Regarding Cancellation of State Singles
With the MRA Board being a complete volunteer organization, we try our best to serve the racquetball community. There have been some concerns with the canceling of the State Singles Tournament which I would like to address here.
State Singles Overview
There were 44 registered entrants in the State Singles Tournament. If you take out 5 juniors and 7 women entered, that leaves us with 32 players. The women were only signed up because they sent a separate communication amongst themselves and presented the board with the idea of women’s doubles due to the fact that none of them wanted to play singles.
Of that 32, there were 2 divisions that had the same 6 people in each. We sent out a questionnaire and one of the many suggestions that we took from it was that fact that people complained about having to play the same people all of the time. The survey also indicated that the community didn’t want to pay money for a tournament to play the same person they get to play at their home club. There were only a couple divisions that even had enough players to complete a draw. Bottom line is that we felt that with 32 players, our community would be better served to follow the lead of a couple other states and the national governing body and combine the event with our states double’s tournament in the 2026 season.
Tournament Threshold
There are many factors that go into running a tournament. Such as, that we as a board try to make each event special. In addition, somewhere in the list of factors is revenue. Revenue helps pay our overhead, including court time, giveaways, food, and supporting Juniors to help grow the sport. Note that everyone on the board volunteers their time, gas mileage and personal dollars above and beyond any reasonable ask.
The MRA has implemented a minimum player threshold to host a tournament to ensure we have enough funds to cover our tournament and overhead costs. That number is 50 entrants. With 32 entrants, the MRA Board felt that we could not host a tournament with such low numbers. The truth of the matter is that we cannot force people to sign up. We tried to promote it and recruit but the numbers are just not there.
As I am sure you will all agree, at some point you need to make a business decision to proceed with an event and we felt that 32 players were not enough to have the kind of event we would like.
Our hope is that combining the Doubles and Singles events will allow all participants to get the most out of the weekend and have a weekend full of competition. It also will address the players that want to play singles but as the numbers have shown it is not enough to stand on its own. With entrants allowed to play 3 events in this format, our belief is that it will be a great event offering something for everyone.
Survey POV
Through the survey, we did listen to some of the suggestions regarding player give–a–ways and we tried some new ideas. Some people liked them and others did not. The overwhelming response in the survey was that they don’t need another T-shirt. We tried and will continue to try and improve the player experience.
Another area in the survey that we tried to improve upon is in regards to food. We believe that this was the one of the best years for food and food options. We not only had the obligatory pizza but there were by far the most in terms of alternative healthy and nutritious options. We had everything from protein shakes to fruit and vegetables. Again, this is an area that we will continue to tweak to make it enjoyable for all.
Costs
Prices were raised, unfortunately that is a fact of life. We had a major price increase from the facilities and were forced to raise our prices as well. Historically, we have also received balls from sponsors to help keep our costs down. Next season, each ball sponsor will be charging to supply balls for tournaments. We are working with sponsors to help keep the costs at a minimum.
The money raised by the MRA is used to improve the experience in many ways. It affords use the ability to award scholarships and provide funding to various players for national and international events.
Thank you for Fans
To those that had parents coming in town we ask that they please accept our apologies for the rescheduling and hope that they will be able to attend an event next season.
The MRA Board appreciates each and every participant as we strive to grow racquetball here in Minnesota. As always, we welcome any one in the community who would like to join the board and help grow the sport.
Thank you
MRA Board of Directors
Felipe Sosa, Nick Arntz, Vallana Perrault, Dave Burns, Jake Bredenbeck, Matt Miller, Kelly Johnson, Andy Wiegand