The 31st USA Racquetball (USAR) Junior Olympic Championships got underway Wednesday at the Eau Claire Athletic Club in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Over 200 of the country’s best junior players have made the trek in search of a national championship in age divisions ranging from 6-and-under to 18-and-under separated in two-year increments.

USA Racquetball has recently elected Randy Stafford of Memphis, TN as new Board President of USA's National Governing Body. Stafford took over from Frank Taddonio who was USRA President for over two years now. Stafford is the owner of "The Court Company", a Memphis based company which is specialized in building Racquetball courts.

Pascal Matla from Zoetermeer won the Dutch National Championships 2004 last weekend in Zoetermeer. By beating  Michiel van der Holst in the finals he claimed his 6th title in 8 years. Pascal qualified for the top singles spot on the National Team while Michiel will compete in Doubles at the Worlds 2004.

Canada and the Netherlands have named their team members for the World Championships. While Canada will send full teams to the Worlds, the Netherlands will send a full mens team and one women to compete. Other countries are expected to send in their rosters within the next weeks.

While other details of the upcoming World Championships are currently decided on a daily basis, one very important detail is now being confirmed: National Teams can now make their reservations for the official hotel through Mr. Lee, Sang Soo who is the person designated by the LOC.

An IPRO Instructor Certification Course will be held in Seoul, Korea, right before the IRF World Championships.

The course will be held at the Cultural Centre in Seoul on July 29, 2004 from 12-9 pm. Clinican will be Gary Mazaroff who will also be to contact for registration questions.

The 5th Rosarito Beach Racquetball Open will be held in the Rosarito Beach Hotel on September 10-12, 2004 with over 11.000 US-$ in Prizes. Contact IRF Vice President Rosy Torres for more information.

Racquetball Canada's Online Newsletter for June has just been published and is available for download at the RC website.

Another new website in another part of the Racquetball world: The Asociación Amateur de Racquetball in Costa Rica (ANRA) just launched and updated it's new website.

The Local Organising Committee for the 2004 World Championships has now launched an official website for the upcoming Worlds in Anyang, Korea from July 30-August 8, 2004 which includes information on the venue(s), hotel and transportation during this major event of international Racquetball.

Racquetball Canada's National Championships took place in Burlington, Ontario this year, with Michael Green and Lori-Jane Powell both winning the open divisions.

The 36th US National Singles 2004 saw Jack Huczek winning the Open division against Rocky Carson, while Rhonda Rajsich defeated defending champion Cheryl Gudinas in three games.

Niklaas Deboutte won his first European Racquetball Tour (ERT) tournament last weekend, in his hometown Antwerp he beat Dutchman Edwin Schipper in the men's open final. Deboutte will be on the Belgian team for the IRF World Championships this summer in Anyang, Korea.

Lupita Torres and Alvaro Beltran both won their singles and doubles finals during the 2004 Copa Contry Tournament. Torres won the Womens Doubles with Paola Longoria (U14 World Champion), while Beltran succeeded with Gil Mejia.

Hirotake Usami and Toshiko Sakamoto are the winners of the Mens and Womens Open finals during the 2004 Japan Open in Tokyo on May 1-5.

A total of 316 players have participated in this annual event.

The final preperations for the upcoming World Championships have now begun. IRF Secretary General Luke St. Onge traveled to Anyang, Korea yesterday to discuss all details about Racquetball's major world event during this weekend. All information will then be published and mailed to the IRF members.

The Copa Contry 2004 in Mexico kicks of today with some of Mexico's top players participating. All draws have been published on the official event website.

The IRF just received the message from the IOC Sports Director Kelly Fairweather that it has been proposeed  to confirm the IRF's status as an IOC Recognized sport. The recognized sports of the IOC were undergoing a full evaluation to continue as a Recognized IOC Federation under new guidelines established by the IOC Program Commission.

IRF President Keith Calkins will travel to Lausanne, Switzerland this weekend to attend the Sportaccord, the annual international sports convention, that brings together representatives from 99 International Sports Federations.

The Federacion Dominicana de Racquetball just received permission to independently manage the new 8-court-facility in Santo Domingo which was the site of the 2003 Pan Am Games and will be the site of the 2006 World Championships.

Ireland's Noel O`Callaghan won the 20th Irish Open 2004 in Arklow against Michiel van der Holst (Netherlands). In Womens Open Singles Salona Taragon (USA) defeated Susan Neary (Ireland) 2-0. Other winners were Larry Byrne (Ireland) in Mens B/C and Mike Haverty (Ireland), Mens Novice/D Singles.

A new version of IRF NEWS, the official newsletter of the IRF has just been published and can be downloaded at the website. This edition contains a little report on the Pan American Championships in Ecuador, European News and major updates from the racquetball community worldwide. Contributions for the next edition are always welcome and shall be mailed to the IRF office.

Kane Waselenchuk, of Edmonton, Alberta is now the no. 1 player in the professional racquetball world. He earned the title by defeating Jack Huczek (Michigan, USA), 11-4, 9-11, 11-4, 11-8, in the final of the Dallas Open Championship, which was the last tournament of the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) season. Waselenchuk is the first Canadian, or indeed non-US player, to be number 1.

Christy Slattery (Ireland) won the Mens Open final at the English Open 2004 against young Irish hope Tristan Hickey, while Wendy Hackett (England) succeeded over teammaid Karen Walker in the Ladies Open final. The event has been held at the RAF Alconbury which may also serve as the site for the 2005 European Championships to be held in England.

New movement in Brazil: During the annual meeting in Sao Paulo on April 10th, a new board has been formally elected for the ASSOCIAÇÃO BRASILEIRA DE RAQUETEBOL. New President became Ivo Samy Katz.

Kilkenny`s Noel O`Callaghan won his 14th successive All Ireland Open Singles Championship title defeating Jimmy Gannon(Arklow) in the final at Moylagh, Co Meath. Susan Neary (Arklow) is the new Womens Champion while her brother Adam won the Mens B Singles. Maura O`Doherty (Templederry) won the Womens B Singles.

Angela Grisar, Chile's No. 1 Womens player and member of the Chilean National Team for the 2004 World Championships in South Korea,  now has her own personal website.
Angela is also IRF Vice President for Womens Development and may better contribute to the program with her own website.

The German Open 2004 took successfully place in Hamburg this weekend. Martin Klippel won the Mens Open final while Yvonne Kortes (GER) finished first in the Womens Singles division. The 2004 German Open were a Worlds qualifier for most European teams. Check the German Open website for results.

The Belgian Open 2004 will take place in Antwerp again. The site will be the Indoor Sports Club. The event is an official event of the European Racquetball Tour (ERT).

For the first time in international racquetball competition, the Team Canada took home gold in mens (Brian Istace) and womens (Lori-Jane Powell) singles divsions during the 17th Pan American Championships in Cuenca, Ecuador. These may be the best Canadian team results ever. Both doubles competitions saw Mexican victories in the finals.

The 17th Pan American Racquetball Championships are underway in Cuenca, Ecuador at the Cuenca Tennis y Golf Club with over 100 players from 10 countries participating. While the first machtes have already been played on Sunday, the tournament will continue until next Saturday. Men and women's singles and doubles, open  divisions will be held during this event. Full draws with daily updates can be found on the PanAm website.