November - December 1998 | Vol. 9, No. 6

CHANGING TIMES
by Luke St. Onge

It seems like only yesterday that 1998 rang in a banner year for our association and sport. It’s been quite a year, and now 1999 promises to be even more exciting! So — as I do in each “holiday” issue — I’d like to share some of the USRA’s high points in my final column for the calendar year.

Events!
State Presidents attend the annual January Seminar at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado ... U.S. Open airs on ESPN2 for the second straight year ... The second quadrennium Pan Am Qualifiers for racquetball are held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada ... The Wilson U.S. High School Championships show a 15% increase in participation ... The E-Force Intercollegiate Championships shows a 20% increase in participants ... Ektelon U.S. National Championships — “The Finals” — revamped and upgraded. Ektelon U.S. National Championships show an increase of 150 participants or 25% ... Ektelon Junior Olympics increases participation and is extremely successful ... Ektelon World Championships are held in Cochabamba, Bolivia, where 32 countries compete. USA (7 gold); Canada (2 gold); and Mexico & Bolivia come out on top ... Central American Caribbean Games held with seven full men’s and women’s teams supported by their Olympic Committees.

Programs!
Major incentive effort to have USRA membership increase by 10% at the end of 1998 ... First time ever programming award for racquetball given to Connie Martin of the Gresham Athletic Club in Oregon ... The IHRSA convention holds four sessions on racquetball ... Major upgrade in RACQUETBALL magazine in quality, content, and color ... Major joint effort from Penn and Ektelon to increase the subscriber base of RACQUETBALL magazine ... Ads for racquetball continue to be run in the IHRSA magazine, supported by the racquetball industry and the USRA

Administration
Otto Dietrich assumes the Presidency of the USRA in May. Elected officers of the USRA are: Annie Muniz, Texas, treasurer; Janell Marriott, Rhode Island, secretary; Shelley Ogden, Ohio, executive vice president ... USOC votes unanimously to allow the Olympic rings to be used on the Pan American Team uniforms ... World Seniors raises $12,000 toward the Olympic Dream. Total proceeds now exceed $170,000 in the 14 year history of the event ... Ektelon signs four year contract as title sponsor of National Singles, Doubles, Regionals, ‘Official Shoe’, ‘Official Racquet’, and official sponsor of the U.S. National Adult and Junior Teams ... USRA brings AmPRO position in-house to national office in Colorado Springs.

USRA Board of Directors [L-R, top to bottom]
John Guinta, Eric Muller, Otto Dietrich
Dario Mas, Malia Bailey, Jack Hughes
Keith Calkins, Ron Maggard, Janell Marriott
Annie Muniz, Shelley Ogden, Dan Obremski.
Photo: Jim Hiser.

End of Year Predictions
Ektelon National Doubles in Baltimore will show an increase of 20% in participation and will be extremely successful ... Promus U.S. Open will be extremely successful with Swain and Gould repeating ... A multi-week television series on ESPN is announced ... Pro Kennex Junior World Championships have 13 countries competing ... USRA pays for 22 junior National Team members to attend the 1998 Worlds.