Here's the Recap! 2026 WorldWide Racquetball Day

I am so pleased with all of the reports coming in from the coordinators that celebrated Worldwide Racquetball Day with me in 2026. Some were on the actual day of September 5, and there were some more that were earlier and later. We had about 10 countries participating, including Bolivia, Ireland, Guatemala, Japan, India, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Argentina, Chile and Ecuador. In the USA, many states were posting great photos and results on Facebook and Instagram. 

Some of the USA cities celebrating with us were: 

• Tucson, Arizona
• Las Vegas, New Mexico
• Fort Lauderdale, Florida
• North Haven, Connecticut
• Portland, Oregon
• Millersville, Maryland
• Canoga Park, California
• Saint Clair Shores, Michigan
• Kent, Washington
• Kirkwood, Missouri

Let me know if your city celebrated too, without listing it in R2Sports.com—I can highlight your event in the next newsletter. 

First-Time Worldwide Racquetball Day King of the Court in Michigan

First-time Worldwide Racquetball Day tournament director, Tom Blakeslee, from Michigan, put together a great event on the outdoor courts in Saint Clair Shores.  He decided to run the event to crown the King (and Queen) of the Court. 24 players entered and pools of 6 players were created by their seeding (1 and 24 were in the same pool, for example). 

Tom told me, “I didn’t expect to see this—all of the 4th seeded players won in their groups.” 

They played a King playoff where the top 4 did a three-match playoff (switching partners each time) and all were only one point apart. Zach D’Almeida was crowned King. 

The Prince playoff was created with the next 4 high-scoring players. The lowest-seed of those four, Kyle Siecinski, won the Prince title. Then, of the two women players, Mallori Barg reigned as Queen. All winners were awarded crowns. 

Tom Blakeslee

This no-frills tournament then had some out-of-this-world pulled pork and beef barbecue with smoked macaroni and cheese. Everyone seemed to enjoy the format—something special for Worldwide Racquetball Day. Check out the results here. 

On to The Original Las Vegas—Las Vegas, New Mexico

The other event I’d love to note is the IRF World Seniors Championships in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Las Vegas is a cute small town of about 13,000 residents, but they have 6 racquetball courts, a haunted hotel, and natural hot springs to soak tired muscles in. As always, Gary Mazaroff does a great job with this yearly round-robin event. New this year was rally scoring and the Saturday banquet / award ceremony being held at the Castenada Hotel, where some of the players stayed. 

Champions were crowned in each five-year increment for Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles, ages 30 to 85. Competition was stiff, and rally scoring changed the advantage dynamics by awarding points for mistakes and shortening the game. Check out the results on R2Sports.com. 

Old West charm and racquetball passion mixed well to create the perfect small-town getaway for a New Mexico Worldwide Racquetball Day adventure. 

Reserve the date! 

I hope you are planning to host an event for 2027, where the date will NOT be during Labor Day weekend. Mark your calendars for September 11 and start inviting your best racquetball friends to celebrate with you on that date. 

Act today; host a tournament at your local courts. Play if you don’t feel experienced enough to run one. If you are willing to learn and give it a chance, we have a whole set of tournament director tools available to help you run a local round-robin, with lots of suggestions and electronic assistance with round-robin formats. Start with the Planning Tips document. Our group of coordinators have centuries of experience and ideas to make your event great. Call us! 

Special Toolkit for Directors

Just in case you want to put on a 2027 Worldwide Racquetball Day party and don’t know where to start, we have created a special Tournament Director Toolkit for you. Find it here soon (it is being updated with 2027 logos)—and start creating some buzz right away! Use the logo on your social media posts and videos. 

Watch Racquetball New TV For News and Events

Watch RacquetballNews.tv each week on Facebook to catch up on all of the latest results and to be reminded of the upcoming events.  Cristina Amaya and Maripas Riquelme do a great job on these short, information-packed videos.