A Tribute to the Past, 
Paving the Way for the Future ...
During the late 70s and early 80s, racquetball was America's fastest growing sport. Racquetball clubs seemed to be springing up on every corner. With the boom, courts were always crowded and professional players were making a name for themselves. Then the craze subsided and a smaller yet steady group of die-hard fanatics remained.

Reminiscent of racquetball's glory days is Tournament House in Riverside, California. While corporations like LA Fitness and 24-Hour Nautilus have put many of the small guys out of business, the Tournament House keeps going strong, changing with the times and bringing in new players as others retire. Vance Lerner, 72, one of the original owners when the club opened in 1979, deserves a lot of the credit for Tournament House's success. He and sons Mike and Steve are all racquetball fanatics who drew other players to the sport. To help the members' children have fun and be competitive, they held juniors clinics each summer. Vance taught racquetball classes at the club for the local community college. And as the club name implies, he organized countless tournaments.

Lerner discovered racquetball in the 1960s before most people had even heard of it. The only courts available at that time had originally been built for handball at YMCAs, JCCs, and community colleges around the country. The first privately owned club was Mel Gorham's in San Diego, where racquetball pioneers like Dr. Bud Muehleisen, Charlie Brumfield, Steve Keeley and Carl Loveday smacked many a black Seamco ball against the walls.

Back in the early days, games were two out of three to 21. Matches sometimes lasted two or three hours. Not surprisingly, tournaments ran far behind schedule. Vance recalls one tournament at Gorham's, where his match was scheduled for 9:00 p.m., but he and his opponent didn't get on the court until 3:00 a.m.

"When we finally finished, the sun was coming up," laughed Vance [pictured at left]. "But nobody complained in those days. We always knew the matches would run late."

Tournament House lives up to its name by hosting three tournaments a year - one in the spring sponsored by Wilson, one in the summer in memory of former pro Craig McCoy, and an IRT pro stop in the fall. This year they replaced the IRT pro stop with a Legends of Racquetball pro stop Sept. 5-7 instead. Dr. Bud, Brumfield, Keeley and Loveday's grandson all attended.

"You can tell by the yelling and screaming here," said Lerner, "how much everyone enjoys the Legends. Maybe this is only my opinion, but I see the Hogan Period as the heyday of pro racquetball. The tour is still flourishing, but it's bland and has no charisma. If they do this Legends thing right it could really take off, like seniors tennis and seniors golf."

Back in the Hogan heyday, Tournament House featured 11 racquetball courts, three with backwall glass, plus a jacuzzi and small weight room. It was the third and largest club built by Lerner and his original business partner Bob Henley. They opened their first club in Colton in 1976 and another in nearby Rialto in 1977. By the early-80s, racquetball was at its peak and so was the Lerner family. Vance was winning in the Masters' division, while sons Mike and Steve were coming up in Juniors. Steve Lerner, now 42, played 10 years on the pro tour. After a 12-year break, he's playing again with the Legends. "I think he's having a lot of fun with it," says his dad. During the recent Legends tournament, a packed hometown crowd cheered Steve to victory over Dave Peck. Exhausted from playing paddleball singles and doubles as well, he was bested by Marty Hogan in the semis.

Then in the mid-80s, racquetball lost its momentum. "Things got so bad, my wife and I were cleaning toilets at the club," said Vance. "I quit taking a salary for myself." Both the Colton and Rialto clubs were sold, and two racquetball courts at Tournament House were converted to aerobics studios.

"I hated taking out the racquetball courts, but we had to keep up with the times in order to survive." said Vance. Today the club is down to seven racquetball courts, but has become a complete sports and fitness center to meet customer demand.

Over the years Lerner had several partners in the business, including racquetball pro Rich Wagner. Wagner moved from Patterson, NJ to San Diego in the 1970s to join the big boys on the pro tour. Vance hired him to coach his son Steve and eventually lured him to Riverside to work as the club pro. He's been living there ever since, just a few blocks from the club.

"At that time I was number seven in the country and making about $4,000 a year," said Wagner who also attended the recent Legends stop and lost in the first round of the paddleball division. He stays in shape by doing weight training and spins, "but one round of paddleball did me in."

Steve Lerner and Richie Wagner aren't the only big names who practiced their kill shots at Tournament House. Jeff Conine, the 1985 National Juniors champion and son of a handball player, got his start there too. "Jeff could have been a top pro in racquetball," said Vance. But instead he gained fame and fortune in pro baseball, winning a World Series in 1997, and was named Most Valuable Player in the All-Stars.

Kelly Gelhaus, another long-time Tournament House member, played pro for several years, but recently switched back to the "cult sport" of paddleball, winning the Brumfield Cup Championship. Charlie Brumfield and some of the other legends have been busy promoting their pet sport paddleball, a predecessor to racquetball. Vance Lerner claimed to have played paddleball "before it was a sport." Because of the long rallies, many spectators at the Legends tournament agreed that paddleball is a lot like racquetball was 30 years ago in the good ol' days of slower balls and smaller racquets.

Another IRT pro Chris Crowther [pictured near left, with Ruben Gonzalez], currently ranked #13, started out at Tournament House when he was 10 years old, playing with his father Jack. That little boy grew up to be "The Giant", a nickname he earned for his 6'6" stature. He shows great potential, but "dinero is the problem," he says. While looking for sponsorship, his appearances on the pro tour are sporadic. At the Legends tournament Crowther lost a close tiebreaker in the Open Division to Alvaro Beltran, 24 of Tijuana, Mexico who is currently ranked #4 on the IRT tour. According to Crowther, the two play point for point every time they meet, even though Beltran wins more often.

Dale Valentine is yet another Tournament House player who is a regular on the pro tour and winner of two U.S. Open titles. But the most famous pro from Riverside undoubtedly was a local boy named Craig McCoy. Back when Brumfield was king of the court, Craig was one of the crown princes. Sadly, both his career and his life came to a premature end at the age of 36. On that fateful August day in 1994, McCoy was talking to Steve Lerner about going to a tournament in Las Vegas when he had a massive heart attack. Lerner called 911, but it was too late.

"Craig was a natural athlete, so he didn't have to take care of himself," said Vance. "He ate badly and he smoked." Every spring, Tournament House hosts the "Craig McCoy Memorial Open."

Another tragedy in Vance Lerner's life was the loss of Jackie, his wife of 35 years, in 1993. For two years, Vance dropped out of racquetball and lost interest in the tournaments and the club. After marrying Dessie, a nurse who worked with his ailing father, Vance got a new lease on life.

When asked about other accomplishments, Vance simply points to a plaque given to him in 1990 by the California Legislature Assembly. It reads in part: "Whereas Vance Lerner, a racquetball national champion [in his age group] is committed to promoting good health and physical fitness through sports of all ages … Mr. Lerner received a bachelor's degree [in physical education] from UC Berkeley and a masters [in business] from University of Oklahoma … He served 22 years as a pilot in the United States Air Force with one year of that time spent in Vietnam …Through his achievements in racquetball, Mr. Lerner has been instrumental in the development of racquetball as a sport for Californians of all ages, thereby supporting the philosophy that good health and physical fitness can be achieved and maintained throughout one's life."

A few years ago, Vance turned over his share of club ownership to his sons, however he still helps out majority owner Robin Dixon, particularly with the tournaments. At the Legends pro stop, he could be seen calling for players over the PA, passing out scorecards and looking for refs from morning till night. Dixon, a four-time national doubles champion in his age group, has been playing racquetball for 17 years. He helped transform Tournament House into a complete-fitness athletic club.

These days, Vance keeps fit on the golf course more often than the racquetball court. He credits his good health to a lifetime of sports…and good genes. His father lived until age 89 his mother until 96.

As long as Tournament House keeps changing with the times, it looks to have a long and prosperous future. Like its original owner, it must have good genes. For more information, visit the website at: www.tournamenthouse.net.