2006, August 15

Summary"Notes for August 15 2006"

GROWTH OF RACQUETBALL CONFERENCE CALL

August 15, 2006

1. REVIEW OLD MEETING MINUTES

2. MOTIVATIONAL SPEECH BY MANNY

3. JUNIOR HAPPENINGS

3.1 (Juliet)Creating programs through local YMCA’s. Juniors playing prior to high

school. There’s a kids camp for fourth through eight graders (Ed Mazur). Start

kids with Multi Bounce. (Diane) Been working with Ernie Lehman on DARA and

worked with setting up a program with the Y, but made a deal and then turned

around and told Ernie “I want a thousand dollars” for the courts at the last minute.

Camp was supposed to start in July. Back to negotiations on the Y end for why all

of a sudden the Y wants 1,000 bucks

4. SUDSY’S GETTING JUNIORS INVOLVED IDEA

4.1. A group or board that would set up schools and etc to go and talk to the students

with the right people.

4.2. A new problem is not enough volunteers to promote the racquetball programs.

5. ATHLETIC CLUBS ARE NOT THE ANSWER

5.1. (Joe Garcia) The problem isn’t TV, grassroots etc, the challenge is that we need

to break away not just racquetball but the other racquet sports. We need to break

away from the fitness sports. We’re dependent on the health club for those

courts. If it wasn’t for those health clubs we’d have absolutely no power. We’d

love to start junior programs but the hard core fact is that Kids don’t write checks

for memberships. L.A. fitness is building courts all over the country with five

courts, but there aren’t any kids in those facilities. And there aren’t going to be

because they’ve come up with a business model that works. We also need to look

at the hard core fact of where our industry is at. We are a hostage, we need to

break that habit. We need to build our own facility that caters to our sports, the

sport since 1970 to 2006 is still the same sport. Unfortunately the majority of the

clubs out there are health clubs, their commercial industry. It’s huge. There’s

26K health clubs and those health clubs generate 15billion in revenue. If you

combine all of the court sports, racquetball, walleyball, hand ball squash it’s a 45

million dollar industry and there’s may be 6 million players combined.

5.2. I just read a story that I sent to Jim Hiser. We’re a David and Goliath story here,

we’re trying to fight this huge huge industry and we don’t even have a sling shot

to work with, we’re fighting bare handed. Because all these commercial clubs

care only about memberships, even though it’s been statistically proven that you

can make more money by allowing these programs, they don’t want to hear it

because they’re being lead by a multi billion dollar industry. The only chance we

have is to break about of this industry and start building our own clubs. All

public clubs. Pure Court clubs. Junior programs, television, portable courts are

great, but its not going to cure the disease, and our disease is our addiction to the

health club industry.

5.3. Mark – children might not write the checks but the parents do so accepting

children means money in the pockets because the parents would join as well.

5.4. Joe – 99% of the owners don’t care about racquetball.

5.5. Hank – you and I live in a distorted world, and that’s what’s Joe is trying to say.

You’re right about what you’re trying to say. But we’re the only ones we live in

where it’s right. He’s making a generalization about the industry itself, if you

went to la fitness and said we’re from Oregon and St. Louis we can have 50 kids

tomorrow at your club paying your dues, they’d still say “we don’t care we don’t

want kids here” and theirs nothing more encouraging and supporting than high

school racquetball but we’re living in a world that is unrealistic,

5.6. Joe – the majority of this entire industry, (racquetball handball squash) the three

clubs that they just closed down this was a 220 thousand square foot facility that

they’re bulldozing because the land is worth more than the facility. This has been

going on for 20 years. We’re going to have to come up with a great program to

produce to these court owners and its going to take lots of time and effort and

money to put these programs into place. We need to break away from their

business model and create our own. That’s where we can start with junior

programs, hanks discussion of the outdoor courts is a great idea, but we still have

this addiction to health clubs, we will continue to struggle. It hasn’t stopped in 20

years, we need to have the attitude of “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take

it anymore.” And go and create our own environment, and create our own

destiny. We cant keep asking bally’s la fitness,

5.7. After Joe leaves, conversation becomes more about getting L.A. FITNESS to

allow juniors, and keeping racquetball in the athletic clubs, vs. making own

racquetball clubs.

•I don’t think it’s about asking la fitness, I think it’s about the companies

who want to go up against the la fitness and bally’s.

•Great idea but you’re discussing very small numbers. You’re not going to

change an industry in 10 years that is being gobbled up by la fitness by the

big conglomerates who offer high industries.

•What’s going to stop the mom and pop from saying Lets help them

become educated about racquetball, and outdoor racquetball

•Absolutely right but that’s the USAR responsibility to educate, unless the

20 individuals on this phone call can get it together. When you get the

portable court and you put it in a mall and you get these people excited,

where are they going to go??

•Breaking away could be a huge mistake because of the money. If you

can’t beat them join them.

•Get a mom and pop club to increase their membership (Numbers not

price)

•Playracquetball.org

•Get kids and everyone excited

•Gotta create the demand for stores to carry the equipment

•How expensive it is to play, gym memberships the expense of education

lots of people, if we do it in small sections, you’re going to be able to do it

but its going to take forever.

•Why we’re not paying more attention to the people who have left this

sport. Who have stopped playing. I’m thinking specifically of the ladies. I

don’t know if there is any success about bringing the women. Yes we have

to pay attention to the Juniors but we can’t forget the women.

•I don’t know the numbers specifically but I don’t think the women

participation is equal to most other sports participation

•Darryl got some headway with LA Fitness and allowing Juniors

•LA Fitness they have to be a member, the age was 18 and now the age is

14 but it’s actually 12 years old to be a member. I know there are people

that are under 12 years old, but in order to do a program they have to be 12

years old. They can play in the leagues.

6. DEMOGRAPHICS ARE DIFFERENT, LOTS OF PLAYERS, JUST NOT

TOURNAMENT PLAYERS

6.1. (Steve Foreman MN) We have a different type of situation, we’ve got lots of

players, and we play in churches, community centers a lot of places where theres

no extra stuff, like exercise rooms, swimming pools, but no body likes to play in

tournaments but they’re playing. We just lost three of the largest clubs because

one conglomerate bought another, lets say they had 20 courts, they were always

into racquetball, the owners didn’t care they could make more money putting in

fitness rooms instead of racquetball. So we’re losing 80 courts.

7. OUTDOOR IS AN ANSWER BECAUSE IN MOST CASES ITS FREE NO

ATHLETIC CLUB NEEDED

7.1. Joanne – do we have a feel for how many parks and rec facilities have outdoor

courts?

7.2. Hank – Working with individuals who find courts as well as the parks and

recreation. Some parks and rec are asking how they build the courts because their

smaller, and cheaper to build. Also multi purpose.

8. DEMOGRAPHIC THEME

8.1. Problems that individuals face whether its membership numbers, courts closing,

juniors etc, is different across the United States.

Meeting Attendance

Hank Marcus

Steve Foremon – Minneapolis, MN

Joe Garcia - Reno Sports Court Connection

Ed Mazur - Connecticut

Juliet Campbell - Connecticut Racquetball

Beep

Dave Blair - Pelican City Maryland

Jackie Tilton

Dianne Chapel - New York

Sudsy Monchik

DianeDaryl - here are some ways you can get more instructors: use Player Sponsorships contracts in exchange for teaching, go to local high schools and recruit gym / phys ed teachers, pay the instructors: might have to up the Junior Program fee a few bucks to do this - worth it tho. I have plenty of instructors, juniors, no place to teach. It sounds like we ALL have different issues we need to tackle through out the Country.