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January 05, 2009
GRA MEETING
The last GRA Board meeting was  held on Nov. 20th at 7 PM at the Concourse Athletic Club restaurant! 
Welcome
Welcome to the Georgia Racquetball Association Website
Announcements
Regional Doubles Championship
I am very happy to announce that the 2009 Regional Doubles Championships are going to be held on the week-end of January 23 - 25 at the "Recreation ATL" club in Lilburn, GA, which, by the way, is the new name for the old and very familiar and friendly Southern Athletic Club.

On the right of this screen is a link that, when clicked on, will take you directly to the Tournament page for Regional Doubles which has more information and two other links to take you directly to the R2Sports website (where you can and should enter on-line) and download a copy of the application.

This weekend is the one BETWEEN the NFL Confernece Chanmpionships and the Super Bowl! So, you can enter and not miss any of the NFL football action.

Meanwhile, if you have any questions, contact me by email at ottod@bellsouth.net or by phone at 770-972-2303 or 678-575-8975.

Otto Dietrich  

Changes to the GRA Board of Directors - Tuesday, August 19, 2008
You have probably heard that the board is undergoing some organizational changes. In that regard, the Board announces the following changes that are effective immediately.  Kevin Francis has been elected to fulfill the uncompleted current term as Board President -- replacing Gary Gloeggler who is no longer on the Georgia Racquetball Association's Board of Directors. Otto Dietrich assumes Kevin's former office as the association's Vice President. We placed Michael Miller (Junior) on the Board and asked him to serve as the state's Junior Player Coordinator. Finally, during 2007, both Michael Kaufman and Marcus Riggins resigned from the Board as a member-at-large.  Congratulations and thanks go out to those who have given their time and effort and served honorably to maintain and improve the organization.  You can view the entire list of the board members and their contact data by clicking on "About the GRA" on the left of this screen.  
Clarification about Graduating to a Higher Skill Level
The GRA does its best to maintain a listing (see link below) of players that have graduated (from a skill level) as a result of having won a state championship, won a regional championship, or being a national finalist at a certain skill level.  This has been (and will continue to be) applied as the first test that must be met (for eligibility at a skill level).  Regarding doubles, your singles skill determines your doubles skill (eligibility).  Additionally, once a "team" has won at a certain skill level, they cannot play as a "team" in that skill level any more.  However, if one or both players (from the "team") has not been graduated from that skill level in singles yet, then an individual of that "team" may continue to play doubles at that same skill level provided that they play with a new (eligible) partner.  We welcome your comments / assistance in helping us to maintain this list as up to date as possible.  To view the current listing, please click on this link to print or download a copy:     read more...
Policy for Playing Skill Level Events
Georgia has changed its policy with regard to playing in skill level events.   Basically, a player should select a single skill level that s/he wishes to declare themself to play in the tournament.  If that player wants to enter more than one skill-qualified division, then it makes sense that those divisions should each be at the same basic skill level.  As an example, a player CAN enter both "A" and "35+A"; but, a player CANNOT enter both "A" and "B".  Of course, there are some combinations of multiple skill level divisions that might be permissible, such as a player who enters both "C" and a higher skilled, but age-qualified division such as "35+ B"; however, a player would NOT be allowed to do the opposite (i.e. enter "B" and "35+C").  
Register
Be sure to register so you will have access to several key features of this website, such as the ability to enter tournaments on-line, vote on survey issues, receive email notifications of upcoming events, etc. There is no cost to register, and we will not share your information with anyone else, so go ahead and get in the loop! While you're at it, also go to the USA Racquetball site (http://www.usaracquetball.com/) and check out the accuracy of your membership data that is recorded there. We often use that data to produce the mailing labels we put on newsletters and announcements for specific events of interest to the state membership.  
How Do I Get A Manufacturer To Sponsor Me?

Many players ask about sponsorships. The following is an Ektelon point of view, which might vary a bit with the other manufacturers. Here is what players should know about qualifications for sponsorship: 

  1. Sportsmanship. This one should be self explanatory. However, just in case, issues like: No Breaking Equipment, Safe Play, No Threats, etc.
  2. What are you going to do to GROW Racquetball? This is huge! If we do not get more players, playing racquetball, no matter what age, what their gender, what their skill level, then we cannot feel that we are moving in the right direction.
  3. What will you do to promote the company (in this case: Ektelon). If you like the equipment enough to want to play with it and wear the name on your clothing, you better feel like sharing the good news with others.
  4. Are you teaching, running leagues, running tournaments, starting a racquetball club at your school, university, office, apartment complex, social organization, church, etc.
  5. What is your skill level, what do you do in tournaments, and how well do you do in your leagues.  A common misunderstanding is that this is the most important issue. However, of all of these, this is the LEAST important, because this is not going to do much to grow racquetball. This is going to get people to notice you, but what are you going to do with that (which is what all of the other / above qualifications refer to).

Hopefully, this helps players understand sponsorship a bit. For more info, contact: Bryan Titus at: btitus@teamektelon.com

 

Action Shots!
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Upcoming Tournaments

National Tournaments

2009 Regional Doubles Championships
Start Date: January 23, 2009
End Date: January 25, 2009
Signup Deadline: January 18, 2009 @ 11:50 PM

GRA Official Ball Sponsor
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