This writing hopes to find our readers well and enjoying the first quarter of the new year. Please review some of the events which have taken place over the past two months:

…Instructor Certification courses have been held in: Albuquerque, Seattle, Tempe, Orem, and San Diego.

…Congratulations to Aaron Embry, our new Clinician, who is based in Southern California.

…The transition to a February USAR National Doubles went smoothly.

…Racquetball continues to be shown on the Tennis Channel and selected sites for Racquetballonline.

…The National Masters held their winter event in March in Orem, Utah with almost 200 participants.

…IHRSA was held in San Diego (see report below).

…USAR will celebrate 35 Years of the Racquetball Hall of Fame at the National Singles Banquet.

...A Level I-II Combination of Instructor & Coaching Certification will be held in Venezuela late April.

…IRF and National Masters will operate the 2008 World Senior Doubles in San Luis Potosi, MX in June.

…A Level II-III International Coaching Camp will be held in San Juan, Puerto Rico in October.

From March 5-8, 2008 ,the San Diego, California Convention Center hosted the 2008 IHRSA

(International Health and Racquet Sports Club Association) annual convention. There were approximately 14,000 persons in attendance; representing the USA and five continents. Delegates from Private and Semi private clubs, YMCA’s, Military installations, and other venues for recreation were in attendance. The Trade Show was filled with contributors from many concerns within the ‘Fitness’ Industry. There were no indoor court sports represented; ie. Racquetball, Handball, Paddleball, Badminton, Wallyball, Squash, or Tennis. Coincidentally, the week in San Diego featured IHRSA at the Convention Center, the USHA Handball National Masters Doubles at the Tennis and Racquet Club, and the US National Paddleball Singles Championships at the Sorrento Valley Racquet and Fitness Center.

I was there piggybacking with Kent Taylor from Sports Unliimited and Brian Richy, from A Best

Doubleplay Glass Systems in their 10 x 10 booth. My motivation was to have Racquetball and other indoor court sports make a presence at IHRSA for the first time in five years. USHA (Handball), along with the RMC (Manufacturers), and USAR made contributions toward my attendance. Why was the ‘Racquetball Hierarchy’ not in attendance? Their absence helps to lend credence to the many delegates who have no real passion for the indoor court sports and are ignorant to the inherent health and economic benefits they can bring into the facilities. These are the same operators and owners who abuse the ‘square footage’ argument.

The foot traffic came by our booth without any knowledge that Racquetball had some type of representation. The two hosts market the infrastructure; the glass, the walls, the flooring, the lighting, the doors, the hardware, and other adjacent products for those aspiring to build, expand, and/or convert existing areas. The infrastructure (courts) are already in place in many locations. and we have the wherewithal and experience to show them that these areas can and will continue to produce revenue with negligible expense for upkeep and overhead. Once I was able to stop individuals for a dialogue, I could speak about smart programming across the board; membership dues and initiation fees, special events, and product sales all adding to the financial pie. We were fortunate to speak with delegates from: Alaska Club in Anchorage, Canyon Ranch in Tucson, Cherry Creek Athletic Club in Denver, Club Corps in Texas, Flatiron in Boulder, Pacific Athletic Club in Del Mar, Planet Fitness in California, Spectrum Clubs in San Antonio, Sport Fit Total Fitness in Maryland, Sunset Athletic Club in Portland, West End and South End Torrance, and Western Athletic Clubs in San Francisco. There were more! Where was ‘Racquetball’?

If the hierarchy of Racquetball does not have a pulse on the importance of having a presence at the largest annual gathering of club and other venue honchos under one roof, how can we justify trying to counter the ‘racquetball is dead’ disease that has penetrated our industry in the recent past. Some of us in the field see the merits of our sport and the networking options we have with our court cousins. Delegates from a few thousand clubs around the world shared business acumen, knowledge, opportunities for success, and stories with peers over four days. Where was ‘Racquetball’?

In closing, IHRSA 2008 San Diego will have been directly responsible for placing pros/programmers in no less than five clubs. Not bad for having a ‘Non presence.’ Hope to see you all in San Francisco, March 16-19, 2009.