Now in its 16th consecutive year, the Women's Senior Master Racquetball Association National Championship will be held January 14-16, 2005 at the Greenbriar Athletic Club in Indianapolis, IN / USA. The tournament director is top-ranked Debbie Chaney, and the club features 10 courts, two with backwall glass and stadium seating. Entry deadline for this event is January 3rd. [Source:  www.racquetball.com]

During the second week of December the Club La Villa in Guatemala held it´s annual Turkey Tournament. Mónica Escobar and Carolina Escobar, both age 16, were the surprises this year.  Mónica won the Junior womens division and Carolina placed second, while Carolina now showed the best performance of the Guatemala Team at the 2004 Junior Worlds.

To end the activities of this year, the  Dom. Republic Federation organized a small Christmas Tournament. The main idea of this tournament was to evaluate the development of the different players that have been practicing for more than a month under the supervision of National Head Coach Danilo Alfaro.

The Junior National Team from Mexico has once again won the Junior World Cup. It is the third time in a row for the Mexican team to win this title. Team USA finished second and Canada third. With over 320 boys and girls from 15 countries, the Junior Worlds 2004 in San Luis Potosi, Mexico have been the most successful ever in the sport. All draws and results shall be available shortly.

The 16th World Junior Championships in San Luis Potosi, Mexico are underway!!  Due to some technical reasons there are no draws of the 2004 World Juniors available online at this point. Please check out some results from the Canadian National Team on the RB Canada website. Full draws shall be online soon! Please check again!!

The entry forms for the National Team Selection Events 2005 are available on the Racquetball Canada web site. The deadlines are more than one week before the tournament. There will also be amateur divisions in the doubles event in Calgary.

All participating countries and teams are asked to make their court practice time reservations prior to the World Juniors 2004 now. Delegates may contact Usher Barnoff. Practice times are limited to 3 courts for a 2 hour period. Reservations are requiered for December 15th and 16th.

Junlie Skehan (Touraneena) and Ruairi O`Hagan (Fermoy) were double gold medal winners at the All Ireland Junior Championships in Castlebar. Julie won the Under 17 and Under 21 titles while Ruairi won the Under 15 and Under 17 titles. Other Champions are Katie Kenny (Castlebar), Majella Haverty (Castlebar), Karen Cliffe (Touraneena),  Daire Gargan  (Kingscourt) Sean Conron (Touraneena) and Triston Hickey (Touraneena).

The final list of registrations for the 2004 World Juniors is now online. Players and parents are asked to check the registration list and let us know if there are any omissions or problems with the spelling, divisions, gender, or partner. Please submit any changes to LStOnge@usra.org & HFender@usra.org .

As part of the Racquetball Development in the Dominican Republic a Social Program for the kids taking the Racquetball classes has been created. As part of this program Kids are taking part in an Odontological Evaluation. With this program the health of the kids that are taking racquetball classes is assured while at the same time a little support for their families will be given with this by the Racquetball community.

Racquetball Canada's Online Newsletter for December has just been published and is available for download at the Racquetball Canada website.

Joe Farrell of Arklow was the the winner of the Mens Open Singles at the Munster Open 204 held in Fermoy, Ireland. Joe defeated No 1 seed, Noel O`Callaghan in the final 15-14, 12-15, 11-9 to cause a big surprise. Susan Neary, in the Womens Singles and Vincent Fitzgerald in the B/C Singles were also winners. Novice Singles winners were Don Lawlor (Kilkenny) and Niamh Coffey (Touraneena).

The IRF has just received airing dates from The Tennis Channel for the broadcast of the 12th IRF World Championships from Anyang, Korea. There are 4 separate broadcasts covering men and women singles and doubles. Each broadcast is 2 hours long. Times will be forthcoming in December.

Episode #1: March 6th, 10th and 12th
Episode #2: March 13th, 17th and 19th
Episode #3: March 20th, 24th and 26th
Episode #4: March 27th, 30th and April 2nd

The Costa Rica Racquetball Federation will have it's annual congress on December 11, 2004 at the San José Indoor Club. Elections for all positions on the executive committee are on the agenda.

Racquetball Canada just released Volume 4, No. 1 of it's official magazine. It can be downloaded on the Racquetball Canada website and features information on what is going on about the sport in Canada!

Canadian Kane Wasenlenchuk defended his Mens Pro singles title at The Choice Hotels 9th US OPEN 2004 in Memphis, Tennessee/USA. He defended his title against former Champion Cliff Swain (USA) 11-1, 11-3, 11-0. In the Womens draw, defending Champion Rhonda Rajsich (USA) lost an exciting final match Cheryl Gudinas (USA) 11-8, 11-5, 8-11, 12-14, 11-3.

A truly international pro draw at the US Open: players from seven different countries in the mens and female players from eight countries will play in these most prestigous divisions. Also represented at the US Open 2004 are Puerto Rico, Germany, Bahamas and Panama.

The next French Open will be held in Paris, as usual at the Forest Hill City Form Club, from January 15-16, 2005. Do not miss this major European event and contact Alex du Fresne to subscribe at alexracquet@wanadoo.fr.

With around 800 participants, the 9th US Open 2004 will start today in Memphis, Tennessee/USA. Make sure to visit the official event website of the US Open to see daily updates and all major information on this premier event in Racquetball.

The German National Championships will take place January 28-30, 2005 in Hamburg. The Jenfeld Racquetball Club will serve as the host club of this tournament.

The two top seeded players, Noel O`Callaghan (Kilkenny) and Susan Neary  (Arklow) confirmed their Irish Number 1 seeding when they won the the Open Singles events at last weekend's Ulster Open in Kingscourt, Ireland.

Important information for US Open participants and spectators again: If you are still looking for a hotel room for the 2004 Choice Hotels US OPEN Racquetball Championships please try to choose from the attached list as each of these hotels is offering a special group rate if you mention US OPEN Racquetball.

As a direct result of the Racquetball Course that just happened in Santo Domingo, the first junior class given to the children of the Cristo Rey Parish has been held yesterday. These kids will learn the sport 3 times/week and will have about 50 kids participating, while other schools will join them soon.

A very successful Racquetball course was held from October 25th to 29th in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, with two sessions every day, one in the morning from 9:00-12:00 and one in the afternoon from 3:00-6:00. A total of 43 persons attended. The course was offered by Osvaldo Maggi (Argentina).

To all player and spectators: Please check/confirm your entry and tickets are correct at the link listed below. Please let us know as soon as possible if you see an error with your entry and tickets. Also visit the US Open website www.usopenracquetball.com.

The Pan American Racquetball Confederation (PARC) has set a date for the 18th Pan American Championships 2005. The event (formerly known as Tournament of Americas) will be held March 19-27 in Caracas, Venezuela. More information on that event will be published soon.

Racquetball Canada's Online Newsletter for November has just been published and is available for download at the Racquetball Canada website.

Last weekend's Halloween Classic Tournament 2004 at the Alconbury Army Base in England was one of the many events being held there. The English Racquetball Association (ERA) has selected the courts in Alconbury to serve as host for the 2005 ERF European Championships that will be held in July of next year. The facility also serves as host for the British Open 2004 and English Open 2005.

from left to right: Manuel Medina (Federation President), Mr. Garcia (Hotel Manager)   and Jorge Hirsekorn
Picture: Medina

Jorge Hirsekorn took the singles and doubles title at the National Championships at the Hotel Maremares located in the City of Puerto La Cruz. In  singles he defeated Hemhil Hernandez 11-5, 11-4, while in doubles, he paired up with Hernandez and they defeated the 18-year-old couple Luis Reveron/Roberto Pietri 11-3, 11-5. A great tournament for Jorge Hirsekorn, who has won the last two tournaments  in Venezuela.

Juan Gutierrez (Colombia) won the 1st Open Tournament played in Cali-Colombia. Gutierrez won the final to Francisco Gomez in two games 15-7/15-7. Players of Ecuador, Bolivia and Colombia participated in this event.

4 Colombian players, all with the same last name Herrera, entered last weekend's Chicago Open 2004, an International Pro Event. Two of them made it into the main draw. This is a great success for Colombian Racquetball.

Thanks to Dave Stob (USA) who has sent in a little report about the 20th edition of the 2004 World Senior Racquetball Championships (WSRC) which has been held this September in Albuquerque, New Mexico / USA.

Costa Rica just anounced it's National Tournament dates. The National Champion will be determined from the best 4 of 6 events. Costa Rica also invites for a Central American Tournament in 2005.

Arklow Racquetball Club Mens team won their 7th Open Club title at the All Ireland Club Championships in Moylagh & Oldcastle Co Meath. Templederry won the Womens Open Club title ahead of Touraneena while the Mens Intermediate was won by Moylagh. In the Novice events, Kingscourt are the Mens Champions and Touraneena (with Niamh Coffey, left) won the Womens title.

José Cusicanqui from Racquetball Bolivia let us kow that in La Paz City, a new club is currently under contraction that will feature more than 8 Racquetball courts once it is finished.

The Bahamas Racquetball Federation received official recognition by the Bahamas government. One next step will be the affiliation with the National Olympic Committee. Racquetball on the Bahamas will get more worldwide recognition with these positive steps.

The 2004 Belgian Open are the next stop on the ERT Tour. The event will be hosted by the Indoor Sports Club in Antwerp, Belgium. Tournament Director Erik Meyer hopes to welcome many international players to this event.

The IRF has now published it's official anti-doping rules & procedures. This document was formally endorsed by the Congress's positive vote at the World Championships in South Korea. All national federations are obliged to follow these regulations.

Secretary General Luke St. Onge just returned from a visit to San Luis Potosi and the La Loma Club. La Loma will be the site of the 2004 World Juniors. "The venue is second to none. We only saw part of it finished in 2000 but now it is finished, has 9000 members and every possible amenity and infrastructure. It is a sincere pleasure to work with professionals like their staff."

The construction of 8 new courts is planned for Guatemala. 2 stadium and 8 regular courts. "Contracts have been signed to authorize the plannings for the construction", says Andy Burge, President of the Guatemala Racquetball Federation.

The 2004 USA Racquetball National Doubles Championships concluded Sunday. Rocky Carson and Jack Huczek won the men’s title and Jackie Rice and Kim Russell won the women’s for the third straight year.

Worldwide Racquetball mourns the death of Jeanette Matla from the Netherlands. The wife of Karel Matla, President of Dutch Racquetball, died totally unexpected and way too soon last Friday on her way to work. Jeanette Matla was always involved in the Dutch tournament organisation and will be missed within the European scenery.

A new version of IRF NEWS, the official newsletter of the IRF has just been published and can be downloaded.    This edition features all results from the World Championships and the World Senior Championships as well as some preview information on the World Juniors 2004 and major news from the racquetball community worldwide. Contributions for the next edition are always welcome.

Two of Ireland's top players have taken up the positions of Chairperson of their respective provinces. 18 year old Triston Hickey from Tourannena in Co. Waterford has taken up the post of Chairman of the Munster Council to become the youngest ever chairman within the association while top player in Susan Neary from the Arklow club in Co. Wicklow has taken up the same position of the Leinster Council.

IRF World Champions Mike Dennison and Shane Vanderson have set their sights on winning the 2004 USA Racquetball (USAR) National Doubles Championships presented by Penn Racquet Sports, which got underway last Wednesday at the Arizona State University Student Recreation Center.