36th Annual Women’s Senior/Masters Racquetball Championships

36th Annual Women’s Senior/Masters Racquetball Championships
Los Caballeros Sports Village, Fountain Valley, CA
May 1-3, 2026
Tournament Director: Cindy Tilbury

The 36th Annual WSMRA Championships were held in the month of May rather than the usual January or March date. This was the first time since 2014 that the tournament was held at “Los Cab”, an excellent venue for racquetball, with great areas to watch the matches and a lounge for relaxing and refreshments.

Players came from 13 states and the country of Guatemala to take part in great competition and to catch up with old friends and make new ones. The weather was great the entire weekend for exploring or just relaxing outside. The host hotel Sonesta had a large lounge, which became the meeting place in the evenings to chat with friends and enjoy some beverages of choice!

This was a somewhat sparsely attended event compared to other years, but that was secondary considering the truly excellent competition. Divisions were combined and the round-robin format gave everyone loads of playing time. Self-refereed has always been the way we roll.

Congratulations to the winners!

40+ Singles: Anahita Rezvan  (California)

50+ Singles: Sarah Riess (California)

55+ Singles: Sheila Salehian (California)

60+ Singles: Marie Gomar (Guatemala)

65+ Singles: Cindy Tilbury (California)

70+ Singles: Susan Hendricks (Arizona)

75+ Singles: Shirley Parsons (Colorado)

85+ Singles: Mildred Gwinn (North Carolina)

45+ B/C Singles: Barb Southwick (Minnesota)

55+ B/C Singles: Lorena Chables (Arizona)

65+ B/C Singles: Peggy Pruchnicki (Nevada)

Open/A Doubles: Lori Southwick (Minnesota)/Page Kern (Minnesota)

B/C Doubles: Barb Southwick (Minnesota)/Toni Owens (California)

50+ Doubles: Maureen Baldwin (California)/Debra Tisinger-Moore (California)

55+ Doubles: Lori Southwick (Minnesota)/Page Kern (Minnesota)

60+ Doubles: Marie Gomar (Guatemala)/Marcia Richards (Colorado)

65+ Doubles: Sharon Huczek (Michigan)/Fabie Combs (California)

75+ Doubles: Paula Sperling (New Mexico)/Shirley Parsons (Colorado)

70+ Doubles: Ingrid Callmann (Delaware)/Jane Snyder (Tennessee)

80+ Doubles: Mildred Gwinn (North Carolina)/Nidia Funes (California)

To view the brackets and matchups, visit https://www.r2sports.com/tourney/viewResults.asp?TID=52092

Tournament Highlights!

The tournament got underway on Thursday afternoon with Fun Doubles to let everyone get used to the courts before the players’ meeting. Following the doubles, a raffle benefiting breast cancer research raised $350, which was donated to Komen for the Cure.

The traditional silent auction ran Thursday through Saturday afternoon, when winners were determined via sealed bids. Items ranged from t-shirts to craft items. At the Saturday evening banquet, players could buy numbers on a grid for a raffle with the winning number taking half the pot (thank you, Barb Southwick, for coordinating this!). The silent auction and numbers raffle raised $660. Proceeds were split between the WSMRA and the USA Racquetball College Scholarship Fund. Due to the generosity of the players, a total of $1,100 was raised over the weekend!

A buffet dinner at the club was followed by music courtesy of DJ Eddie Myers. Kendra gave out awards (also known as large “Cow Pies” from Wisconsin) to recognize some special people. In addition to the volunteers mentioned below, recognized were Marie Gomar for coming the furthest, Mildred for being the oldest player, Anahita Rezvan for being the youngest player (and it was her birthday!) and Harley, too young to play but helping anyway!

Then, as usual, Mildred Gwinn got the dance party going. Even after a day of racquetball there was plenty of energy on the dance floor! Racquetball women rock! The energy no doubt came from the numerous mini cow pies consumed over the weekend!

To paraphrase the old saying,  “It takes a village to run a racquetball tournament.” Everyone in attendance helped in some way, large or small. Special thanks (and a large Cow Pie) to Lois Palmer who ran the tournament desk all weekend with organization and calm; Tournament Director Cindy Tilbury for the months of work she put into organizing; Board members Paula Sperling, Jane Snyder, and Kendra Tutsch for helping as needed; Nidia Funes and Nancy Large for handling the doubles raffle and making sure the silent auction ran smoothly; Joe Willimas for doing a bit of everything: driving the shuttle, picking up and arranging the food each day,  and helping at the tournament desk; and Eddie Myers, our revered photographer and DJ! Board member Terry Rogers could not attend but put in many hours helping before the tournament.

We are grateful for the event sponsors: Response Graphics & Embroidery (Lynn Yeazell), Los Cab Sports Village (Susan Castallanos, club manager), Sonesta Hotels, and USA Racquetball.

An extra-special thank you goes to Lynn Yeazell for her work in designing the tournament logo and then integrating it onto the tournament jackets and awards. The WSMRA is lucky to have the advantage of Lynn’s expertise.

So the 36th Annual WSMRA Championships are a wrap, and all that’s left is to warmly thank everyone once again and wait for a forthcoming announcement on the location of the 37th Annual!

Best wishes for a wonderful and relaxing summer!

Kendra Tutsch & Eddie Myers

Kendra Tutsch & Eddie Myers

Kendra Tutsch & Eddie Myers

Kendra Tutsch & Eddie Myers

Kendra Tutsch & Eddie Myers