Kane, Upsets Reign at Tournament of Champions 4/25-4/28
#14 Charlie Pratt, back from an ankle injury, defeated #3 Alvaro Beltran in the 16s. After #6 Ben Croft took out Pratt in the quarters, Croft delivered the next upset during an intense battle against #2 Rocky Carson in the semis.
Auction Raises $11,000
The 2nd Annual Rapha House Online Auction, held during March’s IRT Florida Spring Break ProAm, raised $11,000 for Rapha House, an international organization that rescues children from human trafficking and provides a loving and productive environment in which they can heal. (www.floridaspringbreakproam.com).
Kudos to Charity Auction Coordinators Sal and Dee Perconti along with Tournament Director, Kim Roy! Donations are still being accepted, make checks payable to Rapha House and mail to Dee Perconti, 100 2nd Ave S, Suite 101 S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701
If former top player and tournament director John Ellis’s guess is accurate, the Stockton Pro-Am, taking place May 2-5 in Stockton, California, is Nor Cal’s oldest racquetball tournament and could very well be one of the oldest professional racquetball tournaments in the U.S. “It’s difficult for me to pin down, but my guestimate is 1981 was the first year,” he says. Even with a six-year hiatus in the early 2000s, Ellis is proud of the longevity the tournament has with both the IRT and the former pro tours.
The event everyone has been waiting for all year, the 2013 Ektelon National Singles Championships, will combine the nation’s largest singles racquetball competition with season-ending tour stops for the men’s professional International Racquetball Tour (IRT) and Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT). This unique convergence of USA Racquetball’s US National Team Qualifying division with men’s and women’s pro tournaments and many amateur divisions creates the ultimate culmination to the indoor racquetball season featuring the top players in the sport. 
Maybe we all should have seen it coming! #6 ranked Ben Croft and Racquetball Warehouse fooled many with their surprise videotaped press conference announcing Croft’s retirement from pro ball on April 1.
This is a strategy that most people don’t think about. Often players either do not like their opponent for one reason or another or they are playing a friend who they like very much. Unfortunately, if they cannot get these thoughts out of their heads, they generally overplay, want to win too badly, or play too nice because they do not want to hurt their friend’s feelings. These thoughts are crippling.
ROLLOUT (www.wearrollout.com) announced an agreement with the men’s professional International Racquetball Tour (IRT) to offer a new line of IRT merchandise including graphic tee shirts, performance apparel, warm-ups, shorts, iPhone/iPad cases and much more.
