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Racquetball Canada Newsletter |
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March 2004
Nationals Entry Forms AvailableEntry forms for both Senior Nationals and Junior Nationals are now available on the Racquetball Canada website. The Junior Nationals form is also available as a PDF at www.playracquetball.ca. National Racquetball WeekMark your calendars! Racquetball Week is coming soon March 13-21st to be exact! We are organizing some exciting events across Canada to promote and get exposure for our favourite sport. E-Force racquetball has donated 10 high-end racquets to be distributed to every province to be used as a Junior Fundraiser or as a promotional tool for Racquetball Week. In addition, the next Racquetball Canada magazine will feature Racquetball Week on the cover and will also include a pull-out poster that will highlight all the cities in Canada where racquetball is currently played, as well as all the major Racquetball Canada events, including the Junior and Senior Canadian Championships. The Maritime provinces are now getting ready for the hosting of the Junior Canadian Championships in May, so during racquetball week there will be a coaching clinic to help get the Maritime coaches ready with some high level coaching. In addition, we will be sending out a National Team athlete to give clinics and put on playing demonstrations in Newfoundland. Details on the activities being planned in each province will be available soon, but in the meantime if you have some ideas or suggestions for Racquetball Canada, or your provincial representative, please contact the National Office. We are always open to new ideas and suggestions. Here is a sample of some of the different activities that are currently being planned across Canada: Also, the next issue of Canadian Racquetball magazine - the best racquetball magazine on the planet - will be sent out in time for National Racquetball Week. It's larger than last issue, and will have photos from the National Team events, articles about wheelchair racquetball and women's programs, and feature a pull-out poster indicating where racquetball is played across Canada. It looks fantastic! Pan-American ChampionshipsTeam Canada has been named for the Pan American Championships to be held in April in Ecuador. Representing Canada in singles will be Brian Istace and Vincent Gagnon, as well as Lori Jane Powell and Amanda Dunn. The doubles players will be Josée Grand'Maître and Jennifer Saunders, and Corey Osborne and François Viens. Congratulations to all the players named to the team! Also travelling with Team Canada will be coaches Michel Gagnon and Loren Prentice, therapist Bob Fong, and referee Cal Smith. Usher Barnoff will be there as well, but as the IRF Technical Director for the tournament, rather than as a member of Team Canada. Barnoff has assumed this position succeeding Jim Hiser. Elite PlayersThe National Team selection event for singles happened in February in Victoria. Mike Green defeated Brian Istace in the men's final. In the semi-finals, Green defeated Vincent Gagnon, and Istace beat Corey Osborne. Gagnon defeated Osborne for third place. A round robin format was used for the top four qualifying women. Josée Grand'Maître came out number 1, followed by Jennifer Saunders, Lori Jane Powell, and Amanda Dunn at 2, 3 and 4, respectively. Complete results and press release stories for the singles event are available on the RC website. The coverage includes photos from the event, and there are also photos are available on the Racquetball Victoria site. The Victoria tournament wasn't the only title for Mike Green in February. He also won the Sioux Falls, South Dakota IRT tournament. In the semi-final Green beat Rocky Carson in 5 games. In the final, Green faced Jack Huszek, who had defeated him in the gold medal match at last year's Pan Am Games. It was a close match, but Green won in four games. Also in Sioux Falls, Green and fellow Canadian Jennifer Saunders won mixed doubles. They beat Kyle Veenstra and Jackie Tracshel first (2-1), then Kersten Hallander and Troy Stallings in the semi-finals (2-0), and in the finals they defeated Mike Guidry and Wachtel (2-0). In singles, Saunders beat Tracshel in her first match, which put Saunders up against Wachtel in the semi-final. Wachtel won. In the third place match, Saunders faced Hallander, but she lost and finished fourth. Christie Van Hees continues to do well on the LPRA. She reached the final of the Chicago tournament, losing to Cheryl Gudinas in the final. Van Hees has climbed to number 6 in the LPRA rankings. Full results of the men's and women's pro tours can be found at their respective websites: Tournament ScheduleThere are now more Junior National results on the RC website.. The complete list of tournaments for March is:
Specific information (e.g., entry form, results, etc.) for tournaments is available on the provincial websites that can be accessed through the RC links page. The Racquetball Canada tournament schedule is available on the RC website. In closing...Any comments on or suggestions for the monthly Racquetball Canada newsletter should be sent to Evan Pritchard at evan333@mts.net. |
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