Tournament Trail Ladies+ Intercollegiate Results CRA Board
SUMMER 2008 EDITION www.ColoradoRacquetball.com
PRESIDENT’S CORNER —
Creating Fun Environments to Fill Our Courts
by Marcia Richards, CRA President
Depending on how much time and effort you can afford to give back to your players, putting together a tournament can be as demanding as a full-time job. But it’s the extras that set you apart from other events, and – with court numbers shrinking over the past 7 years -- many of us have been forced to re-think how we do things. Facilities are smaller, and weekends keep getting shorter, as players routinely ask for “no Thursday” play, and hesitate to choose a tournament over family time. The special demands of that type of scheduling are enough to drive any Tournament Director to distraction! Since 2000, we’ve seen the closures of Lakewood Athletic Club, Family Fitness, Colorado Athletic Club Aurora (CACA) and Heartwood Athletic Club. At the same time, Littleton Family YMCA and the Denver Athletic Club each turned two courts over to fitness, Club USA shut down their two courts, and many other facility managers continue to struggle with the question of what to do with their courts. If you look to the facilities that are flourishing, you’ll notice that all of them have a paid staffer who makes sure that leagues, shuttles, and lessons contribute to the club’s overall success. Without that type of attention, too often the question “Do you have racquetball here?” is answered by pointing and “ ... yep, right over there!” In contrast, how often is the question “Do you have aerobics and spin bikes ...” answered the same way? Those activities aren’t left un-supervised and un-structured (without someone to show you how to do aerobics or spin), so why is racquetball? For all of us who do not want our sport to die a slow death, what can we do? If your facility needs a shot in the arm – where racquetball is concerned -- here are some interesting alternatives. The future is in the player’s hands. You can make a difference and I hope you’ll give some of these ideas a try -- remembering that participation depends on how well you promote! Leagues & Shuttles: • Flex League; players are responsible for setting up a day to play because they cannot commit to one day • League played once a week on the same day • Combo League; players meet on a set day with some flex players mixed in Continued on page 2...
LOCKER ROOM TALK —
T
By Dr. Splatz
ales from the good side...
► Does anyone know Trudy Underwood? You should. She recently won the Minoru Community Volunteer Award for April. In other words she gives a lot of personal time to others. Her link to you? An avid racquetball player until a knee injury took her down. Nice to see someone giving racquetball a good name. ► Condolences to Jean Gallagher. Her mother recently passed away due to a car accident while on a work-related visit to India. Jean may have moved to Illinois, but she’s still a well-respected member of our Colorado Racquetball community. Our hearts go out to you. ► In 1990, which female racquetball player was recognized by the Colorado Women’s Sports as the racquetball athlete of the year? See the answer on page 4. A. Diane Adams B. Lydia Emerick C. Tina Alonzi D. Stacy Sour ► Golfers / Racquetball players unite. July 24th, Saddle Rock Golf Course, 3rd Annual Charity Golf tournament to Neighborhood Ministries. They work with inner-city kids in northeast Denver. Last year, Jurgen Denk was part of the winning team. John Foust was a member of the second place team, while Bruce Burgess, Greg Keys and Zoubir Bilem took third. It’s a competitive charity event. Contact John Foust at JWFoust@aol.com for tournament information. Continued on page 2...