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| Canadian Racquetball Newsletter |
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June Issue CONTENTS 2002 National Championships World Championship Team Announced National Teams Named 2003 National Championships and Selection Events National Teams Athletes 2002 Junior Nationals 2002 Board Meetings and AGM Racquetball Canada Strategic Planning Rule Changes New Club in Alberta Klondiker Date Change New Level 3 Officials Update Your Links Awards Club On Top Sold 2002 National Championships Canada has new national champions! In the women's singles, Jen Saunders defeated Josee Grand'Maitre in two straight games. In the men's singles, Michael Green won handily over Brian Istace. Full results for all events are available on the Racquetball Canada web site. Congratulations to these two champs, who are both already showing themselves to be excellent ambassadors as well as excellent players. The local organizers (led by Rino Langelier, Martin Baril, and Michel Gagnon) are to be congratulated on a job well done. The 220 participants were unanimous in voting this the best daytime hospitality ever offered at any major event anywhere. As well, the participants were very impressed by the slide show of all the winners, as well as many candid shots of players, that was projected on a large screen during dinner. World Championship Team Announced The following athletes will represent Canada at the World Championships in August: Jennider Saunders, Josee Grand'maitre, Amanda MacDonald, Karina Odegard, Kane Waselenchuk, Brian Istace, Michael Green, Mike Ceresia. The coaches will be Ron Brown and Michel Gagnon, with Cal Smith attending as the referee and Usher Barnoff as the IRF representative. The Team Physio will be named soon. National Teams Named The Canadian national Junior team has been confirmed. Coaches Loren Prentice and Josee Grand'Maitre are pleased to announce that the team for 2002-2003 consists of Lee Connell (SK), Eric Desrochers (ON), James Landeryou (SK), Tim Landeryou (SK), Mike Vera (AB), Michael McLean (MB), Brandi Jacobson Prentice (SK), Alison Schlichemeyer (SK), Stephanie Oteyza (MB) and Valerie Lefebvre (QC). 2003 National Championships and Selection Events Valari Hendrickson, VP Technical, is pleased to announce that the 2003 Junior Nationals will be held at the River Racquet Club in Saskatoon April 29-May 3. The opening ceremonies will be the evening of Tuesday April 29, and play will end on Saturday May 3 followed by the closing ceremonies. The 2003 National Championships will be held May 19-24 at the Club On Top in Vancouver. The 2003 Singles Selection Event and the 2003 Doubles Selection Event have not yet been scheduled, pending discussions with the IRT and LPRA to ensure no conflicts in dates. Anyone interested in hosting a National Teams Selection Event should contact Valari Hendrickson for a bid package. Valari can be reached at valari@telusplanet.net National Teams Athletes At the 2002 Pro Nationals in California, Kane Waslenchuk lost an 11-8 tiebreaker in the finals of the Pro Nationals. To get to the finals, Kane defeated Adam Karp in the round of 16, then Jack Huczek in four games in the quarters. In the semis, Kane took out the top seed Jason Mannino in three straight games, to face John Ellis in the finals. Ellis won the first two games 6 and 2, then Kane took the next two games 8 and 5, and in the tiebreaker Ellis captured the title. As a result of his successes, Kane finished the Pro season ranked #4 on the IRT. Mike Green defeated Nick Irvine 5,4,3 then Shawn Royster 5,2,3 and also Tim Doyle, before falling to John Ellis in the quarters. Mike finished the season ranked #11 on the IRT. Kris Odegard and Greg Thomas (Starodub) met in the first round; Greg won 7, 9, 6. Thomas then had a big win over Mike Guidry (4), 10,8,5, but ended his best showing of the year with a loss to Derek Robinson. Brian Istace defeated Fred Forbes 3,4,5 then fell to Dan Llacera (7), 10, (0), 10, 5 Karina Odegard defeated Claudi Corpi (Mexico) 6,9,8 then lost to Cheryl Gudinas (Illinois) by the exact same scores. Lori Jane Powell (seeded #9) defeated #8 Kim Russell (Texas) 12, 11, (8), 12 then lost to Gudinas in the semis 14, 9, 14. 2002 Junior Nationals Results of this event are posted on the Racquetball Canada web site. Check out the Fall,2002 issue of the magazine for photos and stories. Congratulations to Adrian Webb and his volunteers for running a successful tournament. The most exciting part of the tournament was that 9 provinces had both boys and girls playing in the tournament, which means that Racquetball Canada plan to get back into the Winter Games is proceeding nicely. 2002 Board Meetings and AGM During the weekend preceding the National Championships (remember, we no longer use the word "senior" as part of the name of this event), the Racquetball Canada Board and Executive met for a total of close to 30 hours. Some of the results for Canadian racquetball people:
Representatives from across the country met in Brossard, PQ, after the Nationals to work with Lori Johnstone on Racquetball Canada's strategic plan for the next 10 years. An intensive session involved assessing our needs, setting priorities, and assigning responsiblities. Work on the plan will continue over the summer, and something should be ready for the members to see in the next issue of the magazine, due out in the early fall. Rule Changes Effective September 1, 2002, there are three changes to the rules. The effects of these changes are as follows.
New Club In Alberta The Physical Edge Family Fitness, Racquets and Climbing Centre has opened its doors in Wetaskiwin, Alberta, located between Edmonton and Red Deer. You can contact them at 4301 - 49 St, Wetaskiwin AB T9A 1H1 Ph: 780-352-8454, Fax: 780-352-4018 Klondiker Date Change The Klondiker Tournament in Edmonton has been rescheduled to July 26-28. Contact Jon Semeniuk at jons@nait.ab.ca for details. New Level 3 Officials Randy Pentland (Chair of the Racquetball Canada Officiating Committee) and Cal Smith (Chief Referee at the 2002 national Championships in Brossard) are pleased to announce that two players were certified as level 3 referees in Brossard. Congratulations to Marvin Meissner (B.C.) and Terry Nelson (Ontario). Other players who are interested in improving their levels of officiating certification will soon be able to find the criteria on the Racquetball Canada web site. In the meantime, you can contact your provincial officiating coordinator, or Randy Pentland at penfish@shaw.ca Update Your Links The new Racquetball Canada web site is up and running, under a new structure. If your web site has links to Racquetball Canada, please check if your links need to be updated. Please forward any comments or recommendations about the web site to Cheryl McKeeman at cmckeemn@hotmail.com Awards At the 2002 National Championships in Brossard, the annual awards were made. Michel Gagnon received Racquetball's most prestigious award, the Ivan Velan, in recognition of his years of contribution to the sport as an athlete, coach, organizer, and mentor. The Women's Award was presented to Cheryl McKeeman. Club On Top Sold On May 31, the Vancouver racquetball community was shocked to learn that the Club On Top has been sold. No further details are available at this time. |
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