July - August 1999
| Vol. 10, No. 4

CHANGING TIMES
by Luke St. Onge

Normally I try to use this column to keep you informed of the latest developments in our sport. But this one is different ... I am going to ask each of you to do something positive and pro-active. Something that will not cost you a penny. If you accept, our sport, the USRA, and each and every one of you stand to benefit greatly from the results.

Let’s not beat around the bush: the USRA and the racquetball industry have embarked on an ambitious challenge to double the USRA membership in the next 12 months. How? Simply by asking each existing member to sign up one new member to the USRA. Easy? You bet. All you need to do is take the tear-out from RACQUETBALL magazine (either the May/June or July/August issue — or as a .pdf download at ... ), fill in your name and address, and the name and address of the new member, send in the $20 yearly dues and our membership begins to experience “leap and bound” growth.

Okay, aside from membership growing, what’s in it for you? Each time you sign up a new member, you and the new member receive a can of Penn balls, plus you’ll be entered into weekly drawings to win racquets, gloves, eyeguards, and an assortment of other equipment and clothing prizes. In addition, everyone who takes part will be included in the Grand Prize drawing for two round-trip airline tickets anywhere in the continental United States. The Grand Prize drawing will be held at the U.S. OPEN this December. And remember, each member receives an additional chance at all prizes for every member they recruit. The more you sign up, the more you can win ... sign up 10 members and get 10 free cans of balls, plus 10 chances to win racquets, eyeguards, bags and gloves, plus 10 chances at the Grand Prize.

State associations have each committed to increase their memberships by 15% by the end of the year. So do you take the challenge? If we all work together to expand the influence of the USRA through increased membership, racquetball will be able to expand outside its own industry with real impact — much the way tennis and golf do today.

We need your help! Let’s be aggressive and make a major push now! If we accept the challenge and all work together, the year 2000 can represent a real milestone to our sport. With a little help from you, it can become that point in our lifetimes that racquetball takes its rightful place in the sports world.