Thirteen IRF Level 1 referees were certified during a 3 day course in Sucre Bolivia last week. CODEBO, the Bolivarian Games Organization Comitee fully supported the course and even Bolivia's new Sports Vice Minister, Mr. Miguel Aguilar attended the opening ceremony.

The 2008 USA Racquetball National Singles Racquetball Championships concluded on Monday as Gold medals were awarded in 74 championship divisions. The women took center stage as Cheryl Gudinas-Holmes defeated Kristen Bellows in the championship finals, 15-2, 15-5. With her win, Cheryl has won seven women's singles championships in the sports top division. The Men's U.S. Team championship Rocky Carson defeated Jack Huczek 12-15, 15-9, 11-4.

Live video streaming for the 2008 USA Racquetball National Singles Championships will be broadcast by www.racquetballonline.tv. See interviews, match commentary all week and a special live broadcast of the Grand Gala Banquet and Hall of Fame 35th Anniversary Celebration, Saturday, May 24 at 7pm.

The 2008 Canadian Racquetball Championships kicked off yesterday at the Cedar Springs Health Racquet and Fitness Club located in Burlington, Ontario. Players from all across Canada contend for doubles, mixed doubles and singles championships played at various skill and age categories.  

The official host hotel for the 14th IRF World Racquetball Championships 2008 in Kingscourt, Ireland is filling up very fast. Teams and delegates are adviced to book their rooms NOW! In order to do so, send an email to hotelreservation@racquetball-wc2008.com and make sure you your stay in the official host hotel is guaranteed.

"Today is a great day for Boliva Racquetball", says it's own President Roberto Aracena. No wonder, the Bolivian Federation has just re-launched it's new and official website for Racquetball in the South American country. Besides recent news, all major results from Bolivian tournament as well as pictures are availbale on this site. Enjoy.

The entry deadline for the 3rd IRF World Senior Doubles Championships 2008 in San Luis Potosi, Mexico is coming up soon. The event will be held 11th - 14th June at the La Loma Centro Deportivo. Divisions are for men and women over 35 years of age with five year age categories including 85+. Each player may enter any two events for which they are qualified.

ESPN360.com will become the official home for live IRT action this fall. A deal was signed before the Motorola IRT Pro Nationals presented by Verizon Wireless between ESPN and the IRT to broadcast all semi-final and final matches at all tier one IRT events in the US. Air times will be in primetime and re-aired in prime time. More details are coming so keep your eyes on the IRT website.

Just five minutes away from Guatemala City Airport and a future site of big international events: The new 8-court-facility is in progress now and promises to be one of the best racquetball complexes worldwide.  Construction will be finished by the end of 2009.

It has to start somewhere... Currently played on a Squashcourt, racquetball made it's debut on the Canary Islands with the first tournament being held in Fuerteventura this month. Plans for the real courts are underway. The Canary Islands are one of the 17 the autonomous communities of Spain.

Guatemala's junior train harder. A group of juniors went to Tarrales Reserve, a beautiful Natural Reserve, favorite of many for Bird watching.  Tarrales has a Racquetball court and the special thing about this incredible place is that it has all the 4 ecosystems of Guatemala in the land. The group was there for four days for intense racquetball training and physical traning. 

Over 100 juniors competed in the Irish Junior Open 2008 that were held in Fermoy. One of Ireland's leading clubs Touraneena was very successful this year. One of their members is Eithne Skehan, who already competed on the national team at last years Europeans; she won the girls under 21 division against Donna Ryder.

Great news from Mexico: Construction of one major sports facility in Monterrey has now begun. The "Casa de Racquetas" will have 6 racquetball courts, 6 squash courts, 4 badminton courts, 9 tennis table courts and 4 fronton courts.

The KINGSPAN Group plc. has agreed to be the main sponsor of the 2008 World Racquetball Championships. Kingspan Group plc is the leader in insulated roof systems and has it's headquarters in Kingscourt, Ireland, the site for the 2008 Worlds.

The 14th IRF World Racquetball Championships 2008 in Kingscourt, Ireland are only 107 days away now. With time running so fast, the Local Organizing Committee opened a special webpage today on which teams, delegates and individual players can submit their arrival and departures times for the 2008 Worlds. Just go to the Worlds website and fill out the information needed.

Congratulations to Rocky Carson (USA) on his big win at the Mexico Open this past weekend. At the Rio Racquetball Club in Tijuana, Rocky blazed through the draw, winning every game of the twelve he played! In fact, this was the third event this year Rocky won without losing a single game.

Germany`s Martin Klippel proved his pedigree when he won the German Open in Hamburg for the 6th occasion. In the final he defeated old rival Trevor Meyer 15-9, 9-15, 11-5. The Womens Open Singles was won by German National Champion Yvonne Kortes who defeated Renata Hartman in the final. The Mens Doubles Champions are Joachim Loof and Trevor Meyer.

Turkey's own Ayten Kececi and Carlos Oviedo from Madrid are the winners of the 2008 Istanbul Open. Oviedo defeated Peter Rakowski (Poland) in the mens singles final while Kececi Filiz Limon (also Turkey). The event was held in the Hillside Sports club in Istanbul, together with a Squash tournament at the same venue.

Ireland's Fermoy Open 2008 had a few surprises to offer when some of the top seeded ladies and mens singles players were knocked out in early rounds to let Joe Farrell and National Singles Champion Ciara McManamom win the 2008 singles titles. On his way, Farrell defeated top players Noel O'Callaghan and Tristan Hickey to also defeat Adam Neary in the final.

Mexico's Alvaro Beltran and Paola Longoria are the 2008 Pan American Championships Singles Champions. This years' "PanAms" were extremely successful for Team Mexico anyway. A record high of 15 countries competed in the 2008 Pan Americans.

Good news for Turkish Racquetball: The Mayadrom Sports Center, Turkey's biggest indoor sports club, anounced it's first racquetball event of the year, the Mayadrom Sports Center Open which will be held April 3-7, 2008. Contact Turkey's Racquetball President Ayten Kececci for further information.

The 3rd IRF World Senior Doubles Championships 2008 in San Luis Potosi, Mexico are coming up next. FYI, the closest airport is San Luis Potosi and Continental Airlines flies directly through Houston, TX and American Airlines flies directly through Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX.  Contact Tournament Director Gary Mazaroff at gmampro@aol.com for any further details.

North, Central and South America meet in San Jose, Costa Rica for the Pan American Championships this week and the worldwide community can follow the action LIVE on the internet again. Just go to www.racquetballonline.tv, log in and follow the action at the San Jose Indoor Club.

The 2008 Pan American Championships are now underway in San Jose, Costa Rica. Follow the action live at the event website with almost in time updates of the draws. 165 players from 15 countries will compete for gold medals in this IRF regional competition.

Germany's Yvonne Kortes and Victor Montserrat from Barcelona defended their singles titles at the 2008 Italian Open in Brembate/Bergamo last weekend. Players from 7 countries competed in another great European major event. Montserrar defeated Carlos Oviedo 15-7, 15-3 while Yvonne Kortes finished a tough final against Barcelona's Elisabeth Consegal 15-11, 15-14.

Big upset for Irish National Singles Champion Noel O’ Callaghan: After 17 consecutive wins in the National Singles, this year he was defeated at the semi final stage already by 22-year-old Triston Hickey 15-7, 15-8. In the other semi final Liam Hughes defeated Adam Neary 2–1. The final show down between Triston and Liam  was a one sided affair with Triston having no answer for Liam’s power and shot selection, Liam won 15-3, 15-4.

The biggest racquetball event in Japan, the Japan Open will be held 3rd - 6th May in Tokyo again. Prior to the open competitions, all skill level divisions will be held in April. The main venue will be  Wel Sunpia Tama (Tama city, Tokyo) while three other clubs in the Tokyo vicinity will be used as sub-venues.

All Ireland Senior & Junior Singles Championships will take place in Kingscourt this weekend, a total of 110 players will compete for the 20 titles up for grabs.  It starts with under 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18, Novice, D, C, B and Open. All eyes will be on the men’s open competition where Noel O’ Callaghan will be aiming to win his 18th consecutive men’s open title.

77 players from Japan, Korea, and China competed in the 2008 Asia Open that were held in Japan in January. Both Open Singles titles went to the host country Japan as Michimune Kono defeated Yuuki Nakano in the Mens Open Singles, while Seiko Yoshimura defeated Bae Yun Mi (Korea). In addition to the official competition, a friendship cup was played between students from Korea and Japan at the same time.

The 3rd IRF World Senior Doubles Championships 2008 in San Luis Potosi, Mexico are coming up in June and entries are now formally accepted. The event will be held 11th - 14th June at the La Loma Centro Deportivo. Contact Tournament Director Gary Mazaroff at gmampro@aol.com for any further details.

Over 400 students from High Schools all over the United States competed in the 2008 USA Racquetball 21st National High School Racquetball Championships. Taylor Knoth def. Ryan Ingram 15-7, 15-5, Sharon Jackson def. Courtney Chisolm 15-4, 15-5.

Paola Longoria and Polo Gutierrez are the 2008 Mexican National Singles Champions. Longria defesated Karen Torres while Gutierrez claimed a victory against National Team mate Gil Mejia. In Mens Doubles, 'old' heroes Alvaro Beltran and Javier Moreno defeated young and hopefulls Ruben Estrada and David Ortega.

As of today, the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung, Taiwan are only 504 days away and Racquetball manifested it's appearance with the exciting announcement that besides the portable court which will be shipped for the event from Korea, a new and permanent court will be built right at the competition venue. The World Games, first held in 1981, are an international multi-sport event, meant for sports that are not contested in the Olympic Games.

The 2008 USA Racquetball National Doubles Championships concluded in Tempe, AZ as over 100 National Doubles Racquetball Champions were crowned with Gold Medals. The event is the premiere doubles tournament in the US and determined one-year appointments to the U.S. National Team that will be competing in the 2008 IRF World Championships in Ireland: R. Carson/J. Huczek def. J. Thoerner/M. Williams (15-6, 15-14). J. Paraiso/A. Ruiz def. R. Rajsich/J. Tisinger (15-11, 15-7)

The 2008 USA Racquetball National Doubles Championships in Tempe, AZ kicked off yesterday with plenty of action. Make sure to check out some live action by going to www.racquetballonline.tv. This internet broadcast will stream all of the matches until the end of the event (February 17th).

Julie Skekan breezed through the Womens Open Singles at the Moylagh Open in Ireland last weekend. Skehan defeated Newport`s Donna Ryder in the final by 2 games to nil. Number 1 seed Noel O`Callaghan recorded a similar victory over Liam Hughes in the Mens Open Singles. The Mens Doubles was won by Pat Hanley and Liam Hughes while the Gibney sisters Ailish & Elma won the Womens Doubles for the host club.

Turkey Racquetball hosts the 2008 Istanbul Open on March 28-30 in the Hillside City Club-Etiler. It is the first racquetball event in Turkey this year. Contact Federation President Ms. Ayten Kececci for more information or check the European Racquetball Federation website for more in the near future.

Busy schedule for Mexian tournament officials: While the National Championships (a qualifier for the Pan Ams in Costa Rica) will be held in the middle of February in Torreon, another major event, the National Masters will be held two weeks later in Chihuahua. There are plans to broadcast the master finals live on the internet.

The International Racquetball Federation is most pleased to officially announce that the 20th IRF World Junior Championships 2008 will be held in the USA at the Arizona State University Recreation Complex located in Tempe, Arizona. The dates have been set to December 15th to December 20th, with the opening ceremonies being held on December 14th.

Yvonne Kortes and Martin Klippel (both from Hamburg) are the German National Singles Champions 2008. Kortes defeated 17-year-old talent Lara Ludwig in two straight games to claim her 9th singles title while Klippel won his 7th title against Trevor Meyer with 15-7, 15-5.

The Italian Open 2008 are coming in March. This European Racquetball Tour event takes place March 8-9 in Brembate, at the same site that has hosted the 2007 European Championships with great success. No doubt that the 3rd Italian Open will be a great success itself as well.

The National junior B championships were held in Arklow last weekend, where there were 6national junior titles up for grabs. In the under 10 grade it was Templederry NS pupils that met in the final with Aisling Carey having the upper hand on Eimear Murphy after a tiebreaker to win her first National title at just 8 years old. Aisling’s first cousin Dylan (Templederry NS) made it a family affair when he captured the under 12 title with a tiebreak victory over his club mate Odhran Murphy (Templederry NS) to claim his first national title.

This week saw the first country from the South American continent to confirm it’s participation at the 2008 IRF World Racquetball Championships in Kingscourt, Ireland this August. Hotel reservations for the official host hotel have been made with the 2008 Local Organizing Committee and indicate that Venezuela will send a mens and ladies team to the 2008 Worlds. 40 countries are expected to compete in Ireland this year.

In the mens open singles of the 2008 Leinster Open there was victory for National Junior coach Liam Hughes in the first tournament of the new year with a win over Joe Farrell from the host club Arklow. In the womens open singles there was a first every win for 15-year-old Toni Neary. In the semi final Toni defeated the experienced Elma Gibney 11-9 in a tie breaker. In the final she had another extremely close encounter with Donna Ryder winning 11-9 in a tiebeaker. This makes Toni the youngest ever player to win a womens open title.

If you want to have a complete update on what has happened over the last couple of months in the sport of racquetball, download the latest IRF NEWSletter, no. 1/2008. Find all results of the IRF's World Juniors, as well as the Pan American Championships 2008 information and other important information from the racquetball scene around the world.

Puerto Rico Racquetball invites all Open and A players with Puerto Rican heritage to compete in the 2008 Ranking Tournament which will be held at the YMCA in San Juan from February 21 to 24, 2008.  All interested in participating should send an email to Pucho Miranda at  puchomiranda@hotmail.com or call him at (787) 642-8473.

Nicaragua will have it's first international racquetball tournament ever on February 18-23 in the country's capitol Managua. 14 countries are expected to send players to this inaugurational event which will be held at at the Club Terraza.

Preliminary information on the upcoming 21st Pan American Racquetball Championships 2008 in San Jose, Costa Rica is now available. The event takes place March 14-22 at the Indoor Club's four racquetball courts that will be very busy during the competition. Around 20 countries from the Pan American hemisphere are expected to compete in this event. For any further questions please contact Osvaldo Maggi and/or Usher Barnoff via email.

The 2008 USA Racquetball 41st National Doubles Championships are coming up in Tempe, AZ. The event will be held February 13-17, 2008. The tournament presented by Head/Penn and sponsored by Ektelon, offers doubles for skill, and age+skill divisions for men and women. This will be the ONLY National Doubles tournament for 2008.

Carlos Ovieda (Spain) and Yvonne Kortes (Germany) are the 2008 French Open Singles Champions. Ovieda defeated Noel O'Callaghan in straight two games while Kortes succeeded over Anna Ventura from Barcelona in a close match 14-15, 15-2, 11-6. German legends Trevor Meyer and Joachim Loof claimed another success together in the doubles division, defeating O'Callaghan/v. Doezum (IRE/NED).

Get certified with IPRO/AmPRO. The International Professional Racquetball Organization (IPRO), the official certification arm of the IRF has published it's first scheduled certification courses for the year 2008. Gary Mazaroff and his clinicans will travel around the world to o promote racquetball certification and to develop and coordinate services and programs for the further growth of the sport. Check it out.

The first stone of the 1st National Multiracquet Complex at La Democracia Park has been placed by IRF official Lucy Zachrisson and Guatemala's President Oscar Berger Perdomo.  This multisport Park offers skaiting ring, soccer stadium, olympic pool, track and field, handball, volley- and basquetball and very soon two racquetball, two tennis, two Fronton and two squash courts. It will be open for the public.

Hamburg will host the 27th German National Championships on February 1-3. Martin Klippel and Yvonne Kortes are the defending champions in both singles divisions. The event will be held in the Sport Department, the site that also hosted the 1988 IRF Worlds and the 2007 IRF World Senior Doubles.