 US OPEN Report
The recent US OPEN was an outstanding tournament, with almost 700 players at the event. Five members of the IRF Executive Board attended and they were all in attendance for the social that the IRF hosted on Wednesday. This social was well attended and everyone seemed to enjoy the food, drink and conversations. My thanks to Lucy Zachrisson, Yuni Cobb, Usher Barnoff and Dr. Wer for assisting, and I know that they all talked to many people about the IRF.
There were over 125 international players representing 13 countries at the tournament, with some excellent results from these players. I was able to meet many people from the racquetball community and address the USRA Executive Board to provide updates on our work this year.
Among our sponsors, Ben Simons from Penn was there and I spoke with him about what we are doing in the IRF. He was very supportive and appreciative of our work. Ron Grimes from E-Force also attended and I spent about an hour with he and Barry, who were also pleased with our work this past year.
I also spent some time with Shanon Feaster and Dave Ellis of the Women's Pro Tour, as well as Dave Negrete of the IRT. Again, these meetings were very productive, and my time in Memphis was well-spent.
Yours in Good Racquetball,
Keith Calkins
World Games Report
I just returned from the World Games in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It was a wonderful experience and such a positive event for our Sport of Racquetball. I can not inform you of everything that I did during my stay, but will try to fill you in on details that may be of interest.
We arrived on July 19th and after catching up on some sleep started the 10 days at the games. First, I would like to say that these Games were ever bit as good as any Olympics that I have attended. I have been to many Olympic Games in the past. One would ask why were they so special? It was because of the people who were there for everyone. The volunteers from Kaohsiung were so involved with the Games and wanted everyone to feel at home while they were in Taiwan. It was there big chance to show the World how organized they could be and how they could put on the best Games ever. They did exactly what they wanted to do.
For our Sport of Racquetball, it was a great experience. It was an opportunity to showcase the Sport in front of the World. Many World Sport leaders came to the venue who had never experienced Racquetball. Almost everyone indicated that it was a wonderful Sport and they enjoyed the opportunity to see it for the first time. There were two IOC members who attended and informed me that they really enjoyed the game. Most of you probably know the results of the Tournament and I would like to congratulate Paola Longoria of Mexico and Jack Huczek of the United States for winning the Gold Metals. They played well to win. On the final day of competition, which included the semi's and final's, every match went to a tiebreaker. It was a day to remember for our Sport.
The preparation for the event was difficult and involved a lot of work. My special thanks to Luke St. Onge, Linda Mojer, Usher Barnoff and Gary Mazaroff for the work they did in advance of the event. They all worked closely with the Kaohsiung Organizing Committee and made this event our best ever. The leaders of the International World Games Association also worked closely with us through out the planning and during the event.There were many people involved and its difficult to recognize everyone.
I would like to thank Yuni Cobb , Mr. Lee from Korea, and the President of the Asian Racquetball Federation for providing the leadership to bring the Glass Portable Court to Kaoshiung. It was a beautiful venue and was highlighted by the Court in the center stage. We sold out our event and everyone appeared to enjoy the Sport. The leadership from Wen Jui Wang, Secretary General of the Squash Racquets Association of Chinese Taipei and his Supervisor Hsu hing Hui were also superior in their efforts. John Wien also sponsored a dinner for everyone during the week and this was greatly appreciated. The venue manager, San Ching Wu and his team were outstanding through out the event. We also were fortunate to have Dr. Tim Wu make an address at the opening. We were also visited by the Mayor of Kaohsiung, Chu Chen and Ron Frolehich. President of the IWGA. During the week many many other people visited and we sincerely appreciated their interest in our Sport.
We had the opportunity to meet the President of the Indian Racquetball Federation, and the General Secretary of the Mongolian Racquetball Federation, Bayarjargal Jalsrai. It was nice to finally meet these wonderful people.
I want to personally thank the officials who went to officiate the matches. They did a wonderful job and looks so professional in their IRF dress with coats and ties.The two women who attended were excellent. Thanks to Usher Barnoff, Team Leader, Gary Mazaroff, Pablo Fajre, Martha Jarrin, Gustavo Farell, Osvaldo Maggi, Otto Dietrich, Ryan Rogers, Carlos Ruiz, and Yuni Cobb.
A special thanks to our Athlete Danny Maggi for giving the Oath, and to Pablo Fajre for giving the Referees oath at the Opening. It was also good to see several coaches and IRF Executive Board members in attendance. Thanks to: Roberto Aracena, Michel Gagnon, Juan Gutierrez, Oscar Salazar, Toshiharu Yanagi, Jose Luis Cueva, Jorge Luis Cueva, Takayuki Nagasue, Minoro Ono, Tomoko Shimada, Mike Guidry, Miguel Perea, Adolfo Baca, Arturo Martin, for attending and supporting the event. We also had players from 12 Countries who played like champions in every match. Thanks to everyone for making the event so special.
The full results will be posted on the IRF web site. We will also put other pictures and information regarding the event on the site in the future. We were able to attend several dinners and other events during the week which was important for our Sport. This event was a big investment for the IRF, but in my opinion it was the best money we ever spent. We were able to hold some informal meeting with many people during the week and I appreciate the efforts that everyone made to attend and contribute.
I hope that everyone is planning for the Junior Worlds in December and also getting ready for the World's in Korea 2010. I know both of these events will be of superior quality and will showcase our Sport. If you have any questions about the World Games, please contact me. I may have missed some information and will be happy to speak to you regarding the event. We were located next to the Squash venue and I am sure we held our own with our event. It was special in every way.
Yours in Good Racquetball,
Keith Calkins
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