May - June 2001
Vol. 12, No. 3 | Contents
RB: Global
23rd Dutch Open; Rheinland Pfalz Open; AERA Organizes Military Players Overseas; April Fool's in Mannheim.
AERA organizes to promote racquetball
by Michael Bowers, AERA Publicist
American racquetball players in Europe took the first step toward resurrecting the dormant American European Racquetball Association [AERA], with the election of board members and adopting the organization’s charter, at a meeting held on March 31 in Mannheim, Germany.

Sallie Benedict of Heidelberg was unanimously elected President of the organization that hopes to promote racquetball among Americans living and working overseas by scheduling and organizing tournaments throughout the military communities.

Membership in the organization is free and open to all military and civilian ID-card holders, including retirees and family members. Americans living and working in Europe can also join the association along with Europeans not affiliated with a European association.

“It is very exciting that the efforts of some dedicated players have come to reality,” said Benedict. “There has been lots of brainstorming, dedication and hard work to make this happen. It is about time we become organized to show those who think racquetball is dead that they are dead wrong.”

Ron Ruiz, of Kaiserslautern/Sembach, got the nod as Vice President. “We hope to make large tournaments a regular event,” said Ruiz. “We also want to attract more younger players who are the future of our sport. Most of our top players are over 40 and cannot carry the torch forever.”

“We aim to make participating in the AERA fun, exciting and challenging, with hopes of getting more beginners and novice players, especially women, to commit to racquetball and become its foundation,” Ruiz continued.

Other board members include Mack McPherson (Geilenkirchen), General Secretary; Bob Bagley (Ramstein AB), Treasurer; and James Johnson (Heidelberg), Board member at large. Rounding out the list of individuals who will serve the interest of hundreds of far-flung racquetball players from England to Italy are Curly Karmelin (Mannheim), tournaments/rules coordinator and Vincent Arcouette (Wiesbaden), membership/points/rankings coordinator. 

One of the primary objectives of the organization will be to have sports directors coordinate tournament information through the AERA. This will avoid schedule conflicts between several military tournaments on the same weekend ,or military tournaments planned at the same time as other major European tournaments.

Plans are underway to get the association sanctioned as a private organization by U.S. Army Europe and U.S. Air Forces in Europe. As a private organization, the AERA will have more flexibility to deal directly with sports directors.

“We want to be able to approach sports directors with the proposal of [AERA] organizing and running a tournament,” said Benedict. “We will only ask they set a date and make the courts available. We will do practically all the rest that is within our power.”

The AERA will have a point system for players from open to beginners and age groups and work has begun on developing a tournament schedule. Long-range goals of the association are possible sanctioning by the U.S. Racquetball Association and creating a website. Military tournaments are now posted on the GRF website at www.racquetball.de/.

The AERA also plans to set up juniors’ program and lure qualified people from the states to conduct clinics to certify referees and instructors. As a non-profit organization, such endeavors will depend on players networking with stateside contacts to ask those qualified professionals to help.

The AERA was in high gear in the mid-80’s, hosting tournaments that attracted hundreds of American and European participants. However, the military drawdown of the 90’s virtually silenced the organization until now. In the interim, European racquetball players developed national organizations (German, Dutch, French, Irish, and United Kingdom) which now comprise the European Racquetball Federation. 

While Americans frequent ERF events, participation by Europeans was rare at American tournaments, mainly due to a difference in formats. European players did not earn ranking points since military tournaments were not sanctioned by the ERF. Now, the AERA is committed to bringing several ERF events to military communities that have plenty of courts and regularly host tournaments. AERA officials have targeted Wiesbaden and Baumholder as possibilities, with Mannheim as another prime choice.

For more information about the AERA or to sign up, please contact: Benedict at benedicts@2b4.com; Ruiz at ruizr@eu.deca.mil, McPherson at mack-nick@t-online.de; Bagley at amazingbob@hotmail.com; Johnson at sesforcemod@hq.c5.army.mil .

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