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THE WOMEN s you have probably noticed, Racquetball magazine has been incorporating a
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themed approach into the feature sections of each issue. The response to these themed issues has been extremely favorable. We encourage our readers
to send in theme ideas for future issues.
By James Hiser, Ph.D. USAR Executive Director
Perhaps' the most responses we have received to date was regarding the last issue on the Men's Draw of the Century and the Best/Worst things to happen to the sport. Although some responses expressed anger and frustration that their favorite athlete did not "perform" as expected, the overall interest and comments indicated that the article stimulated spirited conversation and debate. We anticipate
Although some responses expressed anger and frustration that their favorite athlete did not "perform" as expected, the overall interest and comments indicated that the article stimulated spirited conversation and debate. We anticipate this month's feature, the Women of Racquetball, will create similar debate.
this month's feature, the Women of Racquetball , will create similar debate. Since the records for women's racquetball are less complete than the men's, the selection of both the players and the winners for the draw was more subjective. For instance, in the men's analysis, the 32 men selected for the draw were limited to those pro players who won a pro stop. So, although the women's draw is indeed more subjective, all the players selected for inclusion exhibited outstanding performance in their own eras. In researching information for the story, it was interesting to review the numerous articles on women's racquetball. Although the participation projections for the late '70's and early '80's never materialized, much of the information presented still has relevance to today's game. For those interested in reading more about women's racquetball in the '70's and '80's, I recommend "Courting Time - Racquetball Woo the Ladies", by Tim Martin in Racquetball magazine (Volume 8, No. 3, April 1979). If you haven't saved issues from that far back, we'll see what we can do about making that information available in the future! Perhaps the most difficult section to develop was the Women of 2009 article . There are a number of qualified women who could also have been included in this section, but we were forced to limit our selections due to space restrictions. All women who are growing this sport at local, state and national levels, and for that matter, all men who are helping develop women's participation, deserve the sincere appreciation of USA Racquetball and its members. The promotion of racquetball for women continues, and I encourage anyone interested in helping or participating in developing new programs or initiatives to contact me or Cheryl Kirk, President of USA Racquetball.