According to IRF Vice President Rosy Torres, her annual 2005 Rosarito Beach Open were another huge success this year. "We had 156 entries this year, the numbers are increasing every year. We may have to think about building 4 more courts sometime", she said. The tournament has also been a WPRO event, the Womens Pro Tour.

The Ballinrobe Open 2005 are coming up in Ireland! The event takes place on October 7-9, 2005. The closing date for all entries is September 30. Check out the Irish Racquetball website for further details and contact information

Germany‘s young talent André Chun from Bad Windsheim took advantage of an offer that was made to him during the European Championships: He spent his last week of summer vacation in Hamburg, the heart of the racquetball movement in Germany. Technique training with National Coach Bjorn Jensen and tactical training with German National Champion Martin Klippel were on his schedule. A week of fun, friendship and racquetball!!

Check USA Racquetball's official website for the upcoming 38th US National Doubles Championships 2005 in Tempe, Arizona. The event will be held at the Arizona State University on September 30-October 2.

The Netherlands Racquetball Assocaition (NRA) invites to it's annual Autumn Open 2005 on October 14-16, 2005 in the Netherlands. Two clubs will be used for this event: The Racquetcenter de Leyens in Zoetermeer and the Westvliet Wellness & Racquet Club in The Hague.

The Korea Racquetball Federation will have it's 2005 DOBE Education National University Championships on October 1-2 at the Green Racquetball Club in Go Yang, Kyunggido, Korea. All university players under 26 are eligible to enter this event.

The IRF signed an e-commerce agreement with G&J Sports in Albuquerque, New Mexico. G&J is the Pro Shop of Gary Mazaroff and an IRF/G&J website will soon be online. G&J will carry all popular racquetball equipment and ship worldwide. Look for the link on this website soon and buy your equipment through the G&J  and join the IRF in helping to develop racquetball worldwide.

Ektelon, the top manufacturer of quality racquetball products and a major sponsor of the IRF, has named top IRT professional John Ellis as the sales and promotion representative to the IRF. All IRF members are invited to contact John and develop a product program for their teams and country. Contact John Ellis at ellistyle@comcast.net. The support for Ektelon supports the development of racquetball worldwide through the IRF.

Michiel van der Holst won the 28th Dutch National Championships by beating Zoetermeer's Pascal Matla in the final with 15-13, 15-11. In doubles, Matla was able to win again with his teammaid Edwin Schipper. Mirjam van Rijn was able to succeed in the Womens Singles competition. The 28th Dutch Nationals took place in Zoetermeer's Racket Center de Leyens this weekend.

The 14th ARF Asia Racquetball Championships 2005 will be held in Daegu, South Korea on November 25-27. Players from Korea, Japan, Saipan, Guam and other terretories are expected to compete.
The event is an IRF regional competition and will be organised by the Korean Racquetball Federation and is sanctioned by the Asia Racquetball Federation (ARF). More information will follow later.

Very good news from Ireland: The Racquetball Association of Ireland will be sending a team of 15 juniors along with two coaches to the World Junior Championships in Mexico. Trials for places on the team will be held in Kingscourt on 1st & 2nd October

Racquetball's premier event, The Choice Hotels U.S. Open Championships 2005, will celebrate it's 10th anniversary this year. USA Racquetball invites all players worldwide to compete.

Christie van Hees from Canada won the season's first stop of the Womens Professional Racquetball Organisation (WPRO) in Rosarito, Mexico against Cheryl Gudinas (USA) in the final. In Stockton, CA/USA, the Mens Professional Tour (IRT) had it's Stockton Pro-Am for the 23rd time. Jason Mannino (USA) defeated legendary Cliff Swain in the final.

The Dominican Racquetball Federation organized its first Summer 2005 Racquetball Tournament with the participation of over 47 players in the different divisions. The Honor Serve was made by famous Female Volleyball Player Evelyn Carreras, Libero for the Gold Winner Dominican Republic PAN AMERICAN GAMES - Santo Domingo 2003 Volley Ball Team

10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 ...
The Deadline for National Doubles is quickly approaching. Postmark Deadline: Friday, September 9th. Deadline: Wednesday, September 14th. Visit www.usaracquetball.com for an entry form or call (719) 635-5396 ext. 120.

USA's Senior Team finished first at this years World Senior Championships in Albuquerque, USA. Team Mexico placed second, followed by Puerto Rico. Costa Rica and Ireland finished fourth. See the event website for a complete list.

Entries are now accepted for the 2005 Torneo Internacional de Racquetball in Santiago de Cali, Colombia on Oct 12-14. The event is hosted again by the Club Deportivo Cañasgordas.

A very successful World Senior Championships 2005 have been concluded yesterday in Albuquerque, USA, while already on Tuesday, the “50 States, 50 Days” bandwagon arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where ESPN anchor Linda Cohn and her crew highlighted the state’s rich sport history and built programming around the World Senior Championships.

The complete schedule for all rounds of the upcoming 17th IRF World Senior Racquetball Championships 2005 are now online at the 2005 World Seniors event website. For any questions please contact the tournament directors directly. US-based television network  ESPN will use the event as one of their live remotes in their "50 states in 50 days" program series. The segment will air on August 30, from the Midtown Health and Fitness Club.

Due to the hurricane Katrina, all final matches at the season opener of the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) in New Orleans, USA have been postponed to a later date.

Swiss Racquetball invites all players travelling to and through Europe to stop by at the Indoorsport Club in Aesch/Birmensdorf for some games. Aesch is around 20-30 minutes outside of Zurich, best reached by car - but also accessible by Train and then Bus. There are 2 courts with glass backwalls and most of the local players meet on Wednesdays, 7-9 pm.

Starting times for the first matches of the 2005 World Senior Championships in Albuquerque, USA are now published. Players shall check for their name. For any questions please contact the tournament directors directly. US-based television network ESPN will broadcast from this event.

The team from Bolivia won all gold medals at the recent Bolivarian Games 2005 in Colombia. The home team from Colombia places second, Venezuela third, Ecuador fourth. See all details and results on the official event website.

The Autumn Open 2005 will be held on October 14-16, 2005 in the Netherlands again. Two clubs will be used for this event: The Racquetcenter de Leyens in Zoetermeer and the Westvliet Wellness & Racquet Club in The Hague.

The 2005 Junior Worlds promise to be the biggest event ever and the new club in Juarez that will be used as the site of the event and it's progressing and should be finished by September 15. 11 courts will be included in this new facility.

The Netherlands Racquetball Association (NRA) will have it's National Championships on September 17 in the Racketcenter de Leyens in Zoetermeer. Competitions will be held for Mens Open, B, C, Womens Open, B, Seniors 35+ and 45+ and also Doubles.

The Racquetball Association of Ireland  issued the Irish Tournament Calendar for the 2005/2006 season. The calendar can be viewed on the the Racquetball Ireland website. Also check out major European events on the ERF website.

While the first competitions of the prestigous Bolivarian Games 2005 in Colombia have already been concluded, the Racquetball competition will start on August 17 and will finish August 20. Players from Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia will compete in this event. The competition will be held at the Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira. Please check the event website or this site for results once the competition has started.

Jennifer Bendfeldt won the the 2nd National Tournament in Guatemala. Elissa de Bruns placed second, followed by Patty Beltranena. In the Mens competition, Manolo Bendfelt defeated Juan Jose Salvatierra in the final, while Gustavo Morales placed third. This tournament was the first qualifying event for the Central American Games that will be held in Guatemala in December.

Busy weeks for IRF treasurer and PARC President Osvaldo Maggi. While he will represent the IRF and the Pan American Racquetball Confederation (PARC) at the upcoming Bolivarian Games in Colombia, he will also attend the PASO General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro together with President Keith Calkins and Secretary General Luke St. Onge where a final decision on Racquetball's inclusion into the Pan American Games 2007 will be made

The Euro Championships have just been concluded and the next event in Europe is already around the corner: The first event of the European Racquetball Tour this season will be the Hamburg Open Championships on September 30 - October 2.

Racquetball in the United States has shown significant growth within the last few years already. According to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA), Racquetball participation has increased 13.5 % in 2004 now while also new courts are being built.

Guatemala's Ladies team is currently training hard for the upcoming events in the region. Under their new coach Ivan Villegas, the team prepares to compete in the Central American Games this December as well as the Pan American Championships next year in Guatemala. According to IRF Vice President Lucy Zachrisson, there is great progress within the team.

It's the season opener for Womens Pro Racquetball and with $10,000.00 in cash & prizes, this event promises to be a great start. The event not only offers divisions for the pros, also a beginners competition will be available. Check with Rosy Torres for registration info or call 1800-343-8582 or 1866-ROSARITO & mention code#686643 to get a super tournament deal.

During the 2005 European Championships in Hamburg, Germany, the European Racquetball Federation (ERF) held it's annual European Congress. This year was election year and the following officers have been elected for a 4-year-term: President: Mr. Erik Meyer (BEL) Vice President: Mr. Mike Mesecke (GER) General Secretary: Mr. Michael Haverty (IRE) Treasurer: Mr. Karel Matla (NED).

On July 16-29, Colombian player and AmPRO Instructor Luis F Campo visited the city of Toquepala e Ilo in Peru,  giving racquetball clinics for interested players in that region. The players interest in these clinics was very high and there is also high interest in competing in major championships in the near future. For more information please visit the Colombian web page www.planetracquetball.com.  

Germany's Joachim Loof won the 2005 European Mens Singles title for the 7th time against his team maid Martin Klippel in an exciting match 15-14, 4-15, 11-4. Marie-Josée Collet (France) succeeded in the Womens Singles division against Irish Susan Neary 6-15, 15-8, 11-8.

Team Germany has won the European Mens Team Competition in an exciting final against the team from Austria, winning two out of three matches. Team England placed third, while defending champion Ireland only got forth, after losing against Germany in the semi finals. Other places: 5th Poland, 6th Nehterlands, 7th Belgium, 8th Scotland.

US based sports television network ESPN has selected the World Senior Racquetball Championships as part of their live broadcasts of the "50 states in 50 days" programming. ESPN will broadcast live on August 30 from the host site, the mid town health and fitniss facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

The 13th ERF European Championships are underway in Hamburg, Germany with 80 players from 10 nations in attendance. While the first three days will determine the team champion, in the last three days players will compete for individual titles. Check out the EURO 2005 website for more information.

Pat Keane from the Touraneena club in Waterford has been re-elected as President of the Racquetball Association of Ireland for the coming season. Jimmy Gannon (Arklow) has been relected Vice President and Gary Lynch (Belfast) holds his position as General Secretary. The AGM of the Association was held on Saturday 16th July.

Junior Team USA , lead by Head Coach Kelley Beane, have started a week of training at the Olympic training Ceneter in Colorado Springs. More than 30 juniors attended the camp. The team will represent the US at the Junior Worlds 2005 in Mexico in December.

The construction of some more courts in Guatemala is on it's way. Four courts in the Cascadas Sports Club in Guatemala City are hopefully ready by the Independant Tournament held in September this year. The courts may also be used for the 2006 Pan American Championships.

Irish Open Champion, Brian Fedenbeg (USA) spend the weekend coaching the Irish Junior squads at the Arklow Sports & Leisure centre. All juniors are in preparation for the forthcoming European Championships in Hamburg, Germany from 23rd - 30th July 2005. All the players involved benefitted greatly from Brians vast experience

Cuba Racquetball will host it's 6th Jorge Garcia Bango Racquetball Cup on July 18-22, 2005. Players from all over the world are welocme to compete in this tournament. For more information contact Cuba Racquetball.

Another Newsletter: Racquetball Canada's latest Online Newsletter has just been published and is available for download at the Racquetball Canada website.

The 65th Torneo Nacional de Raquetbol in Bolivia finished with great success for the sport as 200 participants in 23 categories were competitng for the Cup. The team of Chuquisaca (picture left) won the Copa FEBORA and the Friendship Cup, the team of Cochabamba won the SUPERCOPA. The National team is now ready to go to Pereira, Colombia for the Bolivarian Games in August.

The teams for the upcoming European Championships have now been published on the official EURO 2005 website. There will be 8 men's and possibly 3-4 women teams competing for the European Cup. The EURO 2005 will be held in Hamburg, Germany on July 23-30 with players from 10 nations competing in men's, women's, senior's and junior's competitions.