Air Force Racquetball
PAUL L. KNOBLOCK
players anymore? They have dropped racquetball as a varsity sport. Every
Air Force Installation has racquetball courts, why has this happened? The
Army sends their players to the Armed Forces Championships every year fully
funded, with the Air Force only offering PTDY for this. Go figure. Lets
hear it from the concerned. Thanks...Paul K.
Ed Arias
racquetball in the military. A couple years ago, I had an Air Force guy
in the UW Rb Club...I got a little info and he was going to give me much
more info on the subject but I haven't heard much from him since. I
wish more Air Force players would speak up about the presence of rball
in the military...perhaps we civilians could help out somehow...any
ideas?
Ed.
--
Ed Arias
Wilson Elite Staff
WilsonRacquetball.Com
RaquetballCentral.Com
William Gargan
Academy -- on the other hand, I could be wrong.
One thing I am not wrong about is that there are Air Force
racquetball players. I do not know if they are supported by
the Air force, but they seem to have the support of the
local organizations where they work.
The best example I know of is Robbie DeJesus who, for now,
continues as a member of the Air Force and plays all over --
recently including Mexico and Winnepeg and many pro stops.
Bill Gargan
Tami Evers
situation. : )
Anyone know his email??
Tami E.
E-force Racquetball (You wanna win or WHAT?)
http://www.meetandplay.com
http://www.meetandplay.com/eforce.htm
Dropshot25
Randolf Air Force Base. They had the worst courts in the World too. The back
wall was partially made of "chicken wire". But they had about 150 entries
flying in from all over the world. Most of the entries where pilots, and I
think this was an excuse to accumilate "flight hours" for there logs Even for
those early days of racquetball the competition was pretty ragged. But the Air
Force came up with their own World Champion..
roll...@my-deja.com
drops...@aol.com (Dropshot25) wrote:
> Back in 1972...
..which is just about when I started playing racquetball while
stationed in Germany with the likes of John Mooney and Mike Mojer. Both
John and Mike won the all-Air Force doubles title that year (I think),
then took the Inter-Service title as well.
As you all may know, John retired to Colorado Springs in 1973/4(?) and
was with the AARA, USRA, et al, for several years with his lovely bride,
Rose. I think Mike retired as well shortly thereafter - to Florida I
think.
Anyway, there are (still) alot of Racquetball facilites world-wide at
almost every (USAF and otherwise) military facility. Military
championship's are usually driven by how popular they (still) are within
the community, and what's in the MWR (Military Welfare & Recreation)
budget for that year - some year's it's real lean, so no TDY (Temporary
Duty) money beyond a free (per se) plane ride and maybe cheap lodging at
the local base.
From a near-term perspective, Rob is across town from me and I'll try to
get in touch with him to provide some NG feedback. From a historical
perspective, John would be a good bet. Anybody out there know where
he's at now?
Steve Evans
Team E-Force in AZ
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.
self
> Paul, that's really a shame...you know, we don't hear much about
> racquetball in the military. A couple years ago, I had an Air Force guy
> in the UW Rb Club...I got a little info and he was going to give me much
> more info on the subject but I haven't heard much from him since. I
> wish more Air Force players would speak up about the presence of rball
> in the military...perhaps we civilians could help out somehow...any
> ideas?
>
> Ed.
I spent eight years in the USAF from '78 to '86 and there wasn't much support
for racquetball officially, although there were many avid players at each base
I went to. Most major bases had a good sized following, and nice courts, but no
official programming or intramurals, etc. The Army, on the other hand, seemed
to support guys who did virtually NOTHING but their chosen sport, in various
arenas: softball, wrestling, racquetball, heck, even bowling! I'm not really
complaining, though, the USAF facilities were 'cheap' (free!) and a great place
to play.
Greg Stoner
Ex-Instructor
USAF School of Heath Care Sciences
loy...@mindspring.com
anything going beyond local competitions. Also, since I am located in Miami
at US SOUTHCOM HQs, I don't have any really good facilities to play at aside
from the Police Training Bureau here. I have seen a few local competitions
at some of my assignments or when I've been TDY to different bases.
Unfortunately, there hasn't been anything beyond that. I wish they would
because I would certainly shoot for it.
Thomas "AF Weenie" Loyd
John and Rachael Kitchens
Interservice Championships at Ft Sam Houston (San Antonio, TX) this past May.
The tournament was an absolute blast, and I witnessed probably the highest
level of sportsmanship I've ever witnessed in any tournament. Between Army,
Air Force, and Marine participants, we probably had about 70 players
competing. One of the earlier posts mentioned Robbie Dejesus--he ended up
winning the tournament this year! He beat the Army's Jimmy Lowe. Both are
awesome racquetball players and the match was very entertaining.
As for Air Force sponsorship, Paul's correct--the Air Force basically only
gives you the time off to go play in the Interservice tournament.. But, I'm
not complaining. It was a great opportunity, and I shared that opportunity
with several other Air Force personnel. As for why the Air Force doesn't
provide quite the support the Army does, I'd speculate the reason is because
the Army mission is more physically demanding than the Air Force's (with Pilots
and aircraft maintainers possibly an exception). That fact probably generates
a more positive attitude in the Army than the Air Force when it comes to
funding racquetball and other championships. Don't misunderstand what I'm
saying, though. The Air Force certainly believes in and supports the promotion
of physical fitness in its Air Force personnel by offering exceptional
facilities and programs at most Air Force bases.
John
Steve Schwarz
<knob...@sumter.net> wrote:
>Has anyone noticed that the Air Force does not sponsor any tournaments or
>players anymore? They have dropped racquetball as a varsity sport. Every
>Air Force Installation has racquetball courts, why has this happened? The
>Army sends their players to the Armed Forces Championships every year fully
>funded, with the Air Force only offering PTDY for this. Go figure. Lets
>hear it from the concerned. Thanks...Paul K.
>
Well I can actually contribute to this newsgroup. I was in the active
Air Force for 13 years from 79-92. In that span I learned how to play
racquetball. I was stationed at Griffiss AFB in Rome NY for the whole
time except for a year in Iceland. In the mid 80s Air Force
racquetball was awesome. I started being serious about 85-86. When I
was in Iceland I won the open bracket and went to Holy Loch, Scotland
to play against some Navy personnel. Second was all I could do, but
that was pretty good considering my experience level. When I returned
to Griffiss, I really started to become a good player. We had nice
courts and a very good group of guys to play against. We played 5-6
times a week. That was before I got into the 30s and 35s. But anyway,
the Air Force at that time ran regionals for the major commands, SAC,
TAC, whatever. These regionals would be held at a major command base
with usually excellent facilities. The winners and runnerups from
open, 35, and 40+ would then advance to the Air Force championships.
The winner and runnerups from the same three divisions would then
represent the Air Force in the Interservice Championships. In those
days the Air Force routinely won interservice. Obviously that has
changed now. To bring back a little nostalgia for the old guys, the
big names from that era were Lou Souther, Gene Couch, Rick Sorenson,
Rabbit Rogers. There are many more but as I age my brain does also,
sorry. I was fortinate to play against Gene in the only time I made it
to the Air Force championships in Texas. He beat me, but it went 3.
Gene was a former interservice champion so I felt pretty good about
that. Truthfully, I just wasn't ready to beat someone of his caliber
at that time. I can say proudly that I was a member of the last
official SAC team at the Air Force championships. After 1990, the
politics and BS became so deep that I never did make it to any more
tournaments for the Air Force. This was a shame because I was becoming
very good, in fact better or equal to the players who were CHOSEN. No
longer were regionals and qualifiers on tap but you sent a resume of
all things telling someone, somewhere how good you were. If they
agreed then you got to represent the Air Force in the interservice
championships. But, who would you choose, a former interservice
champion or me no matter how good I had become? I see their point but
it did suck. In 91-92 I was playing at a very high level of open age
bracket. I had beaten Bruce Shafer, an Army representative for as many
years as I can remember, twice. The Air Force was trying to save money
by not funding regionals and even their own championships, which I
guess is allright, but at the expense of real competition. No resume
can replace that. So it became very fixed on who would represent the
Air Force at interservice. Sour grapes, yeah, a little, but thats in
the past. I just wish I had the opportunity to go. And now, from what
I have heard, there are no official Air Force competitions-too bad,
there are still many excellent players. In fact the military in
general is an excellent breeding groud for players. The facillities
are usually great and free. I know that I am a product of the system.
That's where I learned to play and fine tune my game. Since then I
have been New York State champion 3 times, and two times a NY-NJ
regional winner. I have played in the Nationals twice, getting to the
round of 16 before losing to Tom Travers, not a bad way to go out. I
truly doubt that I will ever play the Nationals again because of the
acceptance of former pros playing in amateur tournaments. It is hard
for me to imagine anyone besides Ruben winning until he dies. But that
is another issue altogether. So I am just one of many who have come
from the military training ground for racquetball. I will put my name
and E-mail for anyone who wishes to resopnd to me or this thread. Well
I guess i'm done lurking. Thanks for letting me have a forum.
Steve Schwarz
swa...@stny.lrun.com
Dean Flores
there is no funding for sending us to the racquetball armforces
championships. three years ago every member of the Navy teem got leave and
paid for there own expenses. Basketball, Softball, and Boxing is a
different story they are fully funded
PAUL L. KNOBLOCK wrote in message <37bb5...@ns3.sumter.net>...
self
<37bd8971.3819236@news-server>...<snip>
> To bring back a little nostalgia for the old guys, the
> big names from that era were Lou Souther, Gene Couch, Rick Sorenson,
> Rabbit Rogers. There are many more but as I age my brain does also,
> sorry. I was fortinate to play against Gene in the only time I made it
> to the Air Force championships in Texas. He beat me, but it went 3.
> Gene was a former interservice champion so I felt pretty good about
> that. Truthfully, I just wasn't ready to beat someone of his caliber
> at that time.
Great post, Steve.
I believe Gene is kicking around the Orlando area, still playing; at least I
think I've seen his name on some of the draws at some S. Fla. tourneys.
Greg Stoner
John and Rachael Kitchens
Interservice--saw him in May. He's a Colonel now, in case you might be
wondering.
John
Steve Schwarz wrote:
> On Wed, 18 Aug 1999 21:48:47 -0400, "PAUL L. KNOBLOCK"
> <knob...@sumter.net> wrote:
>
> >Has anyone noticed that the Air Force does not sponsor any tournaments or
> >players anymore? They have dropped racquetball as a varsity sport. Every
> >Air Force Installation has racquetball courts, why has this happened? The
> >Army sends their players to the Armed Forces Championships every year fully
> >funded, with the Air Force only offering PTDY for this. Go figure. Lets
> >hear it from the concerned. Thanks...Paul K.
> >
> Well I can actually contribute to this newsgroup. I was in the active
> Air Force for 13 years from 79-92. In that span I learned how to play
> racquetball. I was stationed at Griffiss AFB in Rome NY for the whole
> time except for a year in Iceland. In the mid 80s Air Force
> racquetball was awesome. I started being serious about 85-86. When I
> was in Iceland I won the open bracket and went to Holy Loch, Scotland
> to play against some Navy personnel. Second was all I could do, but
> that was pretty good considering my experience level. When I returned
> to Griffiss, I really started to become a good player. We had nice
> courts and a very good group of guys to play against. We played 5-6
> times a week. That was before I got into the 30s and 35s. But anyway,
> the Air Force at that time ran regionals for the major commands, SAC,
> TAC, whatever. These regionals would be held at a major command base
> with usually excellent facilities. The winners and runnerups from
> open, 35, and 40+ would then advance to the Air Force championships.
> The winner and runnerups from the same three divisions would then
> represent the Air Force in the Interservice Championships. In those
> days the Air Force routinely won interservice. Obviously that has
> changed now. To bring back a little nostalgia for the old guys, the
> big names from that era were Lou Souther, Gene Couch, Rick Sorenson,
> Rabbit Rogers. There are many more but as I age my brain does also,
> sorry. I was fortinate to play against Gene in the only time I made it
> to the Air Force championships in Texas. He beat me, but it went 3.
> Gene was a former interservice champion so I felt pretty good about
> that. Truthfully, I just wasn't ready to beat someone of his caliber
Steve Edwards
> > To bring back a little nostalgia for the old guys, the
> > big names from that era were Lou Souther, Gene Couch, Rick Sorenson,
> > Rabbit Rogers.
I believe Rabbit Rogers is still playing in Idaho. He came to my club for
Regionals last spring and reffed one of my matches. He even gave me some
extra E-Force stuff (glove, headband, etc.) that he had left over from a
promo. Real nice guy.
Steve
dayton...@gmail.com
All those teams won the inter service championship
In those days the support for the players/teams was pretty good
In fact in 1982 the three inter service champions were sponsored to the AARA nationals ( Lou Souther, AF, Open Champ; Linda La Chance, Navy womens open champ and myself Seniors Champion). Great experience and exposure for military rball. In fact Barb Fdaulkenberry future AF champion was at the nationals as a cadet and was pleased to see the AF had a racquetball team.
As a result of out presence at the nationals the AARA decided to begin awarding points for regional , command and inter service events
From 1982-1992 the AF and other services had many great players, many nationally ranked players
dayton...@gmail.com
dayton...@gmail.com
dayton...@gmail.com
Dayton Dickey Lt Col USAF ret
ajfit...@gmail.com
Give me a shout Tony Alcala.