USA Racquetball Hall of Fame – A Guide to Submitting Nominations
by Todd Boss, Hall of Fame Committee
Throughout the year we periodically see posts or hear comments like, "I can't believe so-and-so isn't in the Hall of Fame," or "So-and-So deserves to be in the Hall of Fame." Well, deserving candidates often aren't in the Hall of Fame yet because they have not been properly nominated, i.e., someone has not taken the lead in submitting the form and compiling the information.
Now is the time to act. If you feel someone is deserving of a nomination, take the lead on completing and submitting their form and background information. Nominations for the next Hall of Fame Class will be accepted on or before October 1, 2023.
There are five primary categories (each with specific criteria) for nominations:
- Professional: Must be 40 years of age and have been retired from full-time touring for 3+ years.
- Contributors: For individuals who have had a significant impact on the sport at large.
- Amateur Open Player: For outstanding performance in Amateur Open Divisions in major National or International events.
- Amateur Age Player: For outstanding performance in Age group competitions at the National level.
- Outdoor Player: Significant performance in the Outdoor major events over time. (Note: This is separate from the WOR Hall of Fame.)
The current inductees to the USAR Hall of Fame are here: https://www.usaracquetball.com/about/hall-of-fame
The Hall of Fame is quite selective; there are only 74 people throughout the entire history of our sport who have been inducted:
- 24 Pro players
- 26 Amateur players
- 23 Contributors
- 1 Outdoor player (Brian Hawkes)
No matter how many nominations are received each year, only a handful get to be voted upon. A "no" vote on a candidate in a given year does not preclude them from being submitted and possibly inducted in a subsequent year.
Candidates may be nominated up to three times in a five-year period but then must wait at least five years from the last nomination before being nominated for the same category. However, if you're re-submitting someone, they have to be officially re-submitted for consideration per established processes.
Self-nominations are accepted.
Another thing to remember: no matter how deserving a candidate may be, if the Hall of Fame Committee process is not followed, including use of the official form, a nomination cannot be considered.
A complete guide to the Hall of Fame nomination process can be found here: https://www.usaracquetball.com/programs/hall-of-fame/nominations
This page includes the procedures for processing nominations; the categories; the schedule of consideration for candidates; a description of the Hall of Fame Committee; and the voting guidelines.
The current Hall of Fame Committee roster is here: https://www.usaracquetball.com/governance/standing-committees. These members are charged with reviewing all the submissions, narrowing down the list, then voting on which candidates get presented to a larger voting group.
Properly completed nominations must be submitted and received by October 1st, 2023, either by U.S. Mail to the address below or via email to the USA Racquetball office here: communications@usaracquetball.com.
It is also helpful to send a copy to Committee Chairperson Larry Haemmerle at unclelarry2all@yahoo.com.
If you are physically mailing the form, please also notify both email addresses of the form being mailed.
Racquetball Hall of Fame
ATTN: USA Racquetball
1651 Mesa Ave.
Colorado Springs, CO 80906
The forms for submitting nominations are available here: https://www.usaracquetball.com/programs/hall-of-fame/nominations
If you have any questions, please reach out to Hall of Fame Committee Chairperson Larry Haemmerle.
Thanks, and the Hall of Fame Committee looks forward to receiving a number of deserving nominations.