2025 NMRA International Championships, Colorado Spring, July 10-12, 2025

If you are over 40 and LOVE racquetball, you really missed out last week in Colorado Springs, Colorado! The National Masters Racquetball Association held its summer tournament at the Downtown YMCA Thursday through Saturday, and it was one of our best ever. What made it great?  Several things! 

We asked our players to tell us how they liked the event. Of the 80 in attendance, about 30 were first-time NMRA players. They were introduced to round-robin racquetball where you play people your own age. The first-timers didn’t have a reference from past NMRA tournaments, but they were probably the most vocal supporters. 

This time, however, we tried a few new things. First, since we were downtown in Colorado Springs, we were close to everything. We had our players walk a block past the park to the restaurant district to have lunch on us. Several local eateries gave us a special deal or menu for our lunches and evening hospitality. It was great to get out of the club for an hour and for the NMRA team to avoid setup and cleanup!

Next, our players were extremely excited to visit the sights around Colorado Springs, including the Olympic Museum and the Olympic Training Center. Some of the amazing places to visit within 10 miles were Garden of the Gods, Manitou Springs, the Cog Railway, Pikes Peak, Airforce Academy, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Broadmoor Hotel, and Royal Gorge.

A rare treat for our 50-year-old and 60-year-old doubles players was the chance to play against former professional players Sudsy Monchik (50s) and Ruben Gonzalez (60s). Mark Frank of Frank Hotels was the partner of the pros. Sudsy and Mark earned a gold in Men’s 50 Doubles, and Ruben and Mark got a silver in Men’s 60 Doubles. I would guess some of our guys were not deeply into racquetball during Sudsy’s or Ruben’s heydays, but they all appreciated the skill and athleticism of these incredible players. Mark Frank sponsors many organizations and events in racquetball, and we encourage you all to stay in his Frank Hotels properties located in Washington, Oregon, and Florida when in those areas. Check them out at www.frankhotels.com and use the discount code SUDSY so they know how you came to book your vacation. 

Cindy Tilbury

The last secret weapon we had for this particular NMRA tournament was Joe Williams. He lives in Colorado Springs and did ALL of the hard work in planning and running the show. He contacted the YMCA for us, worked with the local shirt vendor, arranged deals with the restaurants, got Visitor Bureau materials, ran the tournament desk with Patrick Gibson, ran the fundraiser for Junior Racquetball during our Friday banquet dinner, and took care of all of the clean-up and shipping. What did Cindy Tilbury do, you ask? Well, I snapped photos of first-timers and winners, greeted new players, and relaxed most of the time—my dream tournament! 

As usual, we had a great banquet at our host hotel, The Antlers. Dinner was delicious and our Junior Racquetball Fundraiser raised about $1,000. It had been a while, but we inducted two incredible NMRA players into the National Masters Racquetball Hall of Fame. You will be able to see their fun introduction slideshows soon on our NMRA social media sites. Those players are: 

Marie Gomar from Guatemala City, Guatemala. Marie was voted into the NMRA Hall of Fame about a year ago and was just now able to attend our summer event, which is the time of year we do our induction ceremonies. Marie has played many NMRA events in the past and greatly surpassed the required number of medals (specifically, GOLD medals!) needed to qualify as a Hall of Fame player. Her beau, Mark Carey, helped create her slideshow, and it was very entertaining. 

Bruce Adams

Lars Cole from Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. Lars was just recently voted into the Hall of Fame. He originally told us this might be his last racquetball tournament due to knee troubles. Going into the NMRA Hall of Fame is a nice way to end a long run, BUT I think we have Lars convinced to check into some scans and potential treatments to get him pain free. Lars has been playing and winning NMRA tournaments since his days in the Washington, DC, area, where the Fort Myer (military base) group used to arrive en masse with their leader, Carmen Alatorre-Martin, directing the traffic. The group has dwindled since the 2000s, but several of the players are regulars and have already been inducted into the NMRA Hall of Fame. 

Bruce Adams

To see full tournament results: https://www.r2sports.com/tourney/viewResults.asp?TID=47497

To see the entire list of NMRA Hall of Famers, please click here: https://nationalmastersracquetball.com/about/hall-of-fame/

Please watch the nmra.info website for upcoming 2026 tournaments and links to slideshows and livestreamed videos. Winner photos and other info will soon be available, as well.

If you have any questions about National Masters Racquetball or our events, please contact Cindy Tilbury at cindy.tilbury@att.net or 303.888.4461. All levels of play, 40 years old or older, are invited to give us a try and join our family. Ask any of our players if you want to hear about us from their perspective. We hope to go to California and Arizona in 2026, but contracts have yet to be signed. Wish us luck, but DO check our website and then R2Sports to sign up in 2026!

Bruce Adams