Newsletter sent out to all USRA Members of Arizona

[BobbyF]

Dear Arizona racquetball player:

In the past few months, you should have received e-mails from USA Racquetball notifying you that Arizona Racquetball Association voluntarily terminated its affiliation with USA Racquetball and that Racquetball Players Association of Arizona ("RPAA") had been provisionally appointed the new affiliate representing USA Racquetball in Arizona, pending the election of a board of directors for RPAA by the USA Racquetball members residing in Arizona. Both USA Racquetball and RPAA are committed to having RPAA's board of directors be an elected board, so that RPAA truly will work in Arizona to provide the racquetball experience that its members want.

The interim board of directors of RPAA, who are Bobby Ferreira, Darrin Schenck, Rachel Gellman, Rick Anderson, Steve Krause, Tom Cain, and me, are working hard to arrange for that election, to improve communications within the Arizona racquetball community, and to schedule sanctioned tournaments across Arizona.

RPAA's website, RBinAZ.com is up and running, thanks primarily to the efforts of Bobby Ferreira, and already features a forums function for the exchange of ideas and information. We hope you will visit the site often and make any suggestions for how it can be improved.

The tournament committee presently is Tom Cain, Rocky Lemmert, Mike Franks, and Darrin Schenck. The committee is working as rapidly as possible to schedule pre-National Doubles shoot-outs in both Tucson and the Phoenix area for January and state singles for late March or early April. State doubles is planned to be held in the fall next year, probably in Tucson. In addition, the tournament committee is working with existing tournaments to ensure that they will occur in the current financial situation and that they will be sanctioned by USA Racquetball. Please remember that the Splat Open at Arizona State is fast approaching, and will be played December 11 through 13. That tournament has been extremely successful since its inception, and all indications are that this year will be the best ever. Mike Franks returns as tournament director.

The election to the board of directors will be conducted through R2 Sports, and will be held December 1 through 13. Anyone interested in being a candidate for election must be a USA Racquetball member in good standing and a resident of Arizona. Each candidate also needs to forward to me a statement of why he or she wants to be on the board and his or her qualifications to be on the board no later than Friday, November 27, 2009. Since the election will be held through R2 Sports, any candidate also may want to update his or her R2 Sports profile with a current photograph.

At the initial election, some of the seven directors will be elected for a one-year term, and some for a two-year term. After the first election, all of the directors will be elected for a two-year term, but with three directors being elected in even numbered years (2010, 2012, etc.) and with four directors being elected in odd numbered years (2009, 2011, etc.). Terms are provided to begin and end at the state singles tournament each year, beginning in 2011. No more than four of the seven directors may reside in Maricopa County, at least two directors must reside in Pima County, and at least one director must reside in Arizona outside of Maricopa and Pima counties. After the board is elected, it will elect the president and the other officers.

Obviously, there is a lot going on very quickly. RPAA is committed to being responsive to the needs and wants of the Arizona racquetball community for well-run, frequent racquetball tournaments in Arizona, other programs, like juniors, high school, women, and leagues, and open communication. Arizona racquetball players continue to be among the best in the world - Rhonda Rajsich of Phoenix won the Women's Professional Division at the US Open a few weeks ago, and Frank Taddonio won the Men's 60+ division at the same tournament. RPAA hopes to provide a state environment that supports the efforts of every Arizona racquetball player to be the best that he or she wants to be - in a Saturday morning or Wednesday after work game, a club league, a local tournament, state champion, national champion, or world champion. With the efforts of everyone working together, we believe we can get there. The first step is the election of your board of directors, beginning December 1. Please vote!

Bur Raby