racquetball is still growing and thriving in our state. Jody Nance from Stockton brought a few of her juniors to the tournament, including 2 national hopefuls, Daniel (Mauro) Rojas and Antonio Rojas. Daniel, despite being eligible for the boy's 12 division, played instead in the boy's 14 division and won the gold medal. We'll be seeing a lot more of the Rojas brothers in the future. And, also of Stockton, perhaps little Julius Ellis will follow in his father's, John Ellis, footsteps. Julius won the multi-bounce division; starting his medal collecting at an early age! Brian Dixon of Petaluma brought 9 of his junior players to the tournament; lots of great prospects in that troop. Sawyer Lloyd, at age 14, took 3rd place in the boy's 18 division; another player to watch for at the national level. Garyn Scott, racquetball director at ClubSport Fremont, had 4 junior players in the tournament, including his son, Donovan, who nicely rounded out the boy's 18 division. Gil Cepeda of Los Gatos Fitness brought 4 of his junior students, including one first time tournament player. Richard Martin from Auburn Racquet and Fitness was at the tournament with 3 of his junior players, one of whom was also a first time tournament player. ClubSport had 15 junior players in the tournament, and we would like to give a special congratulation to Tyler Lanman for winning the boy's 18 division. This is Tyler's last year as a junior player, but he will be attending UCLA in the fall where he will continue to play racquetball on campus and hopefully develop an intercollegiate racquetball team there. Tyler also handled the CSRA membership desk at the tournament, a task that would not normally be handled by a player in the event. Tyler, junior racquetball will miss you, but your work ethic and sportsmanship are something for the younger players to emulate.
It is always fun to see the enthusiasm and awe (and sometimes terror) from our first time participants. The CSRA generously paid the first year membership dues for these new players and I'd like to congratulate them on competing in their first tournament and thank their coaches and parents for encouraging them to play! The kids had a great time playing, eating and running around together. New friendships are forged and doubles partnerships cemented. Our sponsor, Heavenly Bites, wowed us all with delicious flavors of flavorburst™ frozen yogurt and trays full of various cookies. Kristine Shimmin, proprietor, knows how to please both kids and adults with her goodies!
As always, ClubSport has an amazing group of tried and true racquetball players who volunteer their time to help this event run as smoothly as it does. These league and ladder players sit at the registration desk, serve food, referee countless matches, record scores and support all of ClubSport's junior racquetball players. These same people play our juniors in league and ladder matches, exemplifying the "pay it forward" motto.
Next year David Leon has offered to host this tournament in San Diego. The entries from that area certainly warrant holding the junior state championships there. It is my hope that we in Northern California can make the trip down there to insure their tournament is as successful as our 2010 was. On another junior tournament note, the CSRA has set aside money to promote one day junior racquetball programs throughout California. It is very important that all our junior players attend any of these tournaments in their area. We have yet to formally schedule them, and are looking for clubs and racquetball directors to let us know they would like to host one. These tournaments will be CSRA sanctioned events, allowing our players who are new members to make good use of their membership throughout the year. Please contact me, Elaine Dexter, email@example.com or Brian Dixon, firstname.lastname@example.com, if you would be interested in hosting a one day junior tournament. For more information on how to run a one day tournament, an instructional guide will be available. Thanks in advance to all of you for supporting junior racquetball in California.
March 26th—28th • Spectrum Club • Canoga Park, CA
Our Thanks to Ektelon, E-Force, Head & Gearbox for their support
We thank all the players who joined us at the State Singles Championships – Congratulations to our Champions!!! A full wrap up of our Champions will be posted shortly with photos.
As special Thank you to Spectrum Club, Debbie Moore and Randy Lam for being our Tournament Directors.
(April 7 2010) It is with sadness the we report that Jim Love, a senior RB player, passed away last week, March 29 2010. He was a good person who inspired all of us who knew him to play and to promote our sport. He'll live forever in Racquetball Heaven! From the CSRA and his racquetball family, our sympathies go out to his family.
(March 2010) Fran Davis and Jason Mannino will be bringing the Building Your Racquetball Dream House Camps to San Diego (June) and San Francisco (August). The camps include comprehensive video analysis of each student's swing and play, on court tactics, and the ability to play Jason Mannino who assesses and offers feedback on areas to improve your game on the spot. Lectures on stroke mechanics, court position, shot selection, serve/return, mental game, and just about everything you can think of are included throughout the weekend.
California High School'ers Travel to Oregon in search of Gold!!
(March 4, 2010) CSRA was delighted to support our 7 California representatives. Brian Dixon,along with the CSRA Junior Committee (Aaron Embry, Tyler Lanman, Jeffrey Weiss, Elaine Dexter, and Larry Steiner), spearheaded the effort to provide some financial assistance to our players as they headed to the fabulous Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland OR.
Forty High Schools were represented by the 320 players including our own Luke Sewall and Josh Wroblewski along with David Bogosian representing their individual schools. They were joined by our Gold Medalist in Group #1 Marco Rojas. He teamed up with Jose Diaz – winner of Group #2 to take the Gold in the Group #1 Doubles. Alex Guzman took the Gold in Group #3 . These three represented Franklin High of Stockton, finishing 4th in the Boys division. Pretty impressive as some schools sent over 20 players. The reigning girls champ, Devon Pimentelli, took Silver in the Girls Group #1.
We continue to see strong performances by these players coming off of a very successful World Junior Championships. Good thing the California players came to that event or the results might have been significantly different!!!
Californians in Arizona for the 2010 National Doubles
(March 4, 2010) If it's February, then it must be time to shake off the snow and cold and head to the glorious climes of Arizona for this years edition of the USAR National Doubles event. 336 players did just that, while California had one of the largest contingents to descend on Phoenix, Arizona with 76 players. A very thorough summary is available at the USRA site with the draws and photos. However, I wanted to point out that 52medals out of 70 events were awarded to California players!!!!
We wanted to take a minute to recognize the California Winners and Finalist for this tournament and add our "hearty congratulations" to everyone who participated.
Since this tournament will take place again in February 2008 on its new date on the calendar, we wanted to give you some inspiration!!!
You may notice that there are several multi-medal winners on this list – please forgive me if I left anyone off or goofed your name. Shoot me an email and I will make corrections.
US Team Qualifying
|Jacqueline Paraiso and her partner, Aimee Ruiz, of NJ, made the US Team by overtaking Janel Tisinger and her partner, Rhonda Rajsich of AZ
|Carla Francis and her partner took Silver
|Judy Hulen and Vivian Schneider took Gold
|Jody Nance and Elaine Dexter took Gold
Lori Soares and Roxanne Davis took Silver
|Kathy Isett and her partner took Silver
|Marquita Molina and her partner took Silver
|Terry Ann Rogers and her partner took Gold
Nidia Funes and her partner took Silver
|Mx Elite
|Brian Pineda and his partner took Gold
Cindy Gilbert and Tim Annear took Silver
|Greg Solis and his partner took Gold
|Debra Garrett-Woods and Roland Grassl took Silver
|Jody Nance and Mark Nomura took Silver
|Kathy Isett and her partner took Silver
|Elaine Dexter and her partner took Gold
|Fredrick Roe and his partner took Silver
|US Team Qualifying
|Rocky Carson III and Josh Tucker will represent the US on the Men's Team
|Scott Davis and his partner took Silver
|M Elite
|Brian Pineda and Greg Dorman took Gold
|Rod Sharrar and Thomas Alex Baker took Gold
|Scott Davis and his partner took Silver
|Rod Sharrar and Thomas Alex Baker took Silver
|Dale Valentine and Todd Entrikin took Gold
|Jason Geis and his partner took Silver
|Mike Orr and Shawn Royster took Gold
Craig Lane and Greg Solis took Silver
|Tom Fuhrmann and his partner took Gold
Dale Valentine and Jonathan Dunn took Silver
|Scott Kramer and his partner took Gold
|Erick Sherwood and Steve Wattz took Silver
|John Parks and Ty Kelly took Silver
|Eric Barkey and his partner took Gold
Ed Remen and Mike Pawka took Silver
|Mike Pawka and his partner took Gold
Beyond the Short Line - Winter 2009/10
Board Update: Thank you Larry Steiner!!
(October 8, 2009) The news of Larry Steiner's resignation from the Board of Directors of the CSRA is very shocking to say the least. There have got to be a number of things running through our brains. Shock, sadness, confusion are just a few emotions that come to mind. There is still work and programs that we need to continue moving forward and to that end, I have accepted the responsibility to temporarily step in as president with the blessings of my most ardent supporter, George Tellez. My hope is to bring continuity to the members of our organization and our board as we go through this transition.
This is not my organization; I am merely the caretaker while we get things in order and ready it to hand it over to our next leader. We will need to work together to design our path. There have been some very good initiatives implemented over the last year and we should keep moving ahead with those plans. Concentrate our efforts on these positive areas. We should examine the areas that have caused us discord and find out if there is a way to compromise in order to benefit the members and the organization.
Larry needs to be commended for the work he began. We learned that there is always more than one way to do things. There is work ahead of us, work that will be meaningful and important as we continue the mission of the association and I look forward to checking in with each of you about your thoughts, ideas and updates on the projects you have been working on.
Peggine Tellez
President, CSRA
CA Players on the US Junior Team
(Sep 26, 2009) A number of California's oustanding junior players will be competing for the US Junior Team at the Junior Worlds in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (December 14-20th). Each of these players is responsible for raising a portion of the team's expenses. Your support would be a big help, so pick the cutest mug, or pick em' all:
Aubrey O'Brien (contribute to fundraising)
Devon Pimentelli (contribute to fundraising)
Jose Diaz (contribute to fundraising)
Jose Rojas (contribute to fundraising)
Jose Serrano (contribute to fundraising)
Marco Rojas (contribute to fundraising)
(July 24, 2009) Marina Park in Huntington Beach, California again hosted The 2009 Racquetball Warehouse WOR Championships. Gorgeous weather, Jimbo's magic on the grill, and hot tunes booming from the DJ booth all set the stage for an incredible weekend. Nearly 300 competitors from 24 states battled it out over 4 days for the right to be called National Champion.
Pro Doubles was certainly the talk of Day 1, with many surprises in the R32's. Robert "Iceman" Sostre and partner Freddy Ramirez have dominated the 1 wall scene, but have logged very little time on these "Championship sized" 3 wall courts. They took out IRT stars Alvaro Beltran/Chris Crowther with their outdoor savvy and clutch shot making, surprising many in the crowd. Ken Grandy/Dave Smith were ranked higher than Charlie Pratt/Tony Carson, but most in attendance expected Florida's #1 team to be outmatched by the young guns. Smith/Grandy again prove their doubters wrong, and made all the big shots in tiebreaker. Brian Pineda/John Ivers surprised many by taking out established veteran team of Rick Sandello. Cliff Swain and Jason Mannino barely squeeked past Willie Tilton/Ravi Sohoni, going 10,(9)10 in an exciting match.
But the match of the day was clearly Mike Orr/Brad Kirch vs former National Champions Craig "Clubber" Lane and Greg Solis. Lane and Solis played like champions, thrilling the crowd with incredible displays of power and shot making. But Mike Orr and Brad Kirch played with a magic that had to be seen to be believed. The last shot of the game was pretty much a microcosm of the entire match, which was a joy to watch. At match point Kirch/Orr were stuck out of position, with a gaping hole on the right side of the court. Of course the ball was sent perfectly flying out the right door with seemingly no hope for a return. Brad Kirch somehow launched himself through the air at mid court and time seemed to stand still. While flying completely horizontal and out the door two feet above the concrete, Brad perfectly hit a forehand for a dead flat kill. Game over.
For many in the crowd it was the absolute best racquetball shot they had ever witnessed firsthand. It was that good.
All this on the very first day!
The rest of the weekend was dominated by Kevin Booth and Mike Peters, in both the Men's Pro Doubles and CPRT Master's 40+ Doubles. Booth/Peters mowed down their first 3 opponents with relative ease until the big semifinals showdown versus IRT star Jason Mannino and living legend Cliff Swain. The crowd expected an exciting match and nobody was dissappointed! Mannino picked up outdoor very quickly, and was deadly when the ball was left up. Cliff is a master of any sized or shape court, regardless of how many walls there are. On one defensive shot, Cliff made an insanely impossible defensive "get", while seemingly standing on his head. But Booth/Peters would not be denied. They used court savvy and clutch shot making to win what was probably the most anticipated match of the weekend. 10 (9) 9.
In the Pro Dubs Finals, Booth/Peters were able to fend off Rocky Carson and Mark Koiden in another exciting match. Carson and Koiden showed how they got to the Finals and made shot after shot, but the Booth/Peters train would not be denied.
In the Men's Pro Singles, Alvaro Beltran fell to Rocky Carson in the Finals, in what was a rematch of last years Final. Another "crowd pleaser" of a match in this division was Ben Croft vs Greg Solis. Everyone in attendance appreciated the heart shown by both players in this intense battle. Croft's ability to hit shots was matched only by Solis's uncanny ability to get everything Ben hit. Ben Croft too the match 11 (14) and 10, but everyone in the audience was a winner having witnessed that match.
Women's Pro Doubles had Martha McDonald/Rhonda Rajsich reclaim their title, taking down Janel Tisinger/ Michelle Poage in an exciting match.
Paola Longoria and Jackie Paraiso dominated the Women's Pro Singles, and the crowd was anticipating a well fought final between these two. They certainly lived up to the hype and then some, battling it out till Longoria came out ahead with 11,(14) 10.
In 2007, racquetball lost a great man in Greg Sheffield. To honor his lifetime of giving to the racquetball community, World Outdoor Racquetball created the Greg Sheffield award. This award is given to "The Outdoor Racquetball Player Who Most Exhibits Honor, Integrity, and True Love For Growing the Game". The 2009 recipient was Greg Lewerenz from Detroit Michigan. Greg has worked tirelessly to help grow the racquetball community in Michigan as well as in Ohio. Greg is respected and admired by his peers for all that he does.
The 2009 Racquetball Warehouse WOR Championships was a great success. Much thanks to Allan Kazem, Steve Cook, John Ellis and the entire event staff for putting on a first class showcase event.
Vic Leibofsky
National Director
World Outdoor Racquetball
Team California: #1 Juniors in Nation
(July 6, 2009) Against the odds, California Juniors take the National title for third year…
Heading into the Junior Nationals, it did not look good for California as we had 16 players going to the event and Oregon had 25. We had won the state championship the previous two years after Oregon had a long reign. It looked like they were back in the drivers seat. But wait, Gold in Boys 18's...Gold and Silver in 16's; Gold and Silver in Gilrs 16's yada, yada...California by a few points took the "threepeat". All players attending played a part in this, as one missing piece could have made the difference.
Congratulations to the California Juniors...Lets go for the Fourpeat!!!
Below is a summary of the event written by Elaine Dexter of ClubSport, Pleasanton:
Well, where to start? It's hard to describe a tournament of this scope adequately for those who have not attended a junior national event. This year, California sent 16 players to East Lansing, Michigan to compete against the best junior players in the country. As proud as we are of our junior players, it is unfortunate that in our populous, sport-crazy state we produce so few national level junior racquetball players. Still, as slight as our numbers may be, our state won the tournament in points! Oregon sent 25 players and both Ohio and Michigan had more entries than our state, yet we emerged victorious. This impressive win says something for the strength of the programs we have here in California; kudos to our coaches for their dedication and our players for their talent. Next year the junior program will be losing one of the greatest junior players California ever produced: Jose Rojas. His winning record and amazing play will forever remain a brilliant distinction in the California junior annals. Jose has inspired his brother, Marko Rojas, and fellow Stockton junior, Jose Diaz, to aspire to his throne and we're confident that they will. We also have the best 16 year old girls in the country right here in our state: Aubrey O'Brien and Devon Pimentelli, capturing both 1st and 2nd place in their singles GOLD division.
The junior nationals, though, represent so much more than high level racquetball and medals for California and our players. These kids go from high pressure indoor racquetball, resulting in triumphant wins or disappointing losses, directly to socializing with their opponents from all over the country. I watched kids leave indoor racquetball and head straight to outdoor racquetball, to basketball, to swimming. What better club to be able to appreciate sports and activities than the MAC, this year's host racquetball facility? The kids lined up outside waiting to challenge on the outdoor courts, some went directly to play basketball, or jumped in a sand volleyball game or played dodge ball and keep away in one of the many pools available. It was great to see kids active all day without television or video games☺. As much as I enjoy playing racquetball and working out, I felt privileged to watch our players compete and have the time of their lives in this 5 day, once a year tournament.
With the California State Racquetball Association now spending time, energy and money on our junior program, hopefully coaches can look to encouraging more of our young players to attend this event next year. Fundraising is available; support from our organization is there, so we, as coaches, need to do all we can to bring more kids to the sport.
As soon as we hear where this event will be held next June, we can start preparing our juniors and their parents early enough so that plans can be made and money can be raised. Let's continue to grow our programs and to support the kids who have dedicated so much effort toward attaining excellence in the sport. — Elaine Dexter
Congratulations to all our California Participants:
2009 Junior State Championships
(May 12, 2009) The Junior State Championships were held on May 2nd at ClubSport of Pleasanton and provided some interesting twists on this yearly event. Thanks to the many volunteers and helpers, we were able to run the entire tournament over one day. We received a lot compliments and thanks from the parents for managing 55+ junior players and a multitude of events (including singles and doubles) in one day; especially those parents who traveled a long distance to have their children compete. It was great to welcome 9 players from the Southern California area. Thanks for making the trip!
Another innovative bonus was that the CSRA picked up the cost of the first year membership for all of the first time tournament entrants. This, too, was greatly appreciated by the parents and by the tournament directors, since the generous offer enlisted more junior players into the event. As coaches, racquetball directors, and CSRA board members, we are exploring more ways to encourage kids to get involved in the sport and accommodating the families is high on the list. There were 25 new Junior members as part of this tournament.
We used a format that R2 does not have programmed into its system, but one that allowed the juniors to play more games against different opponents than usual. The players were in pools, initially, and every player from these pools advanced to draws: Gold for the top players; Blue, red and white (if enough players) for the rest of the competitors. So, in addition to top finishers listed on R2, players did well in some of the other draws: 10 White singles 1st Brant Kickhofel 2nd Vittoria Tommasini; 14 Red singles 1st, Tyler Llapitan, 2nd Mikey Neishi, semis' Logan Nance and Ben Koos. 14 White singles 1st Sara Leon, 2nd Michael Hinsberg. The 14 singles girls champion title was won by Sabrina Viscuso over 2nd place Sara Leon.
We offered both 6 and under and 8 and under multi bounce divisions. The youngest division had Ken Stone on the court with the little juniors while they played. He modified games and rules so they, too, could participate in the state championship. Let's get the kids playing as young as we can!
We'd like to give a special thanks to people sponsoring this event: Larry Steiner, CSRA president and co-owner of Lee and Larry's Bad Ass BBQ who provided the funds for our lunch. Gil Cepeda, racquetball director and junior coach at Los Gatos Health & Fitness club, provided the ice cream for our afternoon ice cream social. The members of Club Sport (too many to list) who spent so many hours refereeing, making and serving our delicious lunch, running errands, handling the check in desk, and generally assisting in any way they could are the greatest support for junior racquetball anyone could ask for.
Elaine Dexter
Tournament Director
ClubSport Pleasanton Racquetball Director
Women's Pro Stop in the news
(Apr 29, 2009) The Women's Pro Ektelon Championships held this past weekend in Stockton got the attention of CBS Channel 5 News:
Collegiate Nationals
(Apr 12, 2009) Collegiate racquetball players descended on the ASU courts in Tempe, Arizona for the 2009 USAR Collegiate Nationals in the first week of April. California was represented by players from CSU Fresno, CSU Sacramento, UC Berkeley, and San Joaquin Delta College. This was Delta's first year on the national collegiate stage, but they brought California junior veterans Jose Rojas, Teresa Diaz, Ismael Aldana, David Horn, and Jose Serrano. Even with just 5 players (out of 12 on a full team), they captured the men's individual title, 2nd place men's team, and 5th place overall team. Awesome.
Jose Rojas playing Anthony Carson (CSU, Pueblo) in the Men's I semi-finals. Jose went on to win the men's individual championship.
The Cuerno Windmill—click on the photo to see the windmill in action. Contest
|Images from the racquetballonline.tv live video streaming of collegiate nationals. Used with permission. They have videos of Div I finals matches on their site now. Viewers will need to sign up for a free account.
Additional information and results are available at USA Racquetball.
Racquetball Warehouse CSRA State Singles
The Wrapup
(Apr 10, 2009) The CSRA State Singles Championship was held March 20–22 in Fresno. Thanks to Racquetball Warehouse and our other sponsors for their help in building the event, and to all of the organizers and players who made it such a great event.
Results at r2sports.com
Videos at racquetballonline.tv
Discuss at meetandplay.com
The state singles championships came to Central California this year taking place at Sierra Sport and Racquet Club along with Centerpoint Athletic Club… Players from throughout the state attended the event held March 20-22.
John Ellis, Steve Cook and their band of tournament elves made the tournament run smoothly the whole weekend. Several CSRA Board members were on hand to help where needed. Merijean Kelley did an excellent job organizing the terrific Saturday night banquet.
The event began Friday afternoon with play at both clubs. Matches were self ref other than Open matches or if players requested a ref. This seemed to work out smoothly. Matches were on time for the most part.
Play continued early Saturday ending with a great match between Stockton buddies and junior stars Jose Diaz and Marco Rojas…
From there the players moved on to the banquet—an excellent Mexican dinner with the decor to go with it was arranged by Merijean along with Colleen Keating and Debra Nathan.
As players were eating their enchiladas etc. an awards presentation was done. First honored were the 2008 Junior Stars of the year. Seven Junior players were honored who made some significant accomplishments in 2008. Brian Dixon, CSRA Junior Director, made the presentations. Those honored included (by age): Sabrina Viscuso, Sawyer Lloyd, Devon Pimentelli, Jose Diaz, Marco Rojas, Aubrey O'Brien and Jose Rojas.
The awards proceeded with the presentation of the Presidents awards. Peggine Tellez (past CSRA President) made the presentations to the recipients who earned the honor by having an impact on Racquetball in 2008.
Play started up again Sunday with continuation of some round robins and the playoffs of pool play. The day culminated with the final of the Open match. This saw the new rivalry of John Ellis versus Junior star Jose Rojas. It was an exciting match with the crowd divided in who they should root for...It went to a tie breaker with John pulling it out 11-9!! You can catch this match as well as some others at www.Racquetballonline.tv.
Stay tuned for the State Doubles coming up in the Fall…
Again, a big thanks to our title sponsor Racquetball Warehouse as well as other sponsors Ektelon>, Head, Gearbox, E-Force, and Pro Kennex…
Collegiate Racquetball Update
(Mar 23, 2009) On February 28th, players from University of Southern California (USC), Azusa Pacific University (APU), and Claremont University Consortium (CUC) met at the Claremont Colleges to represent their schools in the collegiate shootout. After a grueling day of round-robin play, with each player playing a minimum of 4 matches, Pascal Cooper (USC) beat Jeffrey Weiss (CUC) in the finals. In the consolation game, Ankit Bhargav (USC) and Joel Roberts (APU) tied for third due to the exhaustion of both players.
The support of Pro Kennex is gratefully acknowledged for providing prizes for winners of the tournament, as is the work of Jeffrey Weiss and the Claremont racquetball team for hosting the tournament.
The next collegiate racquetball event is going to be the UC Santa Cruz Surf & Slam, May 2nd–3rd. Collegiate events are open to all full-time college students. Visit the WCRC website for more information.
So Where Did You Last Play Racquetball?
"Beware Jet Blast"
Racquetball Pros Join the Fleet onboard USS BONHOMME RICHARD (LHD 6)
[see MilitaryRacquetball.com for more photos and videos]
(Dec 5, 2008) For the first time in history, a portable outdoor racquetball court was placed on the flight deck of a naval vessel to showcase the benefits of racquetball as it relates to fitness for Sailors. The USS BONHOMME RICHARD (LHD 6) welcomed the top professional racquetball players from the International Racquetball Tour, Women's Professional Racquetball Organization, World Outdoor Racquetball and Classic Professional Racquetball Tour. "We're making history onboard this vessel, as we promote health and fitness for our Sailors through the sport of racquetball," said Lt. Cmdr. Steven Harper of Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron Five and event organizer. "This is an opportunity to show Sailors how to play the game and promote the sport in the military," said Alvaro Beltran, the number four ranked player on the International Racquetball Tour.
The idea of merging Navy fitness with the game of Racquetball began two years ago, while Lt. Cmdr Harper was deployed to the Gulf onboard a Norfolk based Cruiser. "Initially I was only thinking of how cool it would be to bring some type of court onto my ship while underway." says Lt. Cmdr Harper." But then I learned about the possibilities of portable outdoor racquetball courts, and I thought it would be more exciting to bring the game of Racquetball directly to Sailors who have never been exposed to it and who know nothing about the physical and mental challenges of the game".
He put his idea into action while attending the 41st USA Racquetball Association National Singles Championship, where he met Hank Marcus with World Outdoor Racquetball and Peggine Tellez with the California State Racquetball Association. Together, this dynamic team orchestrated the two day demonstration onboard the USS BONHOMME RICHARD, November 12-13, then seamlessly launched the All Military National Championship at Naval Base San Diego, November 14-16.
The planning of such a huge undertaking took massive coordination between organizers, sponsors and the ship's staff. In fact, timing was critical as the BONHOMME RICHARD had just returned to port (San Diego) from for a four month exercise – conducting maritime exercise missions with coalition forces, and it was scheduled to fulfill additional operational mission requirements. Yet, even with such a tight schedule, the ship's Commanding Officer, CAPT N. Parrott and CMDCM T. Verschueren thought this would be a unique way to introduce the sport and feature a new option for physical fitness to Sailors.
The day before the event kickoff Chuck West, of GIMEL Properties, and his crew transported and built the portable outdoor court on the flight deck of the ship. Working from sunup to sunset, they meticulously erected the court that would be used to make naval history. Then it was time to play.
The clinic began with exhibition matches between the professional players. Sailors were also given the opportunity to test their racquetball skills against the pros so see if they could score a few points. The professional players in attendance were IRT Professionals Rocky Carson, Jason Mannino, Alvaro Beltran and Chris Crowther; WPRO Professionals Rhonda Rajsich and Angela Grisar; CPRT Professionals Bret Harnett and Jimmy Lowe; and WOR Professionals Greg Solis and Craig Lane.
Between games, the sponsors, players, and guests were given the opportunity to tour the ship and have lunch with the crew. Professional players Rhonda Rajsich and Rocky Carson, agreed that this event was unique, as it was the first time either player had an opportunity to experience life on a warship. "We are pro's in the sport of racquetball, but these Sailors are dedicated and committed to keeping this country free and democracy strong." said Rhonda. "We are the ones who are honored, just to be able to promote the sport to these Sailors." she continued. Rocky added, "We see the camaraderie amongst these Sailors, and pride they take in serving this country."
The Sailors expressed gratitude and admiration for the Pros as they, in most cases, received their first introduction to the game of Racquetball. "It's a very challenging sport and it's an awesome way to keep in shape," said Seaman Darren Larsen. "This was a successful event overall, both in terms of a morale boost for the crew and in promoting the ships continuing commitment to a culture of fitness," said Anne Bolton, BONHOMME RICHARD's Afloat Recreation Specialist. "We support a variety of fitness programs on BONHOMME RICHARD, and this racquetball clinic introduced the crew to an alternate method of staying in shape. It was a great event and it's awesome that we [BONHOMME RICHARD] were the first to host such an event."
As the clinics and demonstrations on the USS BONHOMME RICHARD; aimed at promoting racquetball to a new military audience, came to a close, the All Military National Championship, hosted by the Southwestern Region MWR, was just getting started, thanks to the generous support of Romano's Macaroni Grill, E-Force, Ektelon, GearBox Racquetball, Head, ProKennex, Wilson, NMRA, & CPRT.
Over 100 military players from across the country and abroad (Germany and Italy) came to compete in this tournament; the first of it's kind in over 15 years. In a celebration of military service, active duty and veteran service members from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard convened on Naval Base San Diego over Veteran's Day weekend in Round-Robin competitions to determine who would rein as the military Champion. "It's a passion and the Inter-Service competition keeps me coming back," Lt. Cmdr Chhem Young-Pen, from SPAWAR System Center Pacific "I mean, this tournament brought out the best players." Ron Dorst of Saratoga, N.Y. at 74, Dorst was the oldest player in the competition. The retired Vietnam-era veteran, who served in four branches of the military, has been playing racquetball for more than 25 years, said"It's fun coming together to have fun and see my friends."
"This week was a success for the sport of racquetball as we were extremely well received, not only by the tournament players, but also by those Sailors who had never heard of the game.", said Lt Cmdr Steven Harper. "Getting the Military Racquetball-family back together again was just Great", said Jeff Elder, (Air Force MSgt, ret.), former Presidential aircrew member of AIR FORCE ONE. "After 15+ years, it's been a long time coming, and a dream of many to put on this type of event. We have to keep this program alive in the military". And that is exactly what the supporters of this event intend to do!
To view photos, to read more about the demonstration onboard the USS BONHOMME RICHARD, or for a complete list of winners from the All Military Racquetball Championship visit www.militaryracquetball.com.
State Doubles Results
Los Caballeros in Fountain Valley was the site of the 2008 State Doubles Championships. Pool Play and Round Robin formats insured that there was no shortage of matches to play. You may view the winners and finalist on the CSRA below. Also check out photos from the event in the photo gallery. Thank you's all around to the CSRA Board of Directors and Don DiPalma and Los Caballeros. And a special thank you to Terri Ann Rogers, she just knows how to make a tournament flow smoothly!!!
|Men's Elite
|John Wong/Scott Davis
|Keith Fisher/Kevin Watson
|Men's A
|Alberto Gutierrez/Michael Myers
|Mark Root/Warren Pettit
|Men's B
|Joshua Buras/Larry Stephens
|Steve Levine/Scott Mortensen
|Men's C
|Joe Rosales/Pedro Jimenez
|Alex Fischler/John Fischler
|Men's 25/30+
|A/B Mark Root/Warren Pettit
|Steve Levine/Scott Mortensen
|Men's 35+A
|Bryan Handlen/Ruben Lopez
|Brad Levine/Joe Hayward
|Men's 35+/40+
|Keith Fisher/Kevin Watson
|Gabe Medina/John Wong
|Men's 45+ A/B
|Hatch Saakian/Tom Keefe
|David Horton/Steve Amezaga
|Men's 55+
|Pete Chmielewski/Steve Cohen
|Bill George/Mike Lippitt
|Men's 50/60+
|Steve Cohen/Pete Chmielewski
|Dennis Riggs/Mike Alderson
|Men's 65+
|Hal Price/Luis Guerrero
|Frederick Roe/Howard Nellor
|Mixed Elite
|Kris Kaskawal/Scott Davis
|Debra Nathan/Randy Long
|Mixed Age
|Solanna Taragan/Grant Beatsen
|Margie Der/David Aguirre
|Mixed A
|Vivian Schneider/Ernie Dominguez
|Nico Richardson/Juan Diaz
|Mixed B/C
|Julia Mouser/Vic Martinez
|Mickey Bellah/Dionne Reid
California State Racquetball Association (CSRA) Chooses Ektelon as Official Ball
(Oct 1, 2008) Ektelon is proud to announce that the California State Racquetball Association (CSRA) has chosen Ektelon to be the official ball of the CSRA effective immediately and continuing through August 31, 2012. CSRA has chosen the Ektelon Classic (black) as its ball of choice for most tournament play. However, all 3 Ektelon balls will be used throughout the term of this agreement – including Premium Select and Fireball which will be used at selected events.
Over the past three years Ektelon has taken an extremely proactive role in developing the best quality racquetballs in the sport. This development of three different yet consistent types of racquetballs is reflected in Ektelon's partnerships as the "Official Ball" of the Women's Professional Racquetball Organization (Fireball), World Outdoor Racquetball (Fireball), Classic Professional Racquetball Tour (Classic Ball), National Masters Racquetball Association (Classic Ball), Commonwealth of Virginia Racquetball Association (Fireball) North Carolina Racquetball Association (Fireball) and now the CSRA.
"We are proud and excited to become a partner with the CSRA. California is the most active state in the sport, consistently boasting the largest number of indoor and outdoor events in the country," said Scott Winters, General Manager at Ektelon. "We look forward to working closely with the CSRA Board and members in developing new and exciting events for all types of players and working together with them to grow the sport."
In addition to providing top-quality balls to the various CSRA tournaments, as part of the agreement, talented California-based Team Ektelon players such as Rocky Carson, Rhonda Rajsich, John Ellis, Jose Rojas, Greg Solis and Craig Lane, will hold ongoing CSRA junior camps and complimentary clinics throughout the state to help grow the sport among younger players. Players and fans will be able to find these events and clinics by visiting the CSRA website: www.californiaracquetball.org.
"Ektelon has always been one of the premier names in racquetball and the CSRA Board of Directors is delighted to begin this new alliance" commented CSRA President Larry Steiner. "Aside from their providing elite quality product, we appreciate the partnership with Ektelon because they, like us have a sincere interest in growing racquetball in the state of California."
Based in Bordentown, New Jersey, Ektelon is a division of Prince Sports, Inc. For more information they can be contacted at (800) 283-2635 or through their website at www.ektelon.com
Junior National Championships
come to Concord California…
(July 9, 2008) The Junior National Championships were hosted at the Big C in Concord this year. There was also additional play at the Renaissance Club Sport in Walnut Creek. Thanks to CSRA Board members Jack Hughes and Margaret Pederson for assistance there!...There were over 200 players from across the country (32 states) attending the event. For the third year in a row, California won the state competition over second place Oregon. The next three were Ohio, Colorado and Michigan.. Play began Wednesday morning and wrapped up Sunday afternoon. Part of the result of the Nationals is determining which players make the National team. Of the 30 players on the team, 9 are from California. This team will compete in the World Championships to be held in December at Arizona State University.
California players finishing in the top three in the Gold Division include (alphabetical order):
- Ismael Aldana—3rd 18 Doubles
- *Jose Diaz—2nd 14 and under singles; 1st 14 and under Doubles
- Teresa Diaz—3rd 18 and under Singles
- Cameron Ghoddoucy—3rd 8 and under Multibounce
- David Horn—3rd 18 and under Doubles
- Dillon Huang —1st 6 and under Multibounce
- *Victoria Leon—2nd 8 and under singles; 2nd Multibounce; 3rd 10 and under
- *Sawyer Lloyd—2nd 12 and under singles; 1st 12 and under Doubles; 1st 12 and under Mixed doubles
- *Aubrey O'Brien—1st 16 and under; 2nd 16 and under doubles
- *Devon Pimentelli—1st 14 and under singles; 1st 14 and under doubles; 2nd 14 and under mixed doubles
- Antonio Rojas—2nd 6 and under multibounce
- *Jose Rojas—1st 18 and under singles; 1st 18 and under doubles
- *Marco Rojas—1st 14 and under singles; 1st 14 and under doubles
- *Bobby Sehrgosha—3rd 12 and under singles; 1st 12 and under doubles; 3rd 12 and under mixed doubles
- *Sabrina Viscuso—1st 12 and under singles;1st 12 and under doubles; 3rd 12 and under mixed doubles..
Those marked with an * have made the National team. Others finishing in the top three of Non-Gold divisions included: Logan Nance, Luke Sewall, Zach Brancato, Cody Alsup, Mauro Rojas, Conor Pimentelli, Dima Gafarov, Tyler Lanman, David Horn, Cameron Ghoddoucy, Antonio Rojas, Andres, Barrera, and Michelle Hernoko.
Congratulations to all of the player who participated and good luck to the National team! Thank you to Jim Evans and his crew at the Big C for making this a great event. Thank You to John Ellis and Larry Steiner for some of the behind the scenes negotiations for this to take place
See the Juniors News page for coverage of the CSRA State Juniors Championships in May.
2008 WOR Ektelon Championships
Fresh as a can of unopened racquetballs
(May 20, 2008) Recent updates to the site and other points of interest.
- Photos - Photos from the California State Juniors (May 16-17th)
- State Rankings - State Rankings updated May 1, 2008
- National Rankings - National ranking database now shows all matches you have played in recorded competition—I'd encourage players to check this out.
( USAR Rankings: Women | Men )
- Photos - Photos from the Concord Classic (Apr 10-13th)
- Coach's Corner - April 8th article on "Drive Serve Visualization"
California State Singles Championships
Anastasia's Club Fit, Los Gatos ; March 28–30, 2008
Anastasia's Club Fit, Los Gatos ; March 28–30, 2008
(Apr 9, 2008) The California Singles championships were held March 28th-30th at Anastasia's Club in Los Gatos. Players from throughout the state came to play all weekend. With all events either Pool Play or Round Robin all players got a lot of games in. (See the tournament results and the photo gallery.)
Always an abundance of food and the host club was terrific…
|Women's Open/Elite
|Aubrey O'Brien
|Margaret Demorest
|Womens' Skill
|Patti Van Der Burg
|Monica Yamaoka
|Women's Age
|Patti Van Der Burg
|Monica Yamaoka
|Men's Open
|Gil Cepeda
|Armando Villa
|Men's Elite
|Ben Goldenberg
|Mitch Derr
|Men's A
|Joel Franklin
|Kevin Barlia
|Men's B
|Jim Russo
|Hank Estrada
|Men's C
|Noel Ranario
|John Fischler
|Men's D
|Kyle Vickroy
|Paul Choi
|Men's 24A
|Cody Alsup
|Tyler Lanman
|Men's 24 B/C
|Kevin Winn
|Joe Lucchesi
|Men's 25
|Brian Feng
|Michael Leyva
|Men's 25
|Kevin Kringle
|Richard Aal
|Men's 25 B/C
|Thomas Kozumi
|Rhon Williford
|Men's 35
|Armando Villa
|Steve Wattz
|Men's 35 A
|Alfonso Perez
|Mario Estevez
|Men's 35 B
|Dan Matthews
|Mairo Moreira
|Men's 35 C
|Philip Haseltine
|John Fischler
|Men's 45
|Gil Cepeda
|Steve Wattz
|Men's 45 A
|Rick Betts
|Kevin Barlia
|Men's 45 B
|Erick Razz
|Greg Young
|Men's 45 C
|Noel Ranario
|James Dedauw
|Men's 55
|Bert Castelanelli
|Jack Mahrt
|Men's 55A
|Hank Estrada
|Ron Souza
|Men's 55B
|Greg Young
|Dennis Mattish
|Men's 55C
|George Calizar
|Gary Albright
|Men's 65
|Gary McAuley
|Ron Dorst
Coach's Corner: Early Racquet Preparation
"Early racquet preparation is important in all racquet sports. It is one of the leading, key aspects for success in racquetball. There are so many things one could think about, so I like to limit it to four general categories. Almost all the things to consider, when hitting the ball ... " [read more]
This is the first installment of what we hope to be a regular offering of tips and advice columns from coaches and trainers. We hope that players will benefit from the advice directly and that it will encourage them to seek out opportunities to continually grow and enrich their racquetball game.
The Big C Doubles Shootout
(Jan 22, 2008) It was a cold but sunny morning in the city of Concord California as the states greatest racquetball gladiators stood before the firing line itching to be selected next for battle. (See the tournament results and the photo gallery.)
(Dec 15, 2007) The 5th Juniors Only racquetball tournament held at ClubSport of Pleasanton on Saturday, December 8th hosted junior players from Petaluma Valley Athletic Club, Auburn Racquet & Fitness Club, Meridian Sports Clubs in Novato, Fitness West Daly City, Solano Athletic Club, Supreme Court 1 in Sunnyvale, Cross Court Athletic Club, ClubSport San Ramon and ClubSport of Pleasanton. Seeing the improvement in these players, most of who are returning players in our junior events, should make the program directors and junior coaches from these clubs very proud. The participating juniors were examples of fine players showing great sportsmanship. Not only do they love to play, they love to referee! Running an event for junior players is such a rewarding experience, not to mention a "breeze" compared to hosting adults. Hopefully we will have more of these fun, one-day events for our very deserving junior players. They are our future league, tournament and possibly professional players, and also our future program directors, racquetball teachers and coaches.(Read more for full results)…
Collegiate: SoCal Scrimmages
(Nov 10, 2007) Momentum in Southern California continues to grow for collegiate racquetball. On Saturday, November 11, the two leading schools with racquetball programs in the LA area, USC and CSUF, met for some head-to-head competition. (read more)…
Collegiate: Fall WCRC Tournament at UC Berkeley
(Nov 13, 2007) The 2007-2008 WCRC season is off to a HUGE start as we had 55 players from 9 different schools compete in the Fall WCRC tournament at Berkeley. Sacramento State edged Berkeley for the tournament win and the lead in the season standings. Danielle Evans (UC Santa Cruz) over Amy Benson (UC Davis) in the Women's I gold finals in a hard-fought tie-breaker. (We have a guess what Danielle wished for when she blew out her birthday candles that day!) Alejandro Ron (Sac State) over Carlos Penagos (SJSU) in the Men's I gold finals. Men's Division II: Jake Abernathy (UC Berkeley) over Stephen Hibbs (Stanford) in a tiebreaker. Men's Division III: Siva Gunda (UC Davis) over David Wong (UC Berkeley), also in a tie-breaker. Great matches! (writeup and full results at the WCRC website)…
California Players at National Doubles
(Oct 12, 2007) Fall is in the air so it must be time for the National Doubles. We had 107 players in Tempe AZ representing California at the 2007 National Doubles with 416 players from across the country joining in to make their best showings. We wanted to take a minute to recognize the California Winners and Finalist for this tournament and add a "hearty congratulations" to everyone who participated. Since this tournament will take place again in February 2008 on its new date on the calendar, we wanted to give you some inspiration!!!(read more)…
Aubrey O'Brien Appears in Sports Illustrated
Aubrey O'Brien (Auburn, CA), current US Junior Team member was recently featured in Sports Illustrated magazine for her accomplishments at the 2007 USA Racquetball Junior Olympic National Championships.
The column, "Faces In The Crowd" recognizes O'Brien as one of the elite athletes who have achieved excellence through competition. O'Brien was a triple gold medal winner at the Junior Olympics where she won the 14-under singles, 14-under doubles and 16-under mixed doubles.
Aubrey is currently training and preparing to compete in the 2007 IRF World Junior Championships in Cochabamba, Bolivia. She will represent Team USA in singles and doubles. For more info about Aubrey and the USA Junior National Team, visit their web-site: www.usajuniorracquetball.com
Full article: Sports Illustrated Faces In
The Crowd
CSRA Supports US Juniors Team
(Sep 13, 2007) The CSRA Board and its members are pleased to announce a $1000 donation to the support of the US Junior Racquetball Team, specifically for the players representing California.
Thank you to all the players who have donated generously to this cause and to the coaches of our players. These are the future greats of our sport!!
Collegiate: SoCal Scrimmages
For many people this was their first time playing in a competitive setting, and they all played great and fought hard. It was a long day of competition with everyone having to play 9 singles games. For CalState Fullerton Jon Varona and Vito Caccuciolo dominated the event by winning all their matches, and Andre Mora scored 91 points for the team, but USC was a strong and steady, conistent team. The two Trojans who led their team in points was Alan Zhang and Grant Stubbins, but all their players made contributions to the overall total which made the huge difference. The final score was 644 to 524 points. Congratulations USC!
Thanks to Grant Stubbins and Jon Varona for working together and setting this up. Thanks to the teams at USC and CSUF for participating.
After hearing about the great turnout CSU Long Beach decided that they want to get into the mix. Next scrimmages are CSULB vs. CSUF and CSULB vs. USC, dates are TBD. There are schools starting clubs on other campuses and their is a lot of interest for collegiate racquetball; if this momentum continues look out for a Southern California WCRC Tournament in the Spring! If anyone has friends that play racquetball in any Southern California University please email the information to Jon Varona at firstname.lastname@example.com. He has been working with schools in the area to help start up recognized campus racquetball clubs.(See the WCRC website for more information on collegiate racquetball)
California Players at National Doubles
(Oct 12, 2007) Fall is in the air so it must be time for the National Doubles. We had 107 players in Tempe AZ representing California at the 2007 National Doubles with 416 players from across the country joining in to make their best showings. We wanted to take a minute to recognize the California Winners and Finalist for this tournament and add a "hearty congratulations" to everyone who participated. Since this tournament will take place again in February 2008 on its new date on the calendar, we wanted to give you some inspiration!!! You may notice that there are several multi-medal winners on this list – please forgive me if I left anyone off or goofed your name. Shoot me an email and I will make corrections.
|W US Team Qualifying
|Jacqueline Paraiso and her partner Aimee Ruiz, of New Jersey
|US Team
|Adrienne Velasquez/Nico Richardson
|Gold in both divisions
|Julia Mouser/Pearl Torres
|Nancy Large and her partner from FL
|Debbie Tisinger-Moore and her partner from AZ
|Roxanne Davis/Lori Soares
|Elaine Dexter/Jody Nance
|Debbie Tisinger-Moore and her partner
|Elaine Dexter and her partner
|Leslie Pawka and her partner
|Merijean Kelley and her partner
|Terry Ann Rogers and her partner
|Merijean Kelley/Nidia Funes
|Marquita Molina and her partner
|Janel Tisinger/Jason Samora
|Dennis French/Dorcy Norton
|Juan Diaz/Nico Richardson
|Pearl Torres/Ralph Torres
|Amy foster and her partner
|Rafeal Filippini and his partner
|Jody Nance/Mark Nomura
|Debbie Tisinger-Moore and her partner
|Elaine Dexter and her partner
|Steve Cohen/Terry Ann Rogers
|Merijean Kelley/Mike Pawka
|Luis Guerrero/Nidia Funes
|Brian Klee/Jason Samora
|Gil Cepeda/Danny Newman
|Jim Latter/Kevin Loop
|Ro Blackwood/Thomas (Alex) Baker
|Jim Latter/Kevin Loop
|Andrew Espinoza/David Aguirre
|Danny Newman/Gil Cepeda
|John Dalisky/Vic Koliczew
|Gene Pare and his partner
|Bert Castelanelli/David Ortega
|Eric Barkey and his partner
|Jon Christ/Steve Cohen
|Barry Clyde/Mike Lippitt
|Mike Pawka and his partner
|Luis Guerrero and his partner
|Ken Moore/Paul Banales
Rule for CSRA Skill Division State Champions
The winners of each CSRA State Singles or Doubles Championship Skill Division will be ineligible to play in that division for a minimum of one year or until after the CSRA State Championship Tournament the following year.
This rule applies to the winners of the Men's and Women's A, B, C and D divisions.
The winner of the Men's and Women's ELITE Division will not be eligible to ENTER an ELITE Division, but may enter an Open/ELITE Division and drop down if they lose in the first round and the man is not ranked in the top one third of the Open Division and the Woman is not ranked in the top 10 of the Open Division.
If the player accumulates no points in the higher division during that year, he/she may petition the CSRA Board of Directors to regain eligibility to play in the lower division.
Players on the Road to the Nationals
(Apr 3, 2007) Are you looking for a roommate? Maybe we can help connect people heading to Houston to share some of the costs and maximize your experiences! Email us with your name/gender/phone contact/email contactÊand you can make the connections. Here is the first person asking about Houston:
|Carlos Contreras
|Ph: 707-585-7813
USAR/CSRA Membership Drive
There is currently a drive for new members of USAR/CSRA. For every new member you sponsor, your name gets thrown in the "hat".
The USAR will have a drawing on May 1. The winner receives airfare and a free entry into the National singles.
CSRA will have a separate drawing at the same time. With an award of Free entry into the 2007 State Doubles and 2008 State Singles tournaments + 1 year Free USAR/CSRA membership going to the member that sponsors the most new members. Also, two names will be drawn out of our "hat", with one receiving 2 years Free USAR/CSRA membership and the other receiving 1 year Free USAR/CSRA membership.
New members will get the benefits of receiving the USAR magazine which arrives every other month full of great information. The instructional tips alone are worth 3X+ the cost of membership. Members are also on the list to receive notices of upcoming events. Every member is also eligible for secondary medical coverage during a sanctioned event in case of injury and has the opportunity to compete for a place on the US team as well as attend performance and training camps.
Membership is NOT just for tournament players. Club players trying to improve their game can get tons of great advice from the magazine. Juniors can get inspired and will be informed of events they may not know of otherwise.
The membership form can be downloaded here: membership-drive-jan-2007.pdf
2007 State Championships
The Fitness West Club in Daly City played host to this years State Singles Championships. This was also the first year that a State Singles could be eligible as an alternate Qualifier for entry into the 2007 National Singles in Houston.
The R2Sports online entry system is gaining in popularity with the players across the country with the players about to gain access to their start times and division draws as well as entering the tournament. The players in the State Singles have also shown a partiality to the online system with over half of the 120 participants signing up on the web.
Jack Hughes was able to update the draws actively during the tournament utilizing a paperless system for the first time. For future events, this online system is available to all tournament directors for all sanctioned events and includes the assistance of our board members whom have experience with the R2Sports system.
This year the Board of Directors tried something a little different with prize money pools in every division. For straight draws, prize money was awarded though the Semi-finals and for Round Robin draws, prize money was awarded by points for 1st, 2nd & some 3rd places based on winning at least one match and the size of the draw.
Several players chose to donate their prize money back to the racquetball association for use in the Juniors and general development programs as well as a few folks making a donation on their entry form. Our sincere thanks to: Jack Easterday, Tony Jammal, Nidia Funes, Tori Davis, Jeff Marshall, Mark Nives, Alyse Cori & Margaret Pederson.
I would personally like to thank the participating Board of Directors for their efforts over the weekend to provide a quality event centered on the players satisfaction: Jack Hughes, Brian Dixon, Del Villanueva, Larry Steiner, Margaret Pederson and a super special THANX our perennial volunteer – Terri Ann Rogers.
Congratulaions to all players for participating in your State Singles Championships. The following is the Champion and Finalist results for the 2007 State Singles Championships. For complete results, please review the draws by going to the tournament website through the californiaracquetball.org/calendar link.
|Men's Open
|Jason Samora / Herb Yamashiro
|Men's Elite
|Matt Barserian / Gil Cepeda
|Men's A
|Jeremy Mayer / Kevin Loop
|Men's B
|Kyle Kazmierczak / Jim Latter
|Men's C
|Zachary Brancato / Jack Easterday
|Men's D
|Jesse Serna / Mitch Forrest Jr.
|Men's under 24
|Matt Berserian / Kyle Severns
|Men's 25+
|Brian Feng / Jason Samora
|Men's 35+
|Armando Villa / Richardo Espinosa
|Men's 45+
|Jim Durham / Steven Ducich
|Men's 55+
|Jim Ferrell / John Lomonaco
|Men's 65+
|Ron Dorst
|Men's 75+
|Vinnie Caramagno / Jose Sanchez
|Men's Under 24 A
|Carlos Penagos / Tony Jammal
|Men's 35+ A
|Joel Schneider / Jeff Marshall
|Men's 45+ A
|John Lomonaco / Richard Aal
|Men's 35+ B
|Charlie Terrazas / Jose Castillo
|Men's 45+ B
|Paul Flores / Clay Alexander
|Men's 55+ B
|Hank Estrada / Carlos Contreras
|Men's 45+ C
|Jack Easterday / Doug Litwin
|Men's 55+ C
|Warren Hackbarth / Henry Taylor
|Women's Open
|Mary Tessier / Aubrey O'Brien
|Women's Elite
|Esther Lozano / Margaret Pederson
|Women's A
|Alyse Cori / Devon Pimentelli
|Women's B
|Haoning Yang
|Women's C
|Jessica Winn / Irene Djohan
|Women's D
|Linda Winn / Beverly Bachoo
|Women's 45+
|Lee Hardiman
|Women's 25/35 B/C
|Haoning Yang / Amy Palko
|Women's 25+ C
|Irene Djohan / Angela Hahn
Collegiate: 2006 Tournament at Berkeley
The Aggies came hunting for Bear, and bagged one in the end. Their weapon of choice, a stellar women's team. That didn't stop the men's ballet squad from mugging for the trophy photo, though... Seriously, congratulations to the team— we're all looking forward to the next tournament.
[Read the full tournament recap at the WCRC website]
WCRC Commissioner John Bardos awarding the travelling trophy to the UC Davis Aggies.
2006 Juniors Nats - "Zach's Nats"
|"Last summer, a few of my racquetball buddies and I went to Lansing, MI for the Junior National Racquetball Tournament. This was the second time I went to the Nationals but it was my first time going with just my friends. …"
2006 State Doubles Sweatshirts
We have a limited number of Large sweatshirts from the 2006 State Doubles available for purchase - $15 includes shipping. Grey - No shrink.
—Peggine ( )
Their Moment in the Sun
Congratulations to the California state players for an awesome showing in Tempe this past month at the USAR National Doubles. See anyone you know? Tell them "congrats," and if you see yourself, give yourself a pat on the back. Hours of additional entertainment from this list:
- Call up each of these heroes-in-our-midsts, find out what their favorite cookie is, and then send it to them!
- If you didn't go, pencil your name in and daydream about the fun you would have had. (feel free to make up any placing you want—nobody's looking)
- Print out the list and use it as a road-trip game for your kids: have them count how many state players had multiple placings!
- Hunt for typos, and then send them to the ...
|State Player(s)
|Rocky Carson
|Jason Samora
|Marc Pollack,Ricardo Soto
|Dave Peckinpaugh/Mike Peckinpaugh
|Richard Aal/Tom Lonardo
|Raphael Carrillo/Robert Balsimo
|Jason Geis/Rafael Filipini
|Ro Blackwood/Thomas Baker
|Bill George/Bronc Hughes
|Raphael Carrillo/Robert Balsimo
|Gregg Solis/Jon Dunn
|Mark Nomura/Tim Annear
|Randy Long/Ron Miremontes
|Jon Christ/Steve Cohen
|Ruben Baraja/Bud Bristol
|Hank Estrada/Dave Peckinpaugh
|Gregg Imuta/Roy San Miguel
|Bert Castelanelli/Dave Ortega
|Gene Pare
|Bert Castelanelli/Dave Ortega
|Eric Barkey
|Mike Pawka
|Robert Lattanzio/Scott Rudoni
|Janel Tisinger
|Lori Soares/Roxanne Davis
|Sue Goodwin
|Paula Likens
|Carla Francis
|WA Blue
|Esther Lozano/Louis Doran
|Arleen Jimenez/Carolina Cruz
|Janel Tisinger
|Elaine Dexter/Jody Nance
|Debra Tisinger/Solanna Taragan
|Arleen Jimenez/Carolina Cruz
|Debra Tisinger
|Brenda lee/Cindy Gilbert
|Marni Wagner/Paule Likens
|Leslie Pawka
|Sue Goodwin
|Elaine Dexter
|Kathy Trotter/Nancy Large
|Terry Rogers/Carla Francis
|Nidia Funes
|Jason Geis/Lori Soares
|Roxanne Davis/Marc Pollack
|Cindy Gilbert/Gil Cepeda
|Lori Soares/Dan Malsack
|Pearl Torres/Ralph Torres
|Colleen Keating/Jeff Sligar
|Debra Nathan/Rudy Chavez
|Kari Gardner/James Swift
|Amy Foster
|Jody Nance/Brian Klee
|Brenda Lee/Tim Annear
|Lisa Hjelm/Mark Nomura
|Cilia Vigil/Tom Lonardo
|Ken Stone
|Debbie Tisinger
|Elaine Dexter
|Kim Cameron/Rick Ramirez
|Russ Mannino
|Terry Rogers/Mike Pawka
|Nidia Funes
|Fred Roe
|Marquita Molina
|William Baker
2006 State Doubles
Photos from the recent State Doubles tournament have been posted in the Photo Gallery.
Website Renovations
(Sep 25) I've been making some changes to the website, and appreciate your feedback and help in getting it updated. If you have revised club information, or if you see a problem on one of the site's pages, please email your
As part of the website's design, I wanted to have an image of a player as a graphical framing element on the page. John Ellis was kind enough to provide a good-quality image that I used. Several of the board members as well as several state members suggested that I should take care to avoid the appearance of favoritism for a single manufacturer (and I think John's wife, Jen, was concerned about the rumors of all of the teenage girls printing out the page and pasting it on the covers of their school books).
For the time being, I'd like you to say "hi" to
Zippy, our bouncy blue friend. Zippy's blue color was carefully selected to be a tint that would
show no favoritism to any single ball manufacturer. Long-term, I'd like to explore displaying images from our
state players on a rotating basis. I'd encourage folks to send me good-quality pictures that
will fit the design. (Images should show a single subject, should have a simple uniform background,
and be related to racquetball–I'll be happy to discuss the possibilities of a photo further with
anyone who sends email.) Please send submissions to the error-prone webmaster mentioned above...
—your error-prone (but well-intentioned!) webmaster
CSRA Election Results
The Board of Directors of the CSRA is pleased to announce the results of our recent vote for the Board of Directors. Jack Hughes and Michael Martinez have been re-elected, and we're delighted to be joined by Larry Steiner as our newest board member.
Friends of the CSRA
We are setting up a Friends of the CSRA web page to acknowledge the financial contributions of individuals and organizations who are making a special effort to support our state racquetball program.
At this point, we'd like to recognize the following contributors at the Gold level: Mike Lippitt, Rick Betts of Spartan Supply, Brian Dixon of First Security Loan, and Peggine Tellez of Edward Jones; the following contributor at the Silver level: David van Deren of Comfort Air HVAC and Jack Easterday; and the following contributors at the Bronze level: Allan Nuttall, Bill Goddard, Gary Kahler, Barry Lynes, Jim Railey, Joe Greenleaf of Greenleaf Printing, and "Bozo" (the state's most anonymous supporter).
—We thank you.
Beyond the Short Line
September 2006 CSRA Newsletter
In this issue:
- Juniors coverage: State Championships and US National Junior Olympics
- Recap: Elana Aalways Smiles Charity Fundraiser
- Recap: Spring Sprung at the Sierra Spring Splat
- Recap: Fundraiser Tournament for Contra Costa County Homeless Shelter
- Upcoming Events, and notes on upcoming 2006/07 Season
Read it all by downloading the Sep 2006 CSRA Newsletter


text:
|01 Sep 2010
Windows 7 HP 64-bit
HDMI No Signal Error
I've tried 2 TVs (Samsung HL67A750A1 and LNT2653HX) and they both give the same 'No Signal' error. For 8 months this setup has worked without an issue with both of these TVs.
The original issue started with the ATI 4650. The PC would still display without issue, but it would randomly freeze and then a few days later the motherboard started giving a diagnostic error code that the video RAM check during POST failed and the computer would no longer boot.
I installed an ATI 4870 I had and the computer booted fine and no more lockups. I was glad I finally figured out the issue. But then the next day the LNT2653HX LCD said 'No Signal' when turned on. A reboot/reconnect cable/re-seat video card, etc wouldn't help. I connected the PC to the HL67A750A1 and received the same error.
Both TVs will work fine with another PC and XBox 360. I installed the 4870 in the other working PC and immediately received the 'No Signal' error. I placed my 5870 back in the working PC and while it wouldn't show POST, it did display once Windows 7 booted (interestingly when I connect through my Denon Receiver, the PC will show POST on the HL67A750A1 - just not when directly connected).
The bad PC with the 4870 will boot to Windows and I can even connect to it through RealVNC and gain access to the file shares. When looking at the display properties, it only detects a VGA connection (the RealVNC I assume). I installed Powerstrip and the EDID information it is pulling from the registry is completely wrong, stating 1600x1200, a resolution neither of my TVs support. When I try to tell it to pull EDID from the display device, it gives an error that it cannot find one.
Any ideas on what is causing this? I'm hesitant to buy a new video card, as this PC has seemed to ruin 2 so far, and maybe that isn't the issue? Is it some weird EDID issue that could be fixed? Is it my MB or PSU causing a short and blowing HDMI/DVI ports on the video cards?
I ran CPU, Memory and GPU torture tests (before I started getting the No Signal error) and didn't run across any errors nor did any temps rise to critical levels (CPU under 55 and GPU under 80).
One recent change before all this occurred is I installed a bunch of Windows Updates and RealVNC. By the time the issues started occurring, a restore point before these installs was no longer available.
Since I get 'No Signal' even in POST/bootup, I'm not even able to reinstall Windows.
PC Specs:
Foxconn ELA 775
4x2GB Crucial 8500, running at factory speed and voltage (1.8)
Supermicro PCIx4 8-port SAS controller
7 hard drives JBoD
580 Watt Mad Dog PSU (about 6 years old).
Windows 7 64-bit
|My System Specs
|01 Sep 2010
Vista 64 Ultimate, Windows 7 64 Ultimate, Ubuntu 9.10
I'm going to tell you that you may need to check your PSU, I wonder if it's putting out the proper power as this sounds likely that it is not.
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text:
MoreFreedom Wrote:
Mar 01, 2013 3:52 PM
That West is "perplexed" that the GOP would try to stop an Republican nominated by Obama, shows her lack of intelligence. The GOP establishment is the war party, because they get lots of campaign cash from the military industrial complex (but not all of them, Hagel being one of the few). CATO, a libertarian organization, mostly associated with fiscal conservatives, endorsed Hagel as someone who supports reducing our meddling in foreign countries. The GOP war party can't have that. It would result in less campaign cash, and less war. West doesn't know who our soldiers support. They supported Ron Paul and his foreign policy more than all the other candidates combined (and they supported him via individual campaign contributions).


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1/2 Photos of Jamaican Hibiscus Iced Tea
Prep Time:
Cook Time:
15 mins
5 mins
I had this tea one afternoon in the city. It tastes great, it is rich in vitamin C, is refreshing and there is a natural tartness from the flower petals. If you can find the flower petals, give it a try.
Units: US | Metric
Serving Size: 1 (239 g)
Servings Per Recipe: 4
The following items or measurements are not included:
sugar cane
Your life in the kitchen will never be the same.


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Download the FMI Foundation Scholarship Application for more details
Food buyers and sellers increasingly rely on accredited third-party certification to help ensure that the products they sell to consumers are safe. The future of Accredited third-party certification is dependent on a core of well-trained auditors. Auditors at this level of sophistication require combination of auditing skills, food industry experience and a food science or related degree. In North America, there is a shortage of well-trained auditors.
The critical issue for accredited third-party auditing in North America is to source the next generation of well-trained auditors. The FMI Foundation funding provides a way to help fill that gap. The new program will provide audit training and financial incentives to college undergraduate and graduate level food science majors.
This new foundation program will offer scholarships to deserving food agriculture science majors.
November 18, 2013 – ARLINGTON, VA – The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) Foundation, in partnership with the Safe Quality Food Institute (SQFI), awarded scholarships to three deserving food agriculture science majors for their academic pursuits to improve food safety and protect public health. These competitive FMI Foundation scholarships are based on academic ability; leadership potential; motivation and initiative; and passion for the food industry and the auditing profession.
The following winners received an academic grant from the FMI Foundation:
Cathy Polley, RPh, FMI vice president of health and wellness and executive director of the Foundation, celebrated the winners, saying, "The FMI Foundation is pleased to support the dedication and academic achievements of these food science professionals; we are confident that our industry will benefit from their passionate motivation to protect public health now and in the future."
Robert Garfield, senior vice president of SQFI, noted, "Accredited third-party certification is critical to the integrity of the food safety system, and I'm honored to have met these brilliant women who will champion an analytical and science-based approach to ensuring the security of our food."
Heather Garlich
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