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A Letter to the Racquetball Players Of America

The guy who mows my lawn said he'll clean out my gutters for $65. I just paid $120 for two prescriptions. Gas prices are down from earlier this year yet it still cost me nearly $50 for a fill-up yesterday.

There's no doubt that it costs money to get what we want and need.

I am writing this to all of you, the Racquetball Players of America, to tell you that your sport really needs your financial support.

USA Racquetball (USAR), your national organization, wants to continue to be the glue that binds us all together. We are the organization that:

• provides competitive opportunities for all levels of play (adults, juniors, collegiate, seniors, and masters)
• forms and promotes our Adult and Junior National teams for international competition
• keeps all the entities of our sport talking to each other, through magazines, eNewsletters, websites, etc.
• creates and maintains the rules and regulations of the sport; develops standards (eye guard safety, ball structure, racquet size); and monitors and enforces those standards
• ensures the protection of participants, sponsors and venues by providing liability insurance and risk management programs and information

We're doing pretty well and we have controlled our debt. Yet, USOC support is down, sponsorships are down, expenses are up and we have an aggressive agenda. The plans include:

• working with venues (clubs, universities, YMCAs, etc.) to position and maintain racquetball as a great sport and fitness activity - "Fitness and Fun, Rolled Into One!"
• creating and supplying promotional materials for marketing and visibility
• providing mechanisms (e.g., portable court, TV, on-line broadcasts) to bring the sport to the masses

On January 1st, 2009, adult competitive membership dues will be $50 per year (an increase of $1.25 per month). The cost of one tank of gas.

We are 13,000 members strong.and we need each and every one to continue their support by:

• renewing their membership when the time comes (or early at the current amount)
• gifting a membership to a new player
• making an occasional financial contribution to USAR when you can

Without your being there, alongside us, we'll have to scale back our plans. Instead, let's move forward together, to ensure we not only survive, but thrive! Please continue to aggressively and faithfully support your sport. It matters, a lot!

Many thanks,

Cheryl Kirk		Dr. James Hiser
President, USA Racquetball		Executive Director, USA Racquetball

USA Racquetball Membership Structure

Membership Type	Membership Fee 2006-2008	Membership Fee 1/1/2009
Adult (1 Year)	$35	$50
Adult (3 Year)	$100	$125
Junior * (1 Year)	$20	$25
Limited Event (event length)	$15	$20
Lifetime	$1,000	$1,000 ($1,250**)
* Age for Junior membership is now 21 and under
** Lifetime membership effective date deferred

While notification of an increase in membership dues is never the best news you'd care to receive, there's plenty of good news to go along with it.

Benefits of USAR Membership

• Monthly communication throughout the entire year - quarterly issues of Racquetball magazine and eight (8) eNewsletters
• General liability and secondary accident insurance for all sanctioned events
• Our Singles ranking system (with Doubles coming during 2009)
• Tournament management via R2 Sports, which has quickly become the gold standard for running racquetball events across the country
• Junior/Collegiate/High School programs - including national championships
• High Performance Training Camps for adults and juniors
• National Singles and Doubles Championships, bringing together the best in amateur competition for all skill levels and age groups
• The U.S. Open: thirteen years of bringing together the pro's and amateurs of our sport
• Rules and Refereeing materials to improve our competitions
• Committee initiatives for future development
• Usaracquetball.com website, a current and relevant tool, the "go-to spot" for racquetball information
• USA Racquetball University, continually enhanced with downloads of information you can use to promote and develop our sport
• Online membership services
• National office staff assistance

...and much more that's in the planning for marketing and promotion of our sport!

Thanks for being a member of USA Racquetball!