In response to your column in Racquetball Magazine, I'd just want to weigh in briefly from the trenches. I'm relatively new to racquetball (3 years) and joined the USRA last year. It was a bit of a tough decision, since I did not intend to play in many sanctioned tournaments at this stage of my life (2 young kids) and rb development (hmmm, c? d?). But I enjoy the magazine, and I like the idea of connecting with the national organization of the sport in some small way. 

Anyway - I very much like the idea of a computerized rating/handicap system. I remember my dad (though not a great golfer) religiously posting his scores to the pro shop and looking forward to getting a card every so often in the mail with his official handicap on it. This handicap was used in league play and of course bigger tournaments as well. Even more important to him, it was a measure of his improvement (or at least his standing) and a tangible connection the the larger community of golf, even the pros on TV. 

I know the anology between golf and rb is not perfect, since in golf you are really playing against "the course" which itself has a rating. But there's gotta be a way to do it for rb. It might end up similar to schemes they have in college football computer ranking systems - results of a match adjusted using the rating of your opponent and the ratings of your opponent's-opponents, etc., etc. 

Would it really be all that difficult and expensive to do? Sure, it would be imperfect, and yeah, there would some debates. But I for one would like to have such a rating, and get a better idea of where I stand in the racquetball world. (Recently, in my first sanctioned tournament, I got crushed in my second match of "C's" by a guy who was also in "B's". After beating me, he dropped out of "C's", kept playing in "B's"and went on to win there. I'm still not sure if I'm a "C" or a "D" player.) 

It would be important to me to have the ranking as a "perk" of membership and not wait for the day I have time and money for more sanctioned tournament play; I could participate any given day by playing any other rated player and turning the score in over the web. And those who do play in tournaments could have a greater assurance that they are in the correct division and not the victim of sandbagging or even an unwitting sandbagger themselves. Handicaps could be used at tournaments to keep play more competitive when divisions are combined. 

Maybe non-USRA members could even use the ratings website for a couple of months for free or at very low cost, as a trial and a come-on. I can imagine a poster in our "Y" saying: New to Racquetball? Want to find out where you stand? Become a USRA-rated player! Talk to Wally Rehm [volunteer coordinator and poster of results for the non-webified] or go to USRA.org to get started! 

Finally, I stumbled across this website: http://www.sportsladders.com/ racquetball/rules.asp which, though I'm sure it's imperfect, is worth looking at. If a site/structure such as this were offered by the USRA, and it achieved critical mass with the racquetball-playing public, I believe it would be a great step forward for both tournament and recreational players. Good luck and thanks for your time.