**Executive Summary

-Jason Mannino overcomes pull, wins 2^nd US Open Title
-Christie Van Hees becomes first female in the history of US Open to win 3
-US Open raised $140,000 for St. Jude’s Children Hospital
-International Racquetball alive and kicking better than ever
-One Year Anniversary of formal introduction of the Reno Court Sports Connection
-2006 IRF World Championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic,will be broadcasted on The Tennis Channel
-Incredible Christmas Specials for our readers

2006 US Open Racquetball Championships

Wow!!!

Men’s Pro

The Men’s had a satellite event and the US Open Grand Slam event in November as they look to rest till the second half of the season begins in Orange County, CA on January 11-14 which will be a Tier 1 stop.

**Long Island Open (Tier 4 Satellite)
This tournament is directed by Tom Keogh. From what I hear, if you want to play a lot of matches at a tournament this is the event to attend. This being a Tier 4 event it sure drew some top contenders. To name a few, Sudsy Monchik, Andy Hawthorne, Alejandro Herrera, Ruben Gonzalez, Jason Thoerner and Shai Manzuri were at the event shooting for their first Pro win on the season.
Sudsy Monchik had a tough five-gamer as he beat Ruben Gonzalez in the Quarter Finals. DCalabrese of meetandplay posted 25 minutes of play on google between Sudsy and Ruben. Take a look!!!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5328153446191992037

Sudsy then went on to beat Jason Thoerner in 5 games in the Semis and Andy Hawthorne beat Alejandro in 4 games in the other semi.
In the finals, Sudsy beat Andy in 4 games.

What many would consider a HUGE upset of the year came in the Mixed Pro Doubles where Aimee Ruiz and Jason Thoerner took their first loss of the season to Rhonda Rajsich and Sudsy in a tough tie-breaker.
They will be returning to Long Island, NY for a Tier 1 stop January 18-21, 2007.
For all up to date information on the Men’s Tour go to:

www.irt-tour.com

Women’s Pro

Thanks to the WPRO’s official webcaster and tour partner, Racquetball Online (www.racquetballonline.tv); for continuing to provide exceptional live video streaming coverage of match play and interviews throughout the events. I have never been able to stay so close to the Pro matches in the past as I do now. Racquetball Online broadcasts from all Tier 1 WPRO events this season so fans like me can watch my favorite player. The best part of all of this is that it is free.

When I think of Women’s Tennis and I think of Women’s Racquetball I can’t help but feel that Tennis fans are crazy if they sit there and watch those matches and believe that Tennis may be more entertaining than racquetball. I only wonder what it is that could possibly make a person believe that Women’s Racquetball is not entertaining. When I watch players like Paola Longoria, Sharon Jackson, Kristen Walsh, Christie Van Hees, Samantha Salas, Diane Moore or Brenda Kyzer and so many players. I have to say that Women’s Pro Racquetball is top notch entertainment in all brackets. You don’t always know what will happen in the draws. I have always enjoyed sports at the highest level. When I watch Adrienne Fisher hit the ball and how solid of a player she is and will be I can’t help but look forward to her future on the WPRO tour. I get excited because of the level of play that these ladies play at. I can’t wait for the next stop! You don’t know who is going to win. Will it be Kerri Wachtel who has proven she is capable of winning a stop? What about Rhonda Rajsich who won every event this season before November? Brenda Kyzer continues to make semi after semi ….you just never know.

I personally don’t want a male dominant sport. I’m glad that we have Women players that are exciting to watch for a number of reasons. I believe racquetball has a big advantage over other sports because you can put many teams together of both genders. I coach a Junior Club with boys and girls and a Collegiate Club with males and females. I can honestly feel all of us learning from one another and enjoying each others company and friendship. I can feel how close we all get because of racquetball.

Now on to some WPRO action!

**Long Island Open (Tier 1)

Thanks to Racquetball Online I was able to keep up with the great action that was going on at the Long Island Open in Syosset, NY.

This event would prove that Rhonda Rajsich was beatable as she was handed her first loss of the season. All top 8 seeds advanced to the Quarter finals before the upsets began. Kerri Wachtel continued to her superb play on the season as she first beat #9 seed Doreen Fowler in 3 games, then beat the #1 ranked player at the time Rhonda Rajsich in 3 straight games. She wasn’t done yet; she went on to beat the #5 seed Brenda Kyzer in 3 straight games to make it to her second final on the season as she went on to face the #3 seed Angela Grisar in the finals.

Angela Grisar made her second final appearance of her career as she beat the #14 seed Candi Hostovich (Round of 16), #6 seed Diane Moore (Quarterfinals), and #2 seed Cheryl Gudinas (Semifinals) to vie for the Long Island Open title versus Wachtel.

Kerri Wachtel would lose the first game and turn it all around as she kept her cool and stayed focus and played smart racquetball (6), 8, 8, 5 to take the title and her first win this season.

**Other Notes

High School Champion Kara Mazur officially began her Pro career as she played this event and was paired up with another rookie Kimi Ferina. Kimi was just too much for Kara this time but you can tell that Kara is riding a bright future with the WPRO. Kimi continues to improve with every pro match she plays. She advances to her first round of 16 in two tries. Both of these young ladies have a very bright future with the WPRO. This was one of the matches I did get to watch online. It sure did keep me from getting more done at work but it was a Friday and Friday’s are made for tournament weekend enjoyment.

**Rankings

The US Open provides the chance to earn a lot of points and with a good win or two you could really jump up the rankings. There have been two events in the month of November that would affect the rankings.

The biggest move in the rankings would have to be Elaine Albrecht who went from unranked to #18 ranked in the world after pulling two big upsets over #8 Diane Moore and #11 ranked Doreen Fowler to make her first first quarter final appearance at the US Open.

Cheryl Gudinas may not be dominating the tour as she has in the past but she is still proving she is one of the best females in the World as she takes over the #1 Ranking in the World from Rhonda Rajsich after her Finals appearance at the US Open where she was defeated by Christie Van Hees.

A few one spot gains in the rankings as Brenda Kyzer moves up a spot to #5 in the World as she made another semi final appearance on the season making it her third. Samantha Salas moves up to #11 as she is closing in on the top 10 which I am predicting she gets in the top 9 by season’s end.

A couple players jumped three spots closer to the top 10 in the world. Vivian Gomez moved up to #12 in the World and Adrienne Fisher moved up to #14. Adrienne has not been an easy win for any player this season. With the exception of her early round loss to Candi Hostovich in Fayetteville, NC she has lost to Kristen Walsh in 5 games and Angela Grisar in 5 games. I got a chance to see Adrienne play at the US Open and let me just say that she is exciting to watch and she can really hit the ball well.

Candi Hostovish jumped 13 spots to get into the Sweet 16 topped Ranked players on the WPRO tour after her 5 game win over top Collegiate Player Da’Monique Davis before losing to the #1 seed Rhonda Rajsich in the Round of 16 at the US Open.

Paola Longoria moved within one spot of the Top 16 to #17. This teenager is one of the brightest futures the WPRO has to offer. I am one that will enjoy watching her career develop. I predict she will finish the season in the top 12.

**Upcoming Tournament

The Ladies will be headed to Arlington, VA for the final event on the 2006 year on December 8-10 at the Crystal Gateway Sport and Health Club.

Be sure to tune into www.racquetballonline.tv to view all the action over the weekend.

Who will take this next event? You just never know!!!

For all the up to date action on the Women’s Pro Racquetball Organization go to:

www.wpro-tour.com

Fantasy Racquetball

With the winner take all match between Jason Mannino and Alvaro Beltran, Long Island Open and the US Open being played this month there was a huge opportunity for many Fantasy owners to earn a whole lot of points. There were so many matches all month long. The thing to remember with Fantasy Racquetball is that it’s not about picking the winner but instead you want to pick whether a player will cover a spread.

For example, let’s say that Jack Huczek is playing Jason Mannino and Jack is the favorite to win this match by 6 points. That means that Jack must not only beat him but outscore Jason in total points by 6 or more points. If Jason Mannino wins the match and as the fantasy owner you picked him to win then you would win that pick and you can bet up to 5000 points if you have that many points available to bet. If Jack wins but the scores were 11-9, 12-10, 9-11, 9-11 and 11-8; Jack would have only outscored Jason by 3 total points so even though Jack won the match the fantasy owner that picks Jack would lose the bet because Jack did not cover the spread. Does this all make sense? I hope!

After a month of great racquetball there is a new leader in Fantasy Racquetball and quite a jump from another player in the standings and a few players dropped a spot or so.

Fantasy owner “Racqman” has had a good month making sure he gets his picks in on a timely basis and making careful picks without going overboard. How do I know that? Well…ummm…that “Racqman” guy…well…yeah…that’s meJ I did miss a few picks but when I made picks I went all out. 5000 points here, 5000 more points there and before you know it. I climbed the top of the leader board as “Kamehameharacquetballclub” dropped a few spots. Another fantasy owner “Kyles” had a successful month as he went from 8th to 2^nd. Way to go Kyle!!! You won’t catch me though Buddy!!!

“Jtmariece” didn’t have the best of month as she dropped to 7^th. Keep it up and she may not be looking at the top 10 in the next month or so. She is safe this month as there is only one stop before the year ends.

I will be the first to say that this is far from over. I may be in first but a few bad picks can easily drop me 3 spots. I won’t get too relaxed and feel like this is in the bag. Though I did win the Inaugural Fantasy Racquetball 2 years ago I’m still not feeling overly confident. The best part of all of this is how much fun it is.

Here are the rankings as of November 30th:

Fantasy Owners Points

1. Racqman 136045

2. Kyles 119925

3. Kamehameharacquetballclub 100692

4. Rballonline 81906

5. Prbofficer 72010

6. NCOpen 65000

7. Qjakal 63971

8. Billgeo 55569

9. Jtmariece 52701

10. Splatking 31289

How can you participate? Go to www.meetandplay.com/fantasyracquetball and register. Go to the forums, introduce yourself and start posting away. The more you post the more points you get. The more points you get the more chances you have to place more bets worth up to so many more points. If you are nice enough and talk to the Tiltons maybe they will start you off with more than just a few points to get going.

International Racquetball

**Canada

Racquetball Canada’s National Racquetball Week was November 5^th-Nov 12. This is a whole week of fun and a promotional week as well. They do this as a way to introduce new people to the game. During the week they also highlighted their provincial and national teams, while celebrating the game with community involvement throughout their country.

I think this is a great way to get more people introduced to the game. This helps encourage participation and involvement. Racquetball Canada came up with themes, lesson plans, activities, and event ideas for people to enjoy. These tools are free for coaches, teaches, parents, and anyone interested in racquetball and are available at www.racquetball.ca.

Racquetball Canada applied to be in the 2011 Winter Canada Games in Nova Scotia. The process has come down to a choice between two sports for the final spot. Racquetball or Table Tennis will be the final sport, and the decision is to rest with the home province. We are all hopeful that racquetball will be selected.

For all updates on Canada go to:

www.racquetball.ca

**Colombia

The Universida del Norte in Puerto will be the site of the 12^th National Colombian Racquetball Championships this year. The Colombian Racquetball Federation is the host for this event on December 4^th to 10^th which will be an official ranking tournament and qualifier for the upcoming 20^th PARC Pan American Championships 2007 in Santiago de Chile in March.

**Spain

An official membership agreement between the International Racquetball Federation and the Catalonian Federation was signed on November 7^th in Barcelona. Since no Spanish Association is currently in place, Catalonia is allowed to compete under the name Catalonia (Spain) in World and European Championships.

For all your up to date information on International Racquetball go to:

**World Juniors

The 18^th Annual World Junior Championships are coming up on December 16-20. I’m really excited about this event. This is where you get to find out who the very best Junior Racquetball Players in the world are. This event has been won by Mexico for the last four years.

**Tennis Channel

This month, two finals matches from the 2006 IRF World Championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, will be broadcasted on The Tennis Channel, each at 4pm eastern time:

Ladies Doubles:
Team Canada - Team USA 12/27/06
Ladies Singles:
C. van Hees (USA) - R. Rajish (USA) 12/28/06

For all the up to date information on International Racquetball go to:

www.internationalracquetball.com

Team USA Junior Racquetball

The 18^th Annual IRF World Junior Racquetball Championships will begin December 15^th-21^st 2006 at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ. This is the first time in three years that the USA will host the Junior World Championships. Team USA Junior’s are hoping to use the home court advantage to overcome Mexico’s dominance over the past four years.

The purpose of the IRF World Junior Championships is to determine the strongest national racquetball team that is comprised of qualified junior athletes in the world, as well as name individual world singles and doubles champions in age divisions from 6 and under through 18 and under.

This tournament was established in 1989 and has continued annually in December with up to 250 entrants. Awards are Gold, Silver, and Bronze in Boy’s and Girl’s championship divisions, plus national team trophies for boys, girls, and overall World Cup team champions. Medallions are giving in blue, red and white consolation divisions.

Single elimination in championships rounds, plus blue, red and white satellite consolation divisions. Play conducted in two-year incremental age divisions from age “8 and under” to “18 and under” (8-,10-,12-,14-,18-), plus special rules “multi-bounce” 6- and 8- divisions.

The World Cup team consists of the 14’s, 16’s, and 18 year olds. Junior Team USA fields 2 players in each singles event as to how they finished at Junior Nationals and 1 doubles team, being the team that won Junior Nationals in that age division.

The Esprit Cup is for national team and non-national team players in the 8’s, 10’s and 12’s. Each country has designated point-scoring players that will compete for points.

Our team of Juniors competing for the World Cup this year consists of:

Boys 18 – Allan Crockett (Birmingham, AL) and Chris Coy (Elk City, OK)

Boys 16 – Jose Rojas (Stockton, CA) and Ishmael Aldana (Stockton, CA)

Boys 14 –Taylor Knoth (Milwaukie, OR) and Brad Kirch (Syracuse, NY)

Boys 18 Doubles – Chris Coy and Zach Apperson (Zanesville, OH)

Boys 16 Doubles – Ishmael Aldana and Jose Rojas

Boys 14 Doubles – Taylor Knoth and Jake Brendenbeck (Marine on St. Croix, MN)

Girls 18 – Michelle Key (Gilbert, AZ) and Ashley Wilhite (Klamath Falls, OR)

Girls 16 – Sharon Jackon (Shelbyville, IN) and Sheryl Lotts (OH)

Girls 14 – Aubrey O’Brien(Auburn, CA) and Danielle Key (Gilbert, AZ)

Girls 18 Doubles – Kara Mazur (Avon, CT) and Samantha McGuffy (Cincinnati, OH)

Girls 16 Doubles – Sharon Jackson and Holly Hettesheimer (Cincinnati, OH)

Girls 14 Doubles – Danielle Key and Lily Berry (Columbus, OH)

Our team of Juniors competing for the Esprit Cup this year consist of:

Girls 8 – Erika Manilla and Christina Lavely

Girls 10 – Hollee Hungerford and Abbey Lavely

Girls 12 – Samantha Rosado and Devon Pimentelli

Girls 10 Doubles – Abbey Lavely and Elizabeth Vargas

Girls 12 Doubles – Mercedes Arias and Ines Lecland

Boys 8 – Ryan Francis and Jacke Birnel

Boys 10 – Adam Manilla and Bobby Sehrgosha

Boys 12 – Marcos Rojas and Jose Diaz

Boys 10 Doubles – Adam Manilla and Sean Cooperrider

Boys 12 Doubles – Marcos Rojas and Jose Diaz

The last time Team USA Junior’s won was in 2001 in Orlando, FL when the team consisted of players such as Jack Huczek, Kristen Walsh, Adrienne Fisher, Joey Lakowske, Jose Rojas and others.

The coaches that will be leading Team USA Juniors are Kelley Beane, Shane Wood, Cheryl Gudinas, Andy Pitock, and Jen Myers.

The Reno Court Sports Connection

**From the desk of Mike Neeser:

This year’s 2006 US Open racquetball tournament in Memphis, TN marks the one year anniversary of the formal introduction of the Reno Court Sports Connection to the racquetball industry.

Here is a project update and progress report regarding the development of an exciting new 19 court facility in Reno Nevada:

-Cliff Swain, Rocky Carson, Alvaro Beltran, John Ellis, Rhonda Rajsich and Kristen Walsh provided a professional exhibition to formally announce the RCSC to the Reno community.

-The 5.44 acre parcel of property was purchased preparation for construction began with the clearing of vacant buildings, decayed trees and shrubs.

-The Reno Planning Commissions unanimously approved special use permit for the facility to operate 24/7.

-The RCSC made formal presentations at the two NMRA and one senior’s tournament banquets.

-Hired 13 year health club industry veteran David Neeser as Operations Director

-One of Nevada’s premier contractors was retained as general contractor for the project.

-Executive office space has been increased from 17,000 to 25,000 square feet.

-United States Handball Association has a committee considering moving their headquarters to Reno.

-Financing for the facility is well underway.

-Nine major tournaments have been tentatively scheduled for 2008. They will generate nearly 20,000 hotel room nights and have an economic impact of over 6 million dollars on the Reno community.

-Final working drawings to be completed by January 2007.

-Ground breaking scheduled for spring 2007.

-Grand opening is planned for late 2007.

If you would like to partake in this exciting venture and join the group of visionaries, there are several opportunities still available for those individuals who want to contribute and play an active role in creating an exciting opportunity for racquetball.

The venture may just be the strategic plan needed for the sport to take control of its future and no longer depend on the health club industry for its survival.

For more information on how to become part of this exciting venture you can contact:

Mike Neeser

775-348-9791

Growing the Game

This section is devoted to growing the sport of racquetball. Every month I continue to meet others who care about the game and want racquetball to hit an all time level. You know what!!!! I believe we can do it.

Racquetball is so beneficial in so many ways. It offers so much to all age levels. Beginning at the junior division, to collegiate divisions, to Senior Divisions, and Masters Divisions…everyone benefits in many ways. Life long friendships are created all over the World with others in different parts of the world. Racquetball is truly a special sport.

If there was one key thing I continue to notice time and time again. As I continue to introduce others to the sport; more and more continue to get hooked. The sport sells itself.

If we can find more people throughout the country who are willing to trade time to introduce people and direct them in the sport as their way of giving back to the sport or just caring enough to want to do something for the sport. This would be a huge contribution to the sport.

If you are this person and want to contribute to the sport please join us every third Tuesday of the month as we talk on our monthly conference call. We discuss different aspects of the sport that can and has helped to its growth. We talk about different ways that others too can make a difference.

November’s call showed much progress on how the call was being handled. We kept the call right about an hour. A lot of information was shared and even got a testimony from a high school player, Kelly, who has been playing only two years and has quickly progressed to a solid B player. She shared with us her experience and what ways she felt that the sport has affected her most.

Next month we will have Kelly’s teammate Eric on the call to share with us what racquetball has done for him.

Lastly, if you ever have a topic you would like to be discussed on the call please feel free to contact me. All I ask is that you make it a priority to be sure and attend the call if you make a request. I normally don’t come up with the topics to a week or less before the call.

Please, join us as we continue our crusade to take racquetball to a place it has never been.

The call is every third Tuesday of the month at 9pm EST. Our next call will be December 19^th 2006 as we get ready for the new year and enjoy all the wonderful enjoyment racquetball brings.

Lawler Sports

We are having quite a bit of sales for our readers this month. This will give you an opportunity to save on your Christmas shopping for the racquetball fan in the family.

Please remind us of the special you saw in the newsletter. These specials are for our readers only.

1. You get a Spenco item with every pair of shoes you purchase.

Your choices are between:

Suede and Nubuck Cleaner

Suede and Nubuck Brush

Liquid Black Polish or White Polish

Ultra Dirt Brush

Odor Blasters

Odor Scented Disks

Mink Oil Protector

Water and Stain Repellant Spray

Instant Foam Cleaner

Oiled Leather Protector

Heavy Duty Cleaner

Odor Blaster

Leather Conditioning Balm

Super Gel Cleaner

Or $5 Credit towards Spenco insoles

2. Free T-Shirt and Spenco item with every Hi-Tec shoe purchase

3. Autographed copies of “Building Your Racquetball Dreamhouse” instructional DVD by Jason Mannino and Fran Davis for $50.

4. 20% off 2003 US Open DVD’s

5. Buy 10 Head gloves get the 11^th FREE

6. Buy any E-Force Super 30 DC Racquet or Bedlam Super Mains and get a FREE Medium Bag and Chill Glove

7. Free shipping on any racquet purchase over $100

8. Every purchase over $50 gets a FREE can of Penn Blue Balls (3 balls)

9. Pro Penn HD 3 can packs with a FREE 50 song MP3 download

10. 20% off all clothing

11. Ektelon Black Rubber Grips will soon be available at the beginning of the year

Please…don’t hesitate to call with any questions or concerns.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Till Next Year,