The 2002 Regional Qualifying tournament in San Antonio, Texas saw typical tough competition and great racquetball … but it also featured a dramatic trauma that none of us anticipated.

I was in Dallas for the Texas Medical Association meeting from Wednesday until Friday, April 19th. From there, my wife, Trish, and I got in the car at noon and drove to San Antonio for the regional. After settling in, we went over to the courts only to discover that my first match opponent didn't show. I won that by forfeit. My second match, in Men's 45+ A/B was scheduled for 11:00 pm.

The match went on pretty close to the scheduled time against a fellow by the name of Rick Mogren. Rick and I have played before and know each other pretty well.

As the first game was winding down I was winning 12-10 and just won a long rally to take the score to 13-10. As I turned to get the ball, I saw Rick crumple to the ground. He collapsed on the court and quickly went into complete cardio-respiratory arrest! He had a massive M.I. right there on the court! I knew exactly what happened when I saw him go down...

I turned to the crowd watching and told them to call 911 and immediately dropped to my knees. I rolled him over; he was hyperventilating for a moment, then quit breathing altogether. Checked for pulse — nothing. He was, quite simply, dead right there on the court.

Immediately before starting the match he had said "Phil, I guess I'm getting old or something. I've been having chest pressure and pain for a few weeks now." I told him that we did not have to play but he insisted that he had a full cardiac work up in March and he was fine and wanted to play. Almost prophetically I jokingly told him before I served the first point - "now, Rick, if you go down in here I'm NOT giving you mouth-to-mouth!" He responded, "Good! I don't want you to give me mouth-to-mouth. Let me die instead!"

Well, I certainly ate my words.

As luck would also have it, Zelda Salas, the girlfriend of another Victoria player, just walked through the door when this happened. She worked as an EMT and promptly came in to help.

We started performing CPR right there on the court only after a few moments. Somehow I got the short straw and did the breathing! Zelda did the compressions, Trish timed and counted everything, and several other people were there ready to help. It was an absolute eternity till the EMS arrived — 13 minutes to be exact! After every breath I found myself looking over my shoulder hoping to see them. The final "four and FIVE" came all-too-quickly and it was time to blow again! Each time we checked for a pulse we got nothing.

When the EMS arrived they hooked up their monitor — he was still in a deadly heart rhythm without a true beat. They had the equipment to clear his airway and they shocked him once. His cardiac function returned immediately. They then intubated him and started bagging him with oxygen.

Rick Mogren

Philip Suarez

They whisked him off to the hospital. Apparently by the time they got to the ER (only three minutes away) he was already fighting and pulled his tube out.

After the excitement settled down a bit, I showered and went to the ER, where Rick was confused but alert and stable. Another visit Saturday evening found him on the step-down ward on telemetry — doing perfectly fine! He had undergone a cardiac cath Friday night. They placed a stint and had done a balloon on two other cardiac artery narrowings.

Unbelievably, Rick was discharged from the hospital the next Monday! Apparently the cardiologist told him that he probably was going to have no permanent cardiac muscle damage! He also, thank God, had absolutely NO CNS (brain) injury from the event! A real win for us!!

Rick definitely has another lease on life! You hear about these scary things all the time — but I never thought it would happen to ME! YIKES!!

Every time I've been involved in a medical emergency I've had all my equipment there — tubes, suction, EKG monitors, operating rooms, etc. This time I only had my Ektelon racquet! Never have I seen such a thing, particularly with a relatively healthy 46 year old man!

There are a couple of take-home messages here. First, I guess, if you're going to have a massive heart attack and try to die on the court, you'd better be playing a doctor! 

Second, everyone should be up on CPR and know how to immediately resuscitate someone if they go down. Looking around, I didn't see very many people who had a clue what to do. He surely would have been dead, or at least suffered severe brain injury, if efforts had been delayed at all.

Go out and take CPR! Until our sport gets on-site EMS staffing, each and every player at the competitive level should take it upon themselves to get this training. As it was shown in April of 2002 in San Antonio: something that simple can save another's life. And remember: nobody promises you tomorrow! 

WOMEN: SINGLES
45+	1. Sherron Boyea-CA
	2. Marcia Richards-CO
	3. Susan Hendricks-AR
	4. Karen Key-AR
50+	1. Elaine Dexter-CA
	2. Nancy Kronenfeld-IL
	3. Susan Kiefer-MN
	4. Terry Rogers-CA
55+	1. Merijean Kelley-CA
	2. Nidia Funes-CA
	3. Cece Palaski-CA
60+	1. Sharon Hastings-Welty-OR
	2. Gloria Piscoran-OR
	3. Marquita Molina-CA
	4. Gail Schaefer-MD
70+	1. Lola Markus-IL
	2. Reta Harring-WI
80+	1. Mary Low Acuff-NC

WOMEN: DOUBLES
50+	1. Carla Francis-CA/Elaine Dexter-CA
	2. Susan Kiefer-MN/Vicky Utter-NC
	3. Terry Rogers-CA/Nancy Kronenfeld-IL
	4. Dawn Kerrigan-CA/Andee Glansberg-FL
55+	1. Merijean Kelley-CA/Nidia Funes-CA
	2. Joy Desantis-CA/Sharon Hastings-Welty-OR
60+	1. Marquita Molina-CA/Nancy Martin-CA
	2. Carol Taylor-IN/Gloria Piscoran-OR

MEN: SINGLES
45+ 	1. Carlos Ascunce-CA
	2. Rick Howick-WA
	3. Dave Mark-CA
	4. James Jones-CA
50+	1. Frank Taddonio-AR
	2. Larry Pristo-AR
	3. Denny Vincent-OH
	4. Dennis Healy-IL
55+	1. Scott Rudoni-CA
	2. Ron Combs-CA
	3. Mickey Bellah-CA
	4. Jack Crowther-CA
60+	1. Glenn Allen-VA
	2. Ron Hutcherson-IN
	3. Ed Sword-KY
	4. Patrick Taylor-IL
65+	1. Ken Moore-CA
	2. Jerry Northwood-AR
	3. Jerry Holly-CA
	4. Michael Jackson-CT
70+	1. Sean Reid--NV
	2. Jim Dunn-CA
	3. Fred Pourroy-CA
	4. Harvey Clar-CA
75+	1. Victor Sacco-NY
	2. Dick Kincade-CO
	3. Duane Russell- MI
	4. Philip Dziuk-IL
80+	1. Bob McAdam-TX
	2. Earl Acuff-NC
	3. Don Goddard-MT
	4. William Matotan-NM 

MEN: DOUBLES
45+	1. Gene  Pare-CA/Denny Vincent-OH
	2. Carlos Ascunce-CA/Greg Benson-CA
	3. Thomas Weineger-CA/Darryl Warren-CA
	4. Jim Gutierrez-CA/Joji Knight-CA
50+	1. Gene Pare-CA/Eric Barkey-CA
	2. Barry Hendricks-AZ/Jon Walker-AZ
	3. Garrett Parks-CA/Darryll Keene-CA
	4. Frank Caradia-CA/Stan Lemon-TX
55+	1. Barry Hendricks-AZ/Jon  Walker-AZ
	2. Ron Combs-CA/R.O. Carson-CA
	3. Mike Pawka-CA/Tom McKie-TX
	4. Ed Woolery-CA/Jack Crowther-CA
60+	1. Tom Penick-CA/Glenn Allen-VA
	2. Jerry Monell-CA/Lee Graff-OR
	3. Jerry Fingerman-MN/Don Larson-MN
	4. George Rose-CA/ Paul Nigro-CA
65+	1. Ken Moore-CA/ Paul Banales-AZ
	2. Grant Morrill-PA/Ron Pudduck-MI
	3. Jerry Northwood-AR/ Ron Dorst-CA
	4. Jim Dunn-CA/Jack Hughes-CA
70+	1. Gene Ferris-CA/Emil Kuenzler-NY
	2. Alan Adirim-B.C. Can./Phil Swartz-B.C.	
	3. Vance Lerner-CA/Fred Pourroy-CA
	4. Bob Englund-MN/ Ralph Stillman-MN

MIXED DOUBLES
45-54	1. Leslie Pawka-CA/ Mike Pawka-CA
	2. Karen Key-AZ/Frank Taddonio-AZ
	3. Karin Walton-CA/Tom Penick-CA
	4. Marcia Richards-CO/Dave Letsche-CO
55-64	1. Joy Desantis-CA/Ron Adams-CA
	2. Gail Schaefer-MD/Gene Pletcher-UT
	3. Carol Taylor-IN/Pete Petty-MO
65+	1. Lola Markus-IL/Roy Rudichuk-OK

In mid-March, the Spectrum Club in Canoga Park, California hosted the National Masters Racquetball Association's Championships, where a record number of players competed to make this the biggest tournament in the 31-year history of the NMRA. Two hundred forty-six entrants played over 1,700 matches in a round-robin format on the Spectrum Club's twenty courts, averaging over 30 matches per court, per day. "This could only have happened with of the excellent leadership of the Spectrum's staff" said Ron Pudduck, NMRA President. 

Debra Tisinger is the Racquetball Coordinator and Club Professional who, along with her daughter, Janel and volunteer Ron Lam, managed all tournament scheduling. Debra certainly knows racquetball and was recently named the Peggy Steding Award winner by the USRA and is currently ranked No.1 in the Women's 35+ and 40+ divisions. Janel is ranked No.2 in Women's 24 and under and is on the U.S. Junior Team. 

Merijean Kelley, NMRA Vice-President said, "that player reactions were so positive toward the staff, club and hospitality, the NMRA Board decided to return to the Spectrum next year for the 2003 National Championships. The LA setting, accommodations at the Hilton Woodland Hills, great food, and fine banquet facilities were other factors in this easy decision." The on-site Spectrum sidewalk café was a huge hit with players. Using special "NMRA tourney dollars" players were able to order from a full menu or a luncheon buffet. Manager Jim Greene said his café's motto is: "The Inside Secret to Fitness" and that the big seller was the Smoothie/Shake offering. He estimated that over a thousand pounds of fruit were used for shakes during the tournament.

Tourney Results: A record 246 players plus 45 guests were on-hand for the competition and banquet. That's forty more players than the last tournament, which was also a record-breaker. Ron Pudduck noted that the membership of the organization has grown more than 150% during the last four years and now has to limit the number of entries. The fact that the championships were located on the West Coast seemed to have had little effect on where players came from. Ron noted that "34 states plus the District of Columbia were represented and that exactly half or 17 states were located east of the Mississippi River."

The Next Stop: The NMRA's International Championships is set for July 17-20 in Champaign, Illinois using the University of Illinois' athletic facility. An AmPRO Clinic will be offered before the tournament on July 15-16. Ron Pudduck expects this to be another record breaker and suggests that players get their entries in early. Note: For more information about the NMRA or the tournament contact Ron Pudduck at 734 426-7522.

Sadly, after a long illness, one of racquetball’s most beloved members has passed away. For all of us who knew Nick Sans it is safe to say we enjoyed the pleasure of his quiet demeanor, his soft smile and his very keen sense of humor. He was indeed an easy man to like. As a man of principle, strong character and integrity he set an example for us all to follow. One described Nick as “…a man who had a great spirit, a tender heart and a very gracious approach to his fellow man.” Certainly Nick touched the hearts of many. We were lucky to have had him among us for so long. He was a good man, a good friend, and he’ll be missed. 

Nick managed to win several tournaments in his day, two of which were the National Singles Championship in Houston, and National Masters Singles Championship. As a player, he was both methodical and crafty, able to maneuver his opponents out of position and then take advantage of it, winning streaks of points at a time in a single game. Once ahead Nick was hard to beat. He won a lot of games, way, way more than he lost. And in the process he made several friends. Even the players he beat could not help but like him. The result was a man showered with friendships that lasted a lifetime. 

We are always saddened by the loss of someone we once knew, especially a loved one. Nick was one who attracted and befriended many people from all walks of life, from company presidents and professional athletes in different sports, to surgeons, technological geniuses, inventors, politicians, writers, authors and scientists. He treated everyone the same, never talking ‘down’ to anyone and always carrying a quaint smile around with him wherever he went. We saw him frequently at our club — The Spectrum Club, Fullerton, California. Sometimes he joined us for doubles. Sometimes he just practiced. Always he was a joy to be with. Tom Rall described him this way:

‘I met Nick in 1989 while getting some food served at one of the tournaments we were both playing in. He asked me to pass him the mustard and for the next thirteen years we talked every time we saw each other. Then we became members of the same club and were always talking about this or that, trying to be funny. He was a quiet, easy-going, yet sophisticated man whose smile and soft gray hair became his trademark. He was an honest man who embraced life with an open mind and heart. He was always easy to talk to even though I knew he was a giant of a man intellectually. I also knew he was loved by many. Hearing of his passing saddened me, as I am sure it did others who knew him.’ All who knew him are saddened by Nick’s passing and express our sincere condolences to his family. We all will miss him. 

After a two-year stint as head coach of the Mexican National Team, Jim Winterton is back coaching for the U.S. Winterton previously coached the U.S. squad for a full decade before stepping down to work with the U.S. Junior National Team. He was soon approached for, and accepted, the head coaching position for Mexico.

During his tenure, Winterton’s U.S. squads won the International Racquetball Federation World Championships in each of the years he was at the helm. His teams also brought home five Tournament of the Americas team crowns and swept the 1995 Pan-American Games, winning six gold medals and two silvers. In the 1999 Pan Am Games, his team almost repeated the feat by capturing six gold medals, a silver, and a bronze. 

In his first World Championships as the head of the Mexican Team Winterton coached the men’s team world championships in both singles and doubles. In the process, his players made history by capturing the men’s team title, plus an individual World title for Alvaro Beltran in singles. It was the first time, ever, that Team Mexico players had placed so well, and it was also the first year that the U.S. did not come away with the overall World Championship team trophy. 

Winterton is eager to get to work to make sure that doesn’t happen again at the World Championships this August in San Juan, Puerto Rico.