Category: Institutional

PRESS RELEASE 

Santiago de Chile, Chile, October 7, 2023.

The Pan American Racquetball Confederation – PARC and Federación Panamericana de Squash – FPS are excited to announce they will jointly present Racket:Next at the XIX Pan American Games Santiago 2023 during the Pan American Esports Championships. The virtual reality racquet game Racket:Next [aka Racket:Nx] was approved by the International Racquetball Federation Executive Committee as a fully sanctioned sport effective April 1, 2022, and was showcased during The World Games Birmingham 2022. The Executive Committee of the Federación Panamericana de Squash – FPS, with the full support of the World Squash Federation – WSF, has partnered with PARC in the presentation of this amazing Esports during the XIX Pan American Games Santiago 2023. Panam Sports and the Global Esports Federation invited PARC and the FPS to participate with Racket:Next in the Pan American Esports Championships for the first time as demonstration sport.

The demonstrations will be open to the public from October 21 to 31 at the National Stadium in Santiago de Chile, Chile, where it will be surrounded by the top Racquetball and Squash players from across the Americas and Caribbean and is guaranteed to create an sensationalenvironment of action, movement andpassion for traditional sports through this incredible new e-sports; Racket:Next

 

About the Pan American Racquetball Confederation:

The Pan American Racquetball Confederation – PARC is the governing body for all continental sanctioned racquetball events. It is a member of ACODEPA and Panam Sports. Racquetball has been part of the Pan American Sports Program since 1995.For more information:

www.panamericanracquetball.com

facebook.com/panamericanracquetball

instagram.com/panamericanracquetball

 

About the Federacion Panamericana de Squash- FPS:

The Federación Panamericana de Squash- FPS is the governing body for all continental sanctioned squash events. It is a member of ACODEPA and Panam Sports. Squash has been part of the Pan American Sports Program since1995.For more information:

www.panamsquash.com

facebook.com/Federacion-Panamericana-de-Squash

instagram.com/panamsquash

About Racket Next:

Racket:Next has already surpassed 300,000 players worldwide, led by the fastest-growing VR headset, the Meta Quest 2, in which it’s been a top-rated title since its launch in 2019. We have witnessed a surge of players on emerging China-based platforms. For more information:

www.racketnext.com

racketnext@gmail.com

Stronger Together

NEWS from Basque Country:

On July 15th, the Basque Association of Beach Tennis and Minority Sports, Racquetball Section, organized the. I Basque Championship of Racquetball (doubles). In April we met to play the singles tournament and this time we played the doubles tournament. We had 8 players: Luis Getxo, Daniel Barrientos, Jesus Carballeira, Tomas Beriashvilli, Andi Erromo, Unai Pérez, Maximo Kulachenok and Egoitz Campo, the organizer.
This time we met again at the San Ignacio Municipal Sports Center in Bilbao, for the simple reason that we have not yet been able to build a racquetball court. However, we are still trying to convince the institutions. In this tournament we played two rounds: semifinals and in the second round we played for 3rd and 4th place and the final.
Egoitz and Luis won their matches easily, proving to be the stronger couple. It is also worth mentioning the match for 3rd and 4th place, where Tomas and Jesus beat Daniel and Máximo by the minimum. It was a tight match of three sets.
For now, our goal is still to build a racquetball court in the Basque Country, or at least to find a court with dimensions similar to the official IRF ones. We will continue to insist and search; let’s see if we reap the fruits of this search.
In December, if all goes well, we will play another tournament, this time it will be more concentrated because we will play a single set, both singles and doubles. We will call it the Villa de Bilbao Racquetball Tournament. Here are the results of the I. Basque Racquetball Championship (Doubles):

Results

Semifinals

Egoitz Campo/ Luis Getxo 2-0 Tomas Berishvilli/Jesus Carballeira (11-4, 11-7)

Unai Pérez/ Andi Erromo 2-0 Maximo Kulachenok/Daniel Barrientos (11-7, 11-9)

3º and 4º 

Tomas Beriashvilli/ Jesus Carballeira 2-1 Maximo K./ Daniel B. (11-9,8-11, 11-9)

Final

Egoitz Campo/Luis Getxo 2-0 Unai Pérez/Andi Erromo (11-1, 11-2)

 

Classification of the I. Basque Championship of Racquetball (Doubles)

1-Egoitz Campo (Basque Country) / Luis Getxo (Basque Country)

2-Unai Pérez (Basque Country) / Andi Erromo (Basque Country)

3-Tomas Beriashvilli (Georgia) / Jesus Carballeira (Basque Country)

4-Maximo Kulachenok (Basque Country) / Daniel Barrientos (Basque Country)

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is pleased to outline below its webinar schedule for May 2023.

Date / Time	Session Title (Language)	Speakers	Target audience	To register
10 May 08:00 EDT / 21:00 Tokyo Time	Managing Athlete profiles and user accounts in ADAMS (In English)	Emmanuel Gomes, Senior Product Specialist (ADAMS), IT, Data & Digital Development, WADA Kenny Lee, Manager, Asia/Oceania Office, WADA (Moderator)	Anti-Doping Organizations (ADOs), Major Event Organizations (MEOs), delegated third parties (DTPs), administrators and business users in the Asia/Oceania region	Register here
11 May 11:00 EDT / 15:00 GMT	How to develop an effective testing program (In English)	Karine Henrie, Deputy Director, Testing Department, WADA  Juan Manuel Lauria, Manager, Latin American Office, WADA (Moderator)	Testing Managers, National Anti-Doping Organization (NADO) Managers, Executive Secretaries and/or Directors of Latin America and the Caribbean	Register here
12 May 11:00 EDT / 15:00 GMT	How to develop an effective testing program (In Spanish)	Ilaria Baudo, Senior Manager, Testing Department, WADA Juan Manuel Lauria, Manager, Latin American Office, WADA (Moderator)	Testing Managers, NADO Managers, Executive Secretaries and/or Directors of Latin America and the Caribbean	Register here
17 May 08:00 EDT / 21:00 Tokyo Time	Managing sample collection in Next Gen ADAMS (In English)	Emmanuel Gomes, Senior Product Specialist (ADAMS), IT, Data & Digital Development, WADA Kenny Lee, Manager, Asia/Oceania Office, WADA (Moderator)	ADOs, MEOs, DTPs and business users in the Asia/Oceania region	Register here
29 May 08:00 EDT / 12:00 GMT	Why, How and When: A Guide for the establishment of a National Anti-Doping Organization (NADO) (In English)	Mekonnen Yidersal Mulusew, Director General, Ethiopian Anti-Doping Authority Ieva Lukosiute-Stanikuniene, Senior Manager, NADO/RADO Relations, WADA Sameh Elray, Manager, Africa Office, WADA (Moderator)	All countries in the process of or interested in establishing a NADO	Those interested are invited to register by sending their information (name, country, organization, job title and phone number) to the WADA Africa Office Manager, Sameh Elray, sameh.elray@wada-ama.org, as early as possible.
30 May 08:00 EDT / 12:00 GMT	Why, How and When: A Guide for the establishment of a National Anti-Doping Organization (NADO) (In French)	Mourad Hambli, Director General, Tunisian Anti-Doping Agency Louis Duparc-Portier, Manager, Compliance, WADA Sameh Elray, Manager, Africa Office, WADA (Moderator)	All countries in the process of or interested in establishing a NADO	Those interested are invited to register by sending their information (name, country, organization, job title and phone number) to the WADA Africa Office Manager, Sameh Elray, sameh.elray@wada-ama.org, as early as possible.

To register, please view the registration instructions in the ‘To Register’ column above.
 
Should you have any questions, please contact WADA Communications at: WADAcommunications@wada-ama.org.

March 17, 2023

Dear Worldwide Racquetball Family:

During January and February, IRF President Osvaldo Maggi traveled to several countries of the Americas to meet with national racquetball leaders. Positive meetings took place that brought the following results:

– Santiago de Chile, Chile: The construction of the racquetball venue to hold the XIX Pan American Games 2023 is moving forward slowly but strongly.

– Colorado Springs, USA: Several meetings were held with stakeholders that support the IRF and PARC. Discussion included new development programs and also exploration of possibly hosting a future IRF World Junior Racquetball Championships in the United States.

– Bogota, Colombia: The Colombian Olympic Committee and the Minister of Sport have created a Pro Federation Committee to re-fund the Colombian Racquetball Federation and enable the participation of Colombian racquetball athletes in 2023 events to include the XXXIV Central American and Caribbean Games and the XIX Pan American Games. Sincere thanks go to NOC President Ciro Solano, the Ministry of Sport of Colombia, and the members of the Pro Federation Committee.

– San Juan, Puerto Rico: The National Olympic Committee will support the constitution of a new Executive Committee of the National Racquetball Federation headed by Pucho Miranda. They will collaborate with the IRF and PARC to build Puerto Rican participation in future events.

 The outcomes of President Maggi’s visits to these countries and the meetings with their leaders serve as encouragement to all of us who love racquetball that the sport is moving forward nicely on the international stage.

We have so much to look forward to in the future!

IWGA ATHLETES’ COMMITTEE: MAKING THE ATHLETE’S VOICE HEARD

https://www.theworldgames.org/news/The-World-Games-17/IWGA-Athletes-Committee-Making-the-athlete-s-voice-heard-2432

At its board meeting in January, the board of the International World Games Association (IWGA) agreed on the composition of the Interim IWGA Athletes’ Committee. As already announced, the Chair of this committee will be the Spanish karateka Sandra Sanchez.

The six other members of this committee are Cat Phillips from Australia (Flying Disc), Andrés Acuña from Costa Rica (Racquetball), the Swiss Floorball player Matthias Hofbauer, the Indian archer Abhishek Verma, Justyna Możdżonek from Poland (DanceSport) and the Canadian Powerlifter Rhaea Stinn. Board member Jan Fransoo will represent the IWGA Executive Committee on this panel and thus be the counterpart for the athletes. In the IWGA Office the committee will be supported by Guillaume Felli. The decision to form an Athletes’ Committee was communicated to the IWGA members at the Annual General Meeting in 2022.

Jan Fransoo explains the next steps: “The current IWGA Athletes’ Committee has an interim status until September 2025. By that time, an Athletes’ Committee will have been elected by the athletes of the next edition of The World Games. The 12th edition will take place in Chengdu, China. The main task over the next two-and-a-half years will be to prepare for the installation of this Athletes’ Committee, including the process of election, future powers, composition, and associated regulatory changes. The focus of our efforts will be on the regulations for the transformation of the provisional committee into a standard institution of the IWGA.”

Sandra Sanchez, who attended the IWGA board meeting in January in Madrid as a guest at the invitation of IWGA President José Perurena, says that she is aware of the responsibility. “The committee will make the athletes’ voice and assessment heard, and influence the IWGA’s decisions for the benefit of the participants in the Games. I feel very honoured to be able to lead the committee after finishing my active career in sport, and I’m looking forward to this new task,” says the winner at The World Games 2022 in Birmingham, USA and 2017 in Wroclaw, Poland. She was Olympic champion at the 2021 Games in Tokyo.

One of the first tasks will be to convene a first official meeting with all members of the committee before the summer of this year. At this meeting they will also agree on their further course of action. The members will work on the rules of procedure.

José Perurena explained: “One of our basic principles is that we put the athletes and their needs at the centre. The establishment of this Interim Athletes’ Committee is another step on the way to putting this principle into practice. We are thus following the guidelines we set ourselves in the strategy paper ‘Growth Beyond Excellence’.” The 39 IWGA member federations decided to set up this provisional committee at last year’s Annual General Meeting.

Jan Fransoo explains how the current members were nominated: “We communicated with our Federations and asked them to provide us with suitable candidates. Gender equality was important to us in this process. In addition, the athlete representatives should come from all over the world and clearly show the diversity of the sport within The World Games family. Above all we asked for confident and experienced athletes. Their informed opinion carries weight in the further development of our event. We are convinced the current composition meets these expectations. I am very much looking forward to the cooperation that is about to begin.”

Colorado Springs, CO-USA, August 04, 2022.

Dear Players, Teams, and the Worldwide Racquetball Family,

For reasons of hotel availability in Guatemala City, the host city of the XXXIII IRF World Junior Championships, we are forced to change the dates of the event to December 2 to 10, 2022. We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause, and we very much look forward to seeing you there!

Sincerely,

The IRF Board of Directors and the National Racquetball Association of Guatemala

Dear Racquetball Family,

The IRF sends greetings to everyone and would like to clarify scoring for the remainder of 2022.

Rally scoring (in other words a point scored on every rally won) applies in all of the below:

For the World Games in Birmingham, USA (16 men and 16 women, singles only):

The same scoring will be used as the individual competition at PARC in Bolivia — Best of 5 games, with the first four games to 15 points and a tiebreaker game if necessary to 11 points, with just that tie-breaking fifth game winning by 2 points. The difference with the World Games is that with the single elimination format and only 32 competing, matches that are too short would not provide the international exposure desired for Racquetball.

For the IRF World Championships and IRF World Junior Championships, the scoring will be best of 5 games to 11 points, all games won by 2 points.

 

For those who would like more background, please continue reading:

Racquetball, along with many other sports, has the opportunity to provide support to and cooperation with international sports organizations such as the IOC and Panam Sports that make decisions on inclusion of various sports in premier high-level events like the Pan American Games.

The desire is that racquetball matches should be exciting, fast-moving, not overly long, and easily understood by spectators, both live and later on the Olympic Channel, YouTube, et al. Very lengthy racquetball matches can seem endless to new and casual spectators. When we lose spectators, the future of our sport is in jeopardy.

Additionally, a number of other factors that are well known to experienced tournament directors must be considered, such as length of the tournament in days; available courts; number and types of divisions offered; duration of matches; number of countries and athletes participating; being able to offer both individual and team competitions at each event, etc. Matches shorter in length can open up potential opportunities for improved tournaments experiences.

Adjustments to scoring approaches may seem to many to be a “moving target,” and we appreciate the patience of the international racquetball community as we find just the right balance.

In this year of change and transition, the IRF Technical Committee and the IRF Board of Directors are dedicated to identifying the best equation for success as we work to ensure that Racquetball will be included and competed for many years to come!

Official communication letter

 

Dear International Racquetball Family,

As many of you have probably already heard, we at the IRF have approved some significant changes to Racquetball competition on the international level. We would like to take this opportunity to describe these changes and the rationale behind them. Keep in mind that these changes will become effective 1 February 2022.

1. The first is the scoring system, often referred to as “rally scoring.” With rally scoring, a point is earned at the end of each rally, by the winner of the rally, regardless of whether the winner of the rally is the server or the receiver.

• The best of five (5) games will be played.
• The first four (4) games will be played to 15 points, win by one (1) point.
• If a fifth (tiebreaker) game is necessary, it will be played to 11 points, win by two (2) points.
• There will be one (1) timeout per game.
• There will be a limit of two (2) appeals per game.
• The time between games will be two (2) minutes.

The main reason for this move to rally scoring is that many times our matches are too long in duration. That negatively affects the feasibility of televising, in addition to negatively affecting Racquetball in Olympic Chain tournaments with the extensive number of days that are required to complete all of the matches. Additionally, we know the general public often does not understand Racquetball and becomes lost and confused trying to follow our scoring format as it has existed in the past.

In short, we want to make Racquetball a game that everyone, players and spectators alike, can enjoy equally, whether or not they know it and understand it well.

We understand that change sometimes brings uneasiness and requires short-term adjustments, but we have learned from the experience of other sports that made the same scoring changes years ago (as with Volleyball, Badminton, and Squash). They feel it was very positive for them.

Another benefit of rally scoring is that we can also provide the return of the team competition to our tournaments. This is something that we have been wanting to do for a while, but it was just not possible due to match length. Instead, with the new rally scoring system, creating games of shorter duration gives us the time to again offer the team competition.

Rally scoring will take effect beginning 1 February 2022 at each IRF, PARC and ARF tournament going forward including the IRF World Junior Championships later in 2022.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Two additional changes we consider very positive for inclusiveness and heightened opportunities in international competition are:

2. Adding a Mixed Doubles division to each tournament, something that has already been done successfully in several tournaments. Mixed Doubles is steadily gaining in popularity, and lead organizations across the globe are actively looking for ways to make sports even more inclusive and interesting for women to play.

3. Adding a Junior 21 & Under division to the IRF World Junior Championships. We believe this move is very important since it covers an age range between 18 and 21 years old when many players who do not yet have the experience and expertise to qualify for the adult teams. Those players have been known to leave Racquetball for other sports. Now, they will have the possibility to continue their international competitive development playing the sport of Racquetball.

World Cup age ranges will consist of 21 & Under; 18 & Under: and 16 & Under. Esprit Cup ranges will now be 14 & Under; 12 & Under; and 10 & Under. Bringing 14 & Under into the Esprit Cup category will give non-point-earning experience to additional players who did not qualify for their country’s national teams but are seriously preparing for future success in the older World Cup divisions.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

IRF Rule Change

At the World Congress at the IRF World Championships in Guatemala City, Guatemala, on 28 November 2021, a rule change* was approved concerning appeals, effective 1 January 2022: The player must stop in the moment of a perceived wrong call and make an appeal immediately concerning the last play between the players. *This rule change will be reflected in the updated 2022-2024 IRF Rulebook to be released soon.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Conclusion

Please be assured that these important changes underwent a long process of research and analysis involving many people and organizations who walked the path with us. Our gratitude goes to everyone for their invaluable collaboration.

We are confident that these decisions will benefit Racquetball and create further strength and momentum for success on the World stage and in the Olympic Chain of Events.

We wish everyone a smooth transition to these announced international competition changes, and we hope that the pandemic will allow us all to return to full normal activity as soon as possible!

Sincerely,

The IRF Board of Directors

Osvaldo Maggi (President/Argentina), Marcelo Gómez Pacheco (Vice President/Costa Rica), Luke St. Onge (General Secretary/USA), Cheryl Kirk (Secretary/USA), Carlos Ruiz (Treasurer/Venezuela), María Renée Rodríguez (Athlete Representative /Guatemala), Dr. Estuardo Wer (Guatemala), Miguel Perea (Mexico), Dr. Cho Wangki (Korea), Yunhui Cobb (USA), Aisling Hickey (Ireland).

IRF CHANGES ANNOUNCEMENT

 

The International Racquetball Federation, through its participation in ARISF, is pleased to announce that the International Testing Agency (ITA) is making available to International Federations a number of resources including anti-doping experts, educational tools, controls, and monitoring programs to support compliance with WADA-requested standards in the fight against doping in sport.

More information here or on our Anti-doping page.

The European Racquetball Federation Congress 2020 will be held in The Hague, Netherlands on Saturday 21st November 2020.

More information and agenda: ERF Congress 2020 – Information and agenda.