In 1977, through the efforts of a small number of Victorian squash venue operators the sport of Australian Racquetball was conceived.
Why- because at that time 15 – 20% of people who had a go at playing Squash could not hit the cold ball with the long handle of the squash racquet, so they were lost to the sport and to our venues.
The game was devised from facets of both American Racquetball and the International sport of Squash Rackets.
Interestingly, around the same time but without our knowledge, a game spelt Racketball, also played on a squash court, was introduced into the UK at the height of their squash boom.
In Australia the game was officially launched in 1978 at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in Melbourne, then later that evening on the then this country’s highest rating television program the ‘ Don Lane Show’, with Bert Newton hitting the first ball on a specially constructed full size portable squash court in the Channel Nine studio.
In the early days of the sport, a critical problem we faced was designing the right ball for our game, as the American ball was a 70+ ball, whereas, we required a ball virtually half the speed of theirs.
After many months of testing, two manufacturers shone out; Merco (CSG) and Stellar. For a lengthy period we had both singles (blue) and doubles (green- slower than blue) balls. Stellar has supported racquetball from its infancy and remain by far the largest ball provider in Australia.
Why- because at that time 15 – 20% of people who had a go at playing Squash could not hit the cold ball with the long handle of the squash racquet, so they were lost to the sport and to our venues.
The game was devised from facets of both American Racquetball and the International sport of Squash Rackets.
Interestingly, around the same time but without our knowledge, a game spelt Racketball, also played on a squash court, was introduced into the UK at the height of their squash boom.
In Australia the game was officially launched in 1978 at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in Melbourne, then later that evening on the then this country’s highest rating television program the ‘ Don Lane Show’, with Bert Newton hitting the first ball on a specially constructed full size portable squash court in the Channel Nine studio.
In the early days of the sport, a critical problem we faced was designing the right ball for our game, as the American ball was a 70+ ball, whereas, we required a ball virtually half the speed of theirs.
After many months of testing, two manufacturers shone out; Merco (CSG) and Stellar. For a lengthy period we had both singles (blue) and doubles (green- slower than blue) balls. Stellar has supported racquetball from its infancy and remain by far the largest ball provider in Australia.
Another area for concern in the early days was to produce suitable rules for both singles and doubles play, which could be easily understood by the racquetball community and the general public, which was achieved in 1987 by one of the game’s top players at that time, Gary Westbrook.
To highlight the outstanding job Gary did with the rules, although there were annual revisions undertaken up to 1999, there were no substantive alterations made to the 1987 production.
In March 2000, the Victorian Racquetball Federation produced an updated version of the Rules of Racquetball, plus from that date invoked four year rule revisions, rather than annually.
The first venues to take to the sport were the Doncaster, Ferntree Gully, Upwey and Waverley Squash centres, with the initial country clubs being, Corio(Geelong), Ballarat and Colac.
The four metro Melbourne venues met in mortal combat on a regular basis throughout 1978, with the inaugural interclub pennant competition (Ladies Daytime), commencing in 1979.
The lone interstate venue to take to the sport at this time was the Jindalee Tennis and Squash Centre, owned by Kent Ruffin and based in Brisbane. Kent was extremely supportive of racquetball and fiercely promoted it everywhere he went, eventually having around 500 players.
In July 1981, the Squash Court Owners Association of Victoria (SCOAV) commenced a Saturday Afternoon pennant, with a summer midweek pennant commencing in December 1981.
Midweek autumn and spring pennants commenced in 1982, with the first Victorian Open Championships being conducted in 1983, over the Easter period, at the Riversdale Squash & Racquetball Centre.
In 1983 the inaugural Australian Open Racquetball Championships were conducted, also at the Riversdale Squash and Racquetball Centre.
During the 80’s and 90’s the Australian Open was held over the Easter period, conducted over three and a half days, comprising up to thirty events, with entry numbers totalling between 300-400.
In 1982 the Victorian Racquetball Association(VRA), later to become known as the Victorian Racquetball Federation, was formed and became the governing body for the sport, plus recognised by the State Government as the state parent body for Racquetball.
To highlight the outstanding job Gary did with the rules, although there were annual revisions undertaken up to 1999, there were no substantive alterations made to the 1987 production.
In March 2000, the Victorian Racquetball Federation produced an updated version of the Rules of Racquetball, plus from that date invoked four year rule revisions, rather than annually.
The first venues to take to the sport were the Doncaster, Ferntree Gully, Upwey and Waverley Squash centres, with the initial country clubs being, Corio(Geelong), Ballarat and Colac.
The four metro Melbourne venues met in mortal combat on a regular basis throughout 1978, with the inaugural interclub pennant competition (Ladies Daytime), commencing in 1979.
The lone interstate venue to take to the sport at this time was the Jindalee Tennis and Squash Centre, owned by Kent Ruffin and based in Brisbane. Kent was extremely supportive of racquetball and fiercely promoted it everywhere he went, eventually having around 500 players.
In July 1981, the Squash Court Owners Association of Victoria (SCOAV) commenced a Saturday Afternoon pennant, with a summer midweek pennant commencing in December 1981.
Midweek autumn and spring pennants commenced in 1982, with the first Victorian Open Championships being conducted in 1983, over the Easter period, at the Riversdale Squash & Racquetball Centre.
In 1983 the inaugural Australian Open Racquetball Championships were conducted, also at the Riversdale Squash and Racquetball Centre.
During the 80’s and 90’s the Australian Open was held over the Easter period, conducted over three and a half days, comprising up to thirty events, with entry numbers totalling between 300-400.
In 1982 the Victorian Racquetball Association(VRA), later to become known as the Victorian Racquetball Federation, was formed and became the governing body for the sport, plus recognised by the State Government as the state parent body for Racquetball.
Another area for concern in the early days was to produce suitable rules for both singles and doubles play, which could be easily understood by the racquetball community and the general public, which was achieved in 1987 by one of the game’s top players at that time, Gary Westbrook.
To highlight the outstanding job Gary did with the rules, although there were annual revisions undertaken up to 1999, there were no substantive alterations made to the 1987 production.
In March 2000, the Victorian Racquetball Federation produced an updated version of the Rules of Racquetball, plus from that date invoked four year rule revisions, rather than annually.
The first venues to take to the sport were the Doncaster, Ferntree Gully, Upwey and Waverley Squash centres, with the initial country clubs being, Corio(Geelong), Ballarat and Colac.
The four metro Melbourne venues met in mortal combat on a regular basis throughout 1978, with the inaugural interclub pennant competition (Ladies Daytime), commencing in 1979.
The lone interstate venue to take to the sport at this time was the Jindalee Tennis and Squash Centre, owned by Kent Ruffin and based in Brisbane. Kent was extremely supportive of racquetball and fiercely promoted it everywhere he went, eventually having around 500 players.
In July 1981, the Squash Court Owners Association of Victoria (SCOAV) commenced a Saturday Afternoon pennant, with a summer midweek pennant commencing in December 1981.
Midweek autumn and spring pennants commenced in 1982, with the first Victorian Open Championships being conducted in 1983, over the Easter period, at the Riversdale Squash & Racquetball Centre.
In 1983 the inaugural Australian Open Racquetball Championships were conducted, also at the Riversdale Squash and Racquetball Centre.
During the 80’s and 90’s the Australian Open was held over the Easter period, conducted over three and a half days, comprising up to thirty events, with entry numbers totalling between 300-400.
In 1982 the Victorian Racquetball Association(VRA), later to become known as the Victorian Racquetball Federation, was formed and became the governing body for the sport, plus recognised by the State Government as the state parent body for Racquetball.
To highlight the outstanding job Gary did with the rules, although there were annual revisions undertaken up to 1999, there were no substantive alterations made to the 1987 production.
In March 2000, the Victorian Racquetball Federation produced an updated version of the Rules of Racquetball, plus from that date invoked four year rule revisions, rather than annually.
The first venues to take to the sport were the Doncaster, Ferntree Gully, Upwey and Waverley Squash centres, with the initial country clubs being, Corio(Geelong), Ballarat and Colac.
The four metro Melbourne venues met in mortal combat on a regular basis throughout 1978, with the inaugural interclub pennant competition (Ladies Daytime), commencing in 1979.
The lone interstate venue to take to the sport at this time was the Jindalee Tennis and Squash Centre, owned by Kent Ruffin and based in Brisbane. Kent was extremely supportive of racquetball and fiercely promoted it everywhere he went, eventually having around 500 players.
In July 1981, the Squash Court Owners Association of Victoria (SCOAV) commenced a Saturday Afternoon pennant, with a summer midweek pennant commencing in December 1981.
Midweek autumn and spring pennants commenced in 1982, with the first Victorian Open Championships being conducted in 1983, over the Easter period, at the Riversdale Squash & Racquetball Centre.
In 1983 the inaugural Australian Open Racquetball Championships were conducted, also at the Riversdale Squash and Racquetball Centre.
During the 80’s and 90’s the Australian Open was held over the Easter period, conducted over three and a half days, comprising up to thirty events, with entry numbers totalling between 300-400.
In 1982 the Victorian Racquetball Association(VRA), later to become known as the Victorian Racquetball Federation, was formed and became the governing body for the sport, plus recognised by the State Government as the state parent body for Racquetball.
The VRA was a joint partnership of squash venue operators and racquetball clubs, and in 1983 came under the umbrella of the then recently formed Squash Time Leisure Centres Pty. Ltd.(STLC).
STLC was an amalgamation of 30 squash centres and 35 squash & racquetball clubs based within the eastern and southern suburbs of Melbourne, with its office based in Mount Waverley.
The General Manager of STLC was Paul Vear, previously the proprietor of the Ferntree Gully Squash and Racquetball Centre, President of the SCOAV and Finance Director of the Australian Squash Court Owners Association (ASCOA). Paul had also been the General Manager of the VRA since its inception, and continued in that role until his retirement in 2008.
Paul believes that if it had not been for the financial, promotional /marketing and administrative support provided by the STLC court owners, the sport of Racquetball would not have survived to the extent that it has today.
The most successful racquetball clubs in Victoria over the past 30 years, have mainly been based in country Victoria, including Ballarat, Profile (Bairnsdale), Bairnsdale, Benalla, Colac, Corio, Lakes Entrance, Portland, Stawell, Wangaratta, Wodonga, plus Albury, who are also members of Squash & Racquetball Victoria(S&RV).
Successful metro Melbourne racquetball clubs over the same time have been- Berwick, Boronia, Burwood, Cranbourne, Croydon, Doncaster, Eastland, Eliza Village, Elsternwick, Ferntree Gully, Freeway, Highbury, Karingal, Knox Bayswater, Lilydale Squash and Fitness, Northern( in Broadmeadows), Upwey, Ringwood, Riversdale, Rosanna, Syndal, Templestowe(now Westerfolds), Templestowe Village, Wantirna and Waverley. Unfortunately, only five of these clubs remain.
For every year since 1983, the Victorian Racquetball Association/Federation, then since 2009, S&RV, has conducted a Victorian Tournament Circuit comprising various Senior and Junior events, which incorporate event ranking’s points, to decide end of year grade winners.
In 2010 Victoria joined forces with South Australia to establish a National Grand Prix Tournament Circuit (to complement the Victorian Grand Prix Tournament Circuit), followed by Tasmania in 2013, then New South Wales in 2015, which is administered by Australian Racquetball.
STLC was an amalgamation of 30 squash centres and 35 squash & racquetball clubs based within the eastern and southern suburbs of Melbourne, with its office based in Mount Waverley.
The General Manager of STLC was Paul Vear, previously the proprietor of the Ferntree Gully Squash and Racquetball Centre, President of the SCOAV and Finance Director of the Australian Squash Court Owners Association (ASCOA). Paul had also been the General Manager of the VRA since its inception, and continued in that role until his retirement in 2008.
Paul believes that if it had not been for the financial, promotional /marketing and administrative support provided by the STLC court owners, the sport of Racquetball would not have survived to the extent that it has today.
The most successful racquetball clubs in Victoria over the past 30 years, have mainly been based in country Victoria, including Ballarat, Profile (Bairnsdale), Bairnsdale, Benalla, Colac, Corio, Lakes Entrance, Portland, Stawell, Wangaratta, Wodonga, plus Albury, who are also members of Squash & Racquetball Victoria(S&RV).
Successful metro Melbourne racquetball clubs over the same time have been- Berwick, Boronia, Burwood, Cranbourne, Croydon, Doncaster, Eastland, Eliza Village, Elsternwick, Ferntree Gully, Freeway, Highbury, Karingal, Knox Bayswater, Lilydale Squash and Fitness, Northern( in Broadmeadows), Upwey, Ringwood, Riversdale, Rosanna, Syndal, Templestowe(now Westerfolds), Templestowe Village, Wantirna and Waverley. Unfortunately, only five of these clubs remain.
For every year since 1983, the Victorian Racquetball Association/Federation, then since 2009, S&RV, has conducted a Victorian Tournament Circuit comprising various Senior and Junior events, which incorporate event ranking’s points, to decide end of year grade winners.
In 2010 Victoria joined forces with South Australia to establish a National Grand Prix Tournament Circuit (to complement the Victorian Grand Prix Tournament Circuit), followed by Tasmania in 2013, then New South Wales in 2015, which is administered by Australian Racquetball.
National Grand Prix Circuit
March 10/11 – South Australian Open & Graded Championships – ARC Campbelltown
May 26/27 – Darwin Open & Graded Championships - Darwin
July 21/22 – Genesis Victorian Open & Graded Championships – Wantirna
August 11/12 –Tasmanian Open & Graded Championships – Devonport
October 12-14 – Commercial Club Albury Australian Open Racquetball Championships in conjunction with the New South Wales Open & Graded Championships – Albury/Wodonga
Victorian Grand Prix Circuit
February 17/18 – ESRA Open & Graded Championships Championship – Westerfolds Bayswater
April 21/22 – Wangaratta Jewellers Open & Graded Championships – Wangaratta
June 16/17 - Geelong Open Classic – Corio
July 21/22– Genesis Victorian Open & Graded Championships – Wantirna
September 8/9 – Ballarat Open & Graded Championships – Wendouree
November 10/11 – Big 4 Lakes Classic Open & Graded Championships – Lakes Entrance.
AUSTRALIAN RACQUETBALL ASSOCIATION
During September 2014, Australian Racquetball Association(ARA) was born, which is the first national Australian Racquetball organisation ever established in this country. The AR Board comprises representatives from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, with Paul Vear as its General Manager.
AR administers the affairs of racquetball at the national level, including the National Rules Committee, the Australian Racquetball Grand Prix Tournament Committee (ARGPTCC), the Australian Racquetball Hall of Fame, and the Australian Racquetball database.
Wherever possible, AR works closely with the various regional/state racquetball/squash associations, plus individual centres/clubs, pursuing the development and promotion of racquetball not only in its existing member states, but throughout the whole of Australia, as well as the establishment of national coaching and refereeing accreditation schemes for racquetball.
In 2014 Australian Racquetball returned to annual revisions of the Rules of the Game.
Up to five years ago, 90% of racquetball in this country was played in Victoria, but with the enormous growth of the sport in other states, this figure is reducing.
In Victoria we have a number of Squash centres and clubs who have only survived through the introduction of racquetball to their venues. Around the state we now find in a lot of our medium to larger venues, racquetball is running 60-65% to squash 35-40%.
AUTHOR: Paul Vear
March 10/11 – South Australian Open & Graded Championships – ARC Campbelltown
May 26/27 – Darwin Open & Graded Championships - Darwin
July 21/22 – Genesis Victorian Open & Graded Championships – Wantirna
August 11/12 –Tasmanian Open & Graded Championships – Devonport
October 12-14 – Commercial Club Albury Australian Open Racquetball Championships in conjunction with the New South Wales Open & Graded Championships – Albury/Wodonga
Victorian Grand Prix Circuit
February 17/18 – ESRA Open & Graded Championships Championship – Westerfolds Bayswater
April 21/22 – Wangaratta Jewellers Open & Graded Championships – Wangaratta
June 16/17 - Geelong Open Classic – Corio
July 21/22– Genesis Victorian Open & Graded Championships – Wantirna
September 8/9 – Ballarat Open & Graded Championships – Wendouree
November 10/11 – Big 4 Lakes Classic Open & Graded Championships – Lakes Entrance.
AUSTRALIAN RACQUETBALL ASSOCIATION
During September 2014, Australian Racquetball Association(ARA) was born, which is the first national Australian Racquetball organisation ever established in this country. The AR Board comprises representatives from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, with Paul Vear as its General Manager.
AR administers the affairs of racquetball at the national level, including the National Rules Committee, the Australian Racquetball Grand Prix Tournament Committee (ARGPTCC), the Australian Racquetball Hall of Fame, and the Australian Racquetball database.
Wherever possible, AR works closely with the various regional/state racquetball/squash associations, plus individual centres/clubs, pursuing the development and promotion of racquetball not only in its existing member states, but throughout the whole of Australia, as well as the establishment of national coaching and refereeing accreditation schemes for racquetball.
In 2014 Australian Racquetball returned to annual revisions of the Rules of the Game.
Up to five years ago, 90% of racquetball in this country was played in Victoria, but with the enormous growth of the sport in other states, this figure is reducing.
In Victoria we have a number of Squash centres and clubs who have only survived through the introduction of racquetball to their venues. Around the state we now find in a lot of our medium to larger venues, racquetball is running 60-65% to squash 35-40%.
AUTHOR: Paul Vear
