WOR/Outdoor Racquetball Update for April 2021
By Todd Boss
WOR/Outdoor Racquetball Updates for April 2021
Outdoor Racquetball Community coordination Facebook Groups
Finding people to play Outdoor Racquetball isn’t always like joining a health club and signing up to play in a league; often times they’re just courts built in a park, or at a school, without much in the way of official participation organization. So many communities around the country have taken to self-organizing through Social Media, specifically by creating Facebook Groups, where people coordinate play.
This is a review of all known Outdoor Racquetball-related Facebook groups, pages, and people to follow. If you’re someone who lives in one of these areas definitely join the group/follow the person so you’re “in on” play coordination, or have a place to ask questions of people who are more familiar with courts in your area.
Facebook Group/page Name |
Area covered |
URL |
POC/Notes |
WOR – World Outdoor Racquetball |
Nationwide |
Main WOR Website for all things Outdoor |
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Keep Racquetball Great |
Nationwide |
Jacksonville FL native Norm McNutt created group that covers historical racquetball and a ton of outdoor. One of the largest rball related groups on FB. |
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Keep Racquetball On |
South Florida |
Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Boca Raton, and other outdoor hotbeds in South Florida. |
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Racquetball United (Florida) |
Mid Coast Florida |
Based in Port St. Lucie, but covers a wide variety of indoor and outdoor activities. Rob Romano POC |
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WOR – Florida |
Florida in general |
Home page for WOR Florida, which covers any WOR events throughout the state. |
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Outdoor Underground Racquetball |
Southern California |
Jeffrey Thompson (aka JT Rball) led group focusing on play in SoCal, the birthplace of outdoor racquetball. |
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Inland Empire Outdoor Racquetball |
Redlands/ Riverside area of SoCal |
Ruben Antilla is POC |
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Southern California Racquet Sports |
San Diego |
Used to be called “San Diego Outdoor Racquetball” but now expanded to include Paddleball and Pickleball |
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East Bay Outdoor Racquetball Group |
East Bay in Northern California |
New NorCal WOR director Erica Williams is a POC: covers play in Concord, Stockton, all the way to Sacramento |
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NorCal Outdoor Racquetball |
San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California |
Similar Geographic footprint to the East Bay group, based in Tracy, CA by Frank Biehl |
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Zerega Indoor |
Bronx NY |
NYC/Bronx-based indoor one-wall facility run by Kathy Zerega that features most of the top one-wall players in the city. |
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Restrung Magazine |
Brooklyn NY |
Freddy Ramirez run online magazine/blog that frequently discusses one-wall and the sport in general. |
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3WallBall |
Las Vegas NV |
Las Vegas-based organization that runs the annual 3WallBall Outdoor championships. Mike Coulter and Rick Koll POCs. |
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Mid-Atlantic World outdoor Racquetball |
Washington DC & Virginia Beach VA |
Highly active group that coordinates play in Columbia MD, Herndon VA, Olney MD, and Chesapeake VA. |
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Kansas City Outdoor Racquetball |
Kansas City MO |
Highly active group that coordinates play weekly. Tom Schrader, Randy Root, Khurram Khan POCs. |
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Jim Bove Home page |
Boston MA and New England |
Personal page of Jim Bove, who runs most of the outdoor programming in New England. |
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Phoenix Metro Outdoor Racquetball |
Phoenix AZ |
Coordinating play at one of the dozens of sites in and around Phoenix that has outdoor courts |
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Missouri Outdoor Racquetball |
St. Louis MO and other parts of Missouri |
Outdoor enthusiast Yee Cheng a POC for play at various parks in St. Louis metro area. |
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Savannah Outdoor Racquetball |
Savannah GA |
Little-used group for Savannah area players |
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Illinois Outdoor Racquetball |
Chicago IL |
Chicagoland and other parts of Illinois. Joey Logan a POC. |
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Colorado Outdoor Racquetball |
Colorado |
Little-used group for play in Colorado |
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Tennessee Outdoor Racquetball |
Tennessee |
Little-used group to coordinate play in Tennessee, where court availability is limited. |
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Waikiki Outdoor Racquetball |
Waikiki Beach / Honolulu HI |
Coordination of play at the historic courts at Fort Derussy |
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La Grange Outdoor Racquetball |
La Grange, IL |
Coordination of play in La Grange IL, replacing a google docs method used previously |
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Oregon Outdoor Racquetball |
Oregon |
Coordination of play in Salem OR and elsewhere in the state |
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Cincinnati Outdoor Racquetball |
Cincinnati OH |
New group to coordinate play in and around Cincinnati OH |
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Belle Isle Racquetball |
Detroit MI |
Group to cover outdoor play on the historic Belle Isle courts in Detroit, which have been closed for two years for repairs. |
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SCS Outdoor Racquetball |
St. Claire Shores MI |
Just up the shoreline from Detroit is St. Claire Shores, which also has outdoor courts. |
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Texas World Outdoor Racquetball |
San Antonio, TX |
Ramon Flores a POC for one-wall courts in San Antonio and other Texas outdoor activities |
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Outdoor 3 Wall Courts in Houston |
Houston, TX |
Small group coordinating outdoor play in and around Houston |
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There are still pockets of play throughout the US that do not have known Facebook groups to coordinate play. If anyone is aware of additional groups/pages to advertise in the future please let us know. Email Todd Boss tboss@bossconsulting.com or reach out on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/toddeboss
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Mark your calendars for these Upcoming Outdoor Events
Here’s a quick guide to known upcoming 2021 WOR/Outdoor racquetball events. Mark your calendars. We hope to get more tournaments on the books as Covid-19 related restrictions hopefully start to ease.
- April 10: One-Day Tommy Medina Outdoor Doubles Shootout, Rose Mofford Sports complex, Phoenix AZ. https://www.facebook.com/groups/379424086370009/permalink/557245988587817
- April 16 Rocky Carson Outdoor Clinic at Eustis, FL - Sunset Island Complex.see www.frandavisracquetball.com for full details) http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07ehq7tbc14116cf56&llr=re5hjvdab
- April 17: Raybro Memorial Doubles Shootout, Tracy McDonald Park, Tracy CA.Frank Biehl = POC.https://www.facebook.com/groups/293485165186587/permalink/488348045700297
- April 17-18: Eustis Long Wall Championships, Eustis, FL.https://www.r2sports.com/portfolio/r2-event.asp?TID=37333
- April 18-19: WOR AZ VII Final Battle, Chicken Park, Glendale AZ https://www.r2sports.com/portfolio/r2-event.asp?TID=31617
- April 24: Florin High School Shootout, Sacramento CA.R2/FB link tbd, Erica Williams = POC
- April 24: Spring Fling Shootout, Stratton Woods Park, Herndon VA.Thao Le, Maddie Melendez hosts, R2/FB event site tbd.Food, Prizes, Raffles.Rain date 4/25
- May 15: Palo Alto 3-wall (short court) Shootout, Palo Alto, CA
- June 4-6th: Capital City WOR Championships, Stratton Woods park, Herndon, VA https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=37467
- June: Tracy High School Shootout (date TBD), Tracy, CA (NorCal East Bay)
- July 8th-11th: 2021 Outdoor Nationals, Huntington Beach, CA.https://www.r2sports.com/website/event-website.asp?TID=31967
- Aug 14-15: Windy City 3Wall Brawl Championships, Chicago, IL https://www.r2sports.com/tourney/home.asp?TID=37530
- Aug 21-22: 2021 New Smyrna Beach CPRT Shootout, New Smyrna Beach, FL (r2sports site tbd)
- September Florin High School Shootout (date TBD), Sacramento CA
- Oct 21-24: 12th annual 3WallBall Outdoor championships, Las Vegas, NV https://www.r2sports.com/portfolio/r2-event.asp?TID=37265
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Event Results
Here’s some quick results from Outdoor events that have happened since our last newsletter:
Sweet Lou’s Low-Down Doubles Shootout Results
March 20-21, 2021 Marina Park, Huntington Beach, CA
March 20th, 2021 marked the return of Lou Orosco’s annual “Sweet Lou’s Lowdown Doubles shootout,” hosted at the Marina Park outdoor courts in Huntington Beach, CA. 21 doubles teams competed across three division. Here were your winners:
- In the Upper Final, Jesus Ustarroz/Rocky Carson defeat Orosco/Lavely 21-9
- In the Lower final, Tom Quiroz/ Pio Motera defeat Caesar/Joaquin 21-8
- In the CPRT final, Jesus Ustarroz/Rocky Carson made it a double on the weekend by edging Lou Orosco/Ravi Sohoni 21-20
Thanks to the tourney hosts Lou Orosco, Geoff Osberg, and Jesus Ustarroz for hosting and organizing.
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Tommy Medina Mofford Park Shootout Results
Rose Mofford Sports Complex, Phoenix, AZ. March 20th, 20201
Figure 1: The finalists (L-R) Juan Mendoza, Darin Randles, Marti McCurdy,, Daniel De La Rosa, and tournament host Tommy Medina. Photo courtesy of Medina/David Lee.
Twenty-One (21) Teams turned out for the first Arizona shootout of the year held at the Rose Mofford Sports Complex in North Phoenix.
In the finals: Current #5 ranked IRT pro and dominant outdoor presence Daniel De La Rosa, teamed with Marti McCurdy, beat Juan Mendoza/Darin Randles despite an 8-point game handicap.
Thanks to Tommy Medina for organizing and hosting, and thanks to David Lee for helping to provide results and to get the word out on Facebook.
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WOR Shootout at Tropical Park, Shootout Results
March 20th, 2021 Tropical Park, Miami Florida
52 players entered the March 2021 WOR Shootout, held at Tropical Park in Miami, FL. Multiple divisions were competed, here’s the results for the three Pro Divisions:
- In the Men’s Open/Pro division Roy Hernandez/Marcos Gravier downed Ismael Noa/Kevin Vazquez in a close tiebreaker 9-15, 15-11, 11-9.
- In the Women’s Pro/Elite division, 1st place goes to Miriam Benard/Carolina Pisana, 2nd place to Valeria Clemmensen/Ileana Villarreal
- In the Mixed Pro/Open division, 1st goes to Mike Harmon/Sara Noyes, 2nd goes to Greg Lewerenz/Valeria Clemmensen
Thanks to tourney directors Roy Hernandez and Marcos Gravier for hosting and organizing the event.
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KRG Eustis Long-Wall Warm-up Doubles Shootout
Sunday March 28th , Crystal Springs Park , Jacksonville, Florida
Florida outdoor racquetball enthusiast Norm McNutt organized a one-day doubles shootout on Sunday in his hometown of Jacksonville to prepare the teams for next month’s big Eustis Long-Wall event. 10 top teams competed.
In the final, Noslen Jimenez/James Berry beat Andres Ramirez/Scott Graves (10),12,9.
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Hilmar HS Outdoor Shootout Wrap-Up
March 27th, 2021, Hilmar High School, Hilmar, California
The first NorCal outdoor doubles series shoot out occurred at Hilmar High School in Hilmar, CA on Saturday 3/27/21. No less than 36 players showed up on a beautiful day to play some three wall in the California sun and compete in two divisions (Upper and Lower).
- In the Upper Final, Greg Vezey/Scott Warren topped Corey Vaughn/Mitch Forrest 11-2, 11-9.
- In the Lower final, Ivan Velazquez/Hein Doan took Miguel Ramirez/Manny Sandoval in a tiebreaker 10,(4),5.
Thanks to WOR NorCal director Erica Williams, frequent NorCal Outdoor tourney director Frank Biehl, and Walter Ramos for hosting and organizing the event.
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Keep on the lookout for Dane Elkins
The Elkins family continues to look for their son Dane, who has now been missing for nearly 4 months.
More than 100 days after his disappearance, 21-year-old UC Santa Cruz student Dane Elkins remains missing tonight, and he may be in Kern County, according to his mother.
His last known location was near Interstate 5 and Templin Highway around 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 21 in Castaic, where his car was found abandoned with his wallet and cell phone still inside, per the Los Angeles Police Department.
The latest updates indicate it's possible Dane traveled to the greater Kern County area (in and around Bakersfield) after abandoning his car.
See https://fb.watch/4CbSfta2nx/ for the most recent news broadcast and updates on the search for Dane.
A Facebook group has been setup by his parents to coordinate communication of updates; please join the group “Searching for Dane Elkins” here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/findingdaneelkins
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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!