November - December 2003
Vol. 14, No. 6 | Contents
The Board Report
by Frank Taddonio
Board President
In my last report, I wrote about plans to establish a new and improved national ranking system, an automated membership data base, a tournament software program, and the implementation of a quality membership card. By the time you read this, these plans are now a reality and on October 1, USA Racquetball entered a new era where our actions speak louder than words.The Summit in the Rockies conducted September 4-6 of this year and highlighted elsewhere in this issue was a defining moment in our sport's history. Jim Hiser and the National Office Staff worked diligently to plan, coordinate and conduct a very successful conference. The entire conference was filled with enthusiasm and positive ideas about improving our sport. I was extremely impressed by representatives from every interest level of our sport who contributed open, honest and meaningful ideas to revitalize racquetball at all levels of participation.
Jim presented everyone with our identified weaknesses, and then commenced to show how those weaknesses will be fixed. I believe he established a vision and goals that unified USA Racquetball with all the State Associations and Manufacturers as well. The organization will continue to demonstrate effective leadership, communicate with the States and work more closely with them to reach out to recreational players. This conference went far beyond throwing around buzz words like 'grass roots' and specifically briefed and discussed initiatives and objectives to accomplish our goals of increasing membership and increasing exposure for our sport. By now, the primary initiatives have been in place for a couple of months and I'm positive there have been some implementation challenges. I'm also confident that everyone working together with the spirit of teamwork and camaraderie I witnessed at the Summit will overcome any of these challenges.
Now that these improvements have been initiated, it's time to focus on the recreational players and the clubs where they play. Keep in mind, juniors won't be far behind!
Finally, I want to leave you with one thought — can you imagine going to a shopping mall, maybe a major sporting event, or even passing through Grand Central Station in New York and seeing a portable glass court with players putting on a great match? Well, thanks to Scott Hirsch and Randy Stafford this will soon be a reality.
We have clearly entered a new era in racquetball and I invite you all to enjoy the excitement.
Initiatives Unveiled
by Ryan John
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The early September event took place in Colorado Springs, at the beautiful Cheyenne Mountain Resort, with more than 100 participants from across the U.S., plus guests from Canada and Venezuela. The Summit was a success, as USRA Executive Director Jim Hiser explained.
“The purpose of the summit was to explain to everyone that the USRA is going in a new direction than it has in past years.” He continued, “We want to improve our member services and communication between the states, as well as the manufacturers. From the responses we have received since the summit, we believe that it was a success and we are moving forward with our plans.”
The Summit kicked off with a pre-event golf outing, fielding 52 players to 13 teams. The winning team in the four-man scramble was Steve Fredericks, Rob Getts, Brad Lunquist, and Don Miller who shot a 12-under par (59). There were also individual prizes awarded for various skills challenges throughout the course. All proceeds raised from the golf outing benefited the U.S. National Racquetball Team.
The Summit officially got underway Friday morning with Jim Hiser’s opening session, themed “A New Direction and Initiative,” in which he outlined the results of a 2002 USRA survey and proposed a plan of action that identified areas of concern.
James Wood, CEO of IAB, then enthusiastically spoke of the new partnership forged between IAB and the USRA. “I’m impressed with the dedication of all of the representatives attending the summit and I feel that it will be a big success,” Woods said after his presentation. “It renews our commitment to assist the USRA in all of its goals.” Woods also stated that he looked forward to a “long and prosperous” relationship with the USRA.
Following Wood was Acting CEO of the USOC, Jim Scherr, and USOC Sports Partnerships Manager Tyrone Lockhart, who each took time from the USOC’s huge 25th Anniversary Gala to show their support for the USRA. Both Scherr and Lockhart showed excitement for the new course taken by the USRA and feel that it will benefit both the members and the organization.
Ivan Davis, the USRA’s new Director of Marketing, then took center stage to present the new marketing strategy for the organization. Davis has big-time experience in sports marketing, after stints with the New York Yankees, Washington Wizards, and USOC. Davis set forth his plan to attract new sponsors to the sport and unveiled the catchy new tag line – Fast, Furious, Fitness.
“There are three components to the tagline. The first one – Fast – which is the essence of our sport with the ball traveling to speeds of 180 mph,” Davis explained. “Then there is Furious. Due to the dynamics of the court a furious atmosphere is created when two players battle it out during a match. Fitness is, of course, maintaining our core.”
After a brief break, Scott Winters and Doug Ganim took the podium representing the Racquetball Manufacturers Council. They shared the new RMC plan to grow the sport from a grassroots level within the health clubs. Winters and Ganim also stressed that the bond between competing racquetball manufacturers has never been stronger and that they were all working towards the common goal of increased participation in the sport. The RMC’s new Coordinator, Dave George, then closed the session with his remarks on what’s in store for the group.
Bruce Rider of the Tennis Channel, in a precursor to an exciting announcement, previewed the newly-debuted, all-digital broadcast network. Rider assured the audience that the Tennis Channel was not just for tennis, but more of a “racquet sports network” and that racquetball would fit nicely into their programming.
Under wraps at that time was the fact that the USRA and the Tennis Channel had already begun negotiations to televise the 2003 Choice Hotels U.S. OPEN. Since the Summit, the USRA and the Tennis Channel have come to terms on a contract that will produce five 90-minute episodes to be broadcast three times each. The episodes will be both IRT semifinals and the final, the LPRA final, and the Legends final.
“We are thrilled to have this new partnership between the Choice Hotels U.S. OPEN and the Tennis Channel,” U.S. OPEN Director Doug Ganim stated. “There are many advantages for the sport of racquetball including the ability to air full match coverage via 90 minute shows, primetime air slots for the first time in our sports history, and a national television partner that will truly be promoting all telecasts.”
Joe Garcia wrapped up the presentations Friday with a discussion on a new portable court. The new portable court would be faster to assemble and disassemble and easier to ship from venue to venue making it a truly portable court.
During the afternoon breakout sessions, focus groups were tasked with identifying and prioritizing a series of “blue sky” proposals. The portable court once again came up in discussion as a priority at which point Dr. Hiser
(near left) announced that Scott Hirsch (center) and Randy Stafford (far left) had already begun working together to make the new court a reality. Construction should begin sometime in December and the court is expected to be completed before the start of the 2004-05 racquetball season.After the big announcements made Friday, Saturday began with an air of excitement. USRA Membership Director Kevin Joyce continued to energize the summit attendees with a little humor before getting down to business. Joyce’s presentation focused on the complete restructuring of the USRA’s membership program. Members will be able to access and manage their memberships online, as well as renew, signup, view certifications, competition history, national standing, and update their information on a secure server. It is a revolutionary concept and the USRA will be one of the first NGB’s to install such a program.
“The online membership system will create a critical link between our members, state associations, health clubs, and the national office,” Joyce explained. “Our intention is to make it user friendly, fun to use, and, over time, a series of additional online services will begin to unfold and be available to our members.”
Greg Serrault, presidential director of IAB, explained the goals and benefits of the relationship between IAB and the USRA. Serrault carried over the enthusiasm from Wood’s earlier presentation as he explained IAB’s goals of making available affordable comprehensive medical and dental benefits to all members and associates of the USRA in addition to creating membership growth that will provide monthly revenue contributions to help support local efforts of each state within the USRA.
“IAB plans to give long term support to build the sport of racquetball,” Serrault stated. “The more racquetball is successful, the more IAB will be successful.”
Usher Barnoff of VantageTech then demonstrated the new ranking system that is based on a player’s performance against others and not just the number of tournaments that a player participates in. The new ranking system should be a more accurate barometer as to player’s abilities and is scheduled to be in place as soon as the upcoming season begins.
Joyce was back up at the podium during the afternoon session to unveil the new credit-card style USRA membership card, which is more attractive and durable than previous versions plus additional sponsor benefits. Some of the cards have already been issued and the majority of members can expect to begin receiving theirs sometime after the New Year.
The summit wrapped up with a banquet for attendees and guests that included dinner followed by a silent auction to benefit the U.S. National Team. Many attendees showed their support by buying lifetime memberships to the USRA for $1000. Look for more details on upcoming changes at the USRA in future issues of RACQUETBALL and you can access more Summit details (including PowerPoint presentations) online at www.racquetballmagazine.com, under the “News” heading.
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