National Championships Festival Canceled

Dear USA Racquetball Family,

We are sorry to have inform you that due to unforeseen ongoing COVID-19 restrictions in the St. Louis area, the 2021 USA Racquetball National Championships Festival has to be canceled.

The St. Louis Sports Commission, in partnership with the Missouri Racquetball Association, the Missouri High School Racquetball Association, the Jewish Community Center, Vetta Racquet Sports, and Explore St. Louis built the bid for this event in January. USA Racquetball selected the bid from St. Louis due to the number of courts in close proximity, the centralized location nationally, and the city’s rich history. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has created an environment that has made it impossible to host this event at this time.  

So, where do we go from here?

Regarding hotel reservations, if you booked through our GroupHousing portal, all hotel reservations will be cancelled for you and refunds processed -- you do not need to contact them directly! If you made your hotel accommodations independent of using the GroupHousing portal, you should now move to cancel them yourself. 

All entry fees will be refunded with credit processing fees absorbed by USA Racquetball.

If you booked flights through the United Olympic Desk, change fees have been waived. This email can be used as supporting evidence for cancellation or change if booked through any other airline.

USA Racquetball is currently working on activating our contingency plan we formulated in the case of event cancellation. Further information on a future National Team Qualifying option for both Adults and Juniors will be out soon. With the IRF World and IRF World Junior Championships still slated for later this fall, it is important that we identify our U.S. National Teams. Beyond the IRF events themselves, the IRF World Championships are the only qualifier for the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, USA.

We are also creating a plan to honor and induct the Hall of Fame Classes of 2020 and 2021. We have reached out to the Hall of Fame Committee as well as our five Hall of Fame inductees. Once a plan is firmly in place, an announcement will be forthcoming!

In conclusion, this announcement weighs heavily on us all after a long period of cancelled championships, confusing changes in regulations, and disheartening news across the United States. The 2021 Festival was slated to mark a return-to-play national celebration for our community, and the decision to cancel was not made lightly.

Our Hall of Fame inductees, US Team athletes, and indeed every member of our Racquetball family deserve our best efforts going forward, and that’s exactly what you will have.

USA Racquetball deeply appreciates the teamwork and partnership afforded by the St. Louis Sports Commission and so many other organizations and businesses in the St. Louis area that participated in  our Festival planning. The Commission has expressed that they have a very positive vision for the future of Racquetball events in St. Louis, and we feel just the same way!

For any questions regarding this announcement, please write to Connor Shane, USA Racquetball National Events Director, at cshane@usaracquetball.com or 719-635-5396 ext. 1.