Updates on the Outdoor Majors

Here’s the latest news from the three Outdoor Major tournaments (see the Upcoming Outdoor Events section for exact dates and locations).

Outdoor Nationals 2021

(See companion article in USA Racquetball’s June 2021 Serving Up the News newsletter.)

This tournament received a new title sponsor and is now officially called the “2021 Team Root Outdoor Nationals Racquetball Championships Presented by Pro Kennex.” Thanks to great racquetball benefactor Randy Root for his continued support of the sport. Thanks also to Michael Martinez and Pro Kennex for the ongoing support of outdoor racquetball as well. Read more about the new title sponsor Team Root.

The event will be four days and does have a participant cap, so sign up early!

Partner hotels have been procured and are available on the website.

There will be a Paddleball division.

Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/176381234248779

R2Sports Link: https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=31967

3WallBall 2021

3WB recently announced a major title sponsor, AGE Solutions, to join presenting sponsors KWM Gutterman and Pro Kennex. Thanks to all the major sponsors and their representatives (Keith Minor, Andy Gomer, and Michael Martinez) for your continued support.

3WB also announced a week-long set of Fantasy Camps to be held during the week leading up to the event. There will be a number of four-hour sessions all week learning with top players like Alvaro Beltran, Daniel De La Rosa, Rhonda Rajsich, Cliff Swain, and Kane Waselenchuk. Each session has limited participation, so sign up early. For more details, see https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Racquetball/WOR-Home-Page/Features-WOR/2021/May/14/3WallBall-Fantasy-Camps

There will be a participant cap, so don’t be left out! The event will feature all three outdoor disciplines (Racquetball, Paddleball, Handball).

Tournament Directors Mike Coulter and Peggine Tellez recently announced that they will build Pickleball courts for the first time at 3WB. All the vendors in the Racquetball space who also sell in the Pickleball space will be invited to cross promote, and players will be encouraged to cross over as well.

Follow 3WB on Facebook for all the latest news: https://www.facebook.com/3WallballWorldChampionships . ]

R2Sports Link: https://www.r2sports.com/portfolio/r2-event.asp?TID=37265

Beach Bash 2022

Nothing to report right now; we’re months away from a decision on this event going forward.

May 2021 WOR/Outdoor Tournament Results

We had several shootouts/tournaments in May, with the return of outdoor racquetball to several cold-weather areas after a long COVID-induced hiatus.

2021 NORCAL Bay Bash Outdoor Shootout, May 15, 2021, Palo Alto, California

Photo credit: Erica Williams

Thirty outdoor racquetball players arrived at Mitchell Park in Palo Alto to play in the first sanctioned WOR shootout of the NorCal 2021 Outdoor Series.

Men’s Pro/Open: Top Seeds Jose Diaz/Adam Manilla cruised through the final over #2 seeds Walter Ramos/Israel Torres.

Men’s Elite/A: Luis Almanza/Adam Koehler defeated Donny Piwowarski/Sal Alejandre.

Mixed Doubles: Katie Neils/Jeremy McGlothin defeated Cody Thomas/Jazmin Trevino.

For a complete look at the results, go to https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-results.asp?TID=37624

2021 Boston WOR Season Opener Recap, May 15, 2021, Boston, Massachusetts

The 2021 Boston W.O.R. Outdoor One Wall season opener was held under sunny skies on May 15, 2021, at Constitution Beach Park in Boston.

Men’s Open/Elite: Aida and Alex Roman defeated Elliot Saunders and Jim Bove, 21-19 in the final.

Mixed Division: Angie and Alex Roman took 1^st with second place going to Aida Roman and Marlon Mancero.

The Champion Roman Family

The champion Roman family.

Photo credit: Jim Bove

2021 Rodrigo Moreno Birthday Fullerton Shootout Wrap-Up, May 22-23, 2021, Fullerton, California

Here are the results from the racquetball event at Craig Park this past weekend. There was a great turnout with some really top-level racquetball played.

Pro/Upper Doubles #1 Alvaro Beltran/Daniel De La Rosa defeated #7 Greg Solis/Lou Orosco to take the win in the stacked draw.

Lower Doubles: #2 Tony Hernandez/Manuel Unzueta defeated #1 Luis Espinoza/Miguel Arriola.

Mixed Doubles: Katie Niles/Jeremy McGlothin defeated Victoria Rodriguez/Georges Barrera, 15-1, 15-11.

Open Paddleball: Daniel De La Rosa/Alvaro Beltran were prevented from winning a double on the day, losing in the final to paddleball specialist Emmitt Coe, playing with long-time IRT touring pro lefty Todd O’Neil.

Alvaro Beltran and Greg Solis playing outdoor raquetball at Craig Park.

Photo credit: Steve Fitzsimons

Southfield King & Queen of the Court, May 29, 2021, Southfield, Michigan

2021 King and Queen of the Court is a wrap! The first outdoor event of the summer Michigan series was held on May 29^th at the Southfield Civic Center.

Winners on the day:

Upper (King): Scott Young

Lower (Prince): David Alan Schwartz

Queen of the Court: Latonya Jones

Upper Finalists of the Southfield King and Queen of Court flexing their muscles

Photo credit: Greg Lewerenz

One Day Shootout/Cookout Racquetball Tournament, Rainbow Beach, Chicago, May 29, 2021

Pro Division: Jim Camasto/Alcides Gutierrez

Semi Pro Division: David Royster/ O’Neil Bertrand

Mixed Division: Letty Maldonado/Alcides Gutierrez

Three outdoor courts at Rainbow Beach Chicago

Photo credit: Joey Logan

Mark your Calendars for Upcoming 2021 Outdoor Events

Tournament Directors, when you set up your Outdoor event in R2Sports, PLEASE make sure you select “World Outdoor Racquetball (WOR)” as your Organization. That way, your event will show up on the new WOR webpage we’re working on in the dynamic “Upcoming Events” widget. If your event doesn’t show up in this link, then it isn’t referencing the correct organization on the tourney setup page.

June 4-6: Capital City WOR Championships; Stratton Woods Park; Herndon, Virginia

Contact: Amie Brewer

SOLD OUT, waiting list only.

https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=37467

June 12-13: RAM Outdoor Championship, St. Clair Shores Civic Arena, St. Clair Shores, Michigan

Contact: Tom Blakeslee

https://www.r2sports.com/portfolio/r2-event.asp?TID=37667

June 19^:NORCAL WOR Warmups, West High School, Tracy, California

Contact: Frank Biehl

https://www.r2sports.com/portfolio/r2-event.asp?TID=37660

June 26^: Boston WOR Worchester 2021 Season Opener, Worchester, Massachusetts

Contact: Jim Bove

July 8-11: 2021 Team Root Outdoor Nationals Racquetball Championships Presented by Pro Kennex, Huntington Beach, California

https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=31967

July 10: Southfield Racquet Sports Triathlon (Racquetball, Paddleball, Squash), Southfield Civic Center, Southfield, Michigan

July 31: Can You Stand the Heat 17, St. Clair Shores Civic Arena, St. Clair Shores, Michigan

August 14-15: Windy City 3Wall Brawl Championships, Chicago, Illinois

Contact/TD: Joey Logan

https://www.r2sports.com/tourney/home.asp?TID=37530

August 14-15: So Cal Vegas Warm-up Doubles Shoot-out Presented by 3WallBall, Esperanza High School, Anaheim, California

Contact: Peggine Tellez

https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=31974

August 21-22: 2021 New Smyrna Beach CPRT Shootout, New Smyrna Beach, Florida

R2Sports site tbd

Contact: Norm McNutt

September Date TBD: Florin High School Shootout, Sacramento, California

Contact: Erica Williams

September 19: Fallen Comrades, St. Clair Shores Civic Arena, St. Clair Shores, Michigan

Oct 21-24: 12th Annual 3WallBall Outdoor Championships, Las Vegas, Nevada

Contacts: Peggine Tellez, Mike Coulter

https://www.r2sports.com/portfolio/r2-event.asp?TID=37265

Stay in Touch on Facebook

The absolute best way to stay abreast of Outdoor events is to follow WOR – Outdoor Racquetball on Facebook. We post updates for upcoming events as soon as they’re available!

Plus, there’s a slew of geography-specific groups that talk about play all over the country. Wherever you live, there’s likely to be a group that coordinates play in your area. Reach out to WOR to find a Facebook group or a state director to help you out.

WOR Website Updates

We have been making some incremental progress on getting the WOR component of the USAR website converted over from the previous sites and brought current. Here’s some of the content we’ve worked on in the last month:

WOR Court List Page

Bill George has done a major court update to clean out old/nonexistent courts. We’ve added some new ones, we’ve made the XLS available online, and we’ve added a Google maps link.

WOR Newsfeed Online

This page now features an ongoing feed of WOR news, tournament results, and updates of interest to the outdoor community. There have been more than 30 articles published just in the last couple of months, the same content that usually gets posted to the main WOR Facebook group. One can also subscribe to this newsfeed to get notifications of all new posts via the “Subscribe” button on the above link; this will generate an RSS link suitable for your RSS-enabled reader.

WOR State Director Lists

We’re now current with all serving State Directors, and all contact information is correct.

We are working diligently on new content and will continue to provide updates in this space and on the Facebook page as we convert over/add new static pages.

Contact WOR

If you have any questions, please email WOR@usaracquetball.com and we’ll get back to you ASAP.

The Latest on the Dane Elkins Search

The Elkins family continues to look for their son Dane, who has now been missing for nearly five months, but there have been great developments lately. Dane used his own name to check into a location just recently, and the search is now focused in the Wofford Heights area just north of Bakersfield. There have also been a number of credible sightings just in the last couple of weeks of May.

A Facebook group has been setup by his parents to coordinate communication of updates. Please join the group “Searching for Dane Elkins.”

Missing persons flyer for Dane Elkins

Flyer credit: Deborah Elkins

WOR/Outdoor Racquetball Update -- June 2021

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