TWENTY YEARS AGO É..
By Nancy Kronenfeld
IN MADISON, WISCONSIN A TOURNAMENT FOR WOMEN 35+ ONLY
WAS BORN. THERE WAS NOT A WOMENÕS
SENIOR/MASTERS RACQUETBALL ASSOCIATION OR A WEBSITE TO ANNOUNCE TO
ALL THE WOMEN RACQUETBALL PLAYERS WHERE THIS GREAT TOURNAMENT WOULD BE HELD BUT
31 WOMEN ENTERED AND MADE HISTORY.
ALTHOUGH MOST WERE FROM WISCONSIN A FEW WERE NOT CHEESEHEADS (keep in
mind this is all in fun)!
WE ACTUALLY HAVE A
LIST OF THESE WOMEN AND YOU WILL PROBABLY KNOW SOME OF THEM:
Mary-Low Acuff Jo
Kenyon
Bernadette Bruner Janice
Lucht
Paula Carter Kathy
Mueller
Carol Colletti Carol
Murguia
Linda Covault Marilyn
Nelson
Johncey
DeFresne Diane
Peck
Kathy Evans Bonnie
Pennock
Rosalind Gusinow Bev
Powell
Barb Harrison Kathy
Roskopf
Sharon Hastings-Welty Susan
Rowe
Sandy Haupert Doris
Singler
Holly House Rose
Stoltman
Pat Hults Louise
Tayler
Julie Jacobsen Sharon
Welze
Pauline Kelly Jean
Wilfer
and
KENDRA
TUTSCH
MOST AMAZING IS
THAT KENDRA HAS NEVER MISSED A WS/MRA TOURNAMENT.
FOR TWO YEARS THIS TOURNAMENT WAS
HELD IN MADISON, WISCONSIN. THIS WAS POSSIBLE BECAUSE AT THAT
TIME THE TOURNAMENT WAS HELD IN LATE MARCH SO MUCH OF THE GLACIER RECEDED.
BUT IT WAS TIME TO BRING THIS GREAT
WOMENÕS TOURNAMENT TO NEW PLACES.
THE 3rd YEAR THE TOURNAMENT WENT SOUTH TO CHARLOTTE,
NORTH CAROLINA AND THIS WRITER ENTERED FOR MY FIRST TIME IN THE 35+ DIVISION. JUST THINK LOLA MARKUS WAS IN THE 55ÕS WHERE I AM THIS
YEAR!!!! AND DEB TISINGER-MOORE
WAS NOT EVEN OLD ENOUGH TO PLAY IN THE TOURNEY!
SIXTEEN
YEARS AGOÉ..
WAS THE BIG YEAR WHEN THE WS/MRA
WAS (LOOSELY) FORMED. AT OUR 4TH TOURNAMENT IN ST.
LOUIS, MISSOURI NANCY BUTTS BEGAN TO ASK SOME OF THE ENTRANTS TO HAND
OVER SOME $$$$ TO HELP GROW THIS ASSOCIATION THAT DID NOT YET EXIST. AND MANY WOMEN GLADLY HANDED IT OVER
DUE TO THEIR LOVE FOR THIS GREAT WOMENÕS EVENT. MEANWHILE IT WAS STILL BEING HELD AT THE END OF MARCH FOR
WHATEVER THAT IS WORTH.
NANCY BUTTS THEN HANDED THE MONEY
OVER TO KENDRA AND ME TO ORGANIZE THIS ASSOCIATION AND THUS THE WS/MRA WAS BORN
BUT NOT YET CALLED THAT (IT WAS THE WS/MRC)!!!! THE FIRST BOARD MEMBERS WERE:
Mary-Low Acuff Linda Grambow Merijean Kelley
Laurel Davis Jo
Kenyon
Nancy Kronenfeld
Kathy Mueller Bev Powell Kendra Tutsch
FYI - THE PRESENT
WS/MRA BOARD IS:
Merijean Kelley Nancy
Kronenfeld Debbie
Tisinger-Moore
Vickey
Utter Terry Rogers
Lynne Weisbart
and
Kendra
Tutsch
SOME OF US JUST WONÕT
CALL IT QUITS!!!!
SO ENOUGH HISTORY
????? KENDRA AND I HAVE PUT
SOME FUN FACTS TOGETHER FOR ALL OF YOU TO BROWSE THROUGH – THESE COULD BE
CONSIDERED HISTORICAL IN NATURE TOO I SUPPOSE BUT I HOPE YOU ENJOY THEM ANYWAY.
WHO ATTENDED THE MOST
TOURNAMENTS?
Well of course Kendra attended the
most as she made it to 19 and then a host of us made it to 17 (no, no one made
it to 18): Margaret Hoff, Nancy
Kronenfeld, Pauline Kelly and Lola Markus – since we all travel together
it must have been peer pressure!
Mildred Gwinn, Merijean Kelley and Renee Fish all attended 15 WS/MRA
tourneys. (NOTE: I did not include attendance this year
as my kids taught me to believe in the jinx and as this was written before we
all arrived I did not want to jinx or double jinx anyone).
WHO WON THE MOST GOLD
MEDALS?
It amazed me that when the
calculations were done Jo Kenyon (who hasnÕt played in our tourney since 2003)
took home the most gold. Jo won 12
gold medals playing in 13 of our tournaments. Also, very noteworthy are Mary-Low Acuff and Sharon Hastings-Welty
who each won 11 gold medals over the years.
AND WHO WAS THE
BRIDESMAID BUT NEVER THE BRIDE???
Linda Moore won the most silver
medals. She won 6 silver medals
over the years. But I have to be
honest I just liked the way that question sounded - Linda has actually won four
gold medals too!! (P.S from Kendra- Linda won another silver in 2009!!).
WHO RAN THIS
TOURNAMENT TWO OR MORE TIMES?
Julie
Jacobsen (Madison, WI), Jean Trimble (Orlando, FL) and Terry Rogers (San
Francisco, CA) all ran this tournament twice for us. DEB TISINGER-MOORE RAN IT THREE TIMES INCLUDING THIS YEAR!
HOW MANY CLUBS CLOSED
AFTER WE HELD OUR TOURNAMENT THERE???
We are very sorry to say as far as
we know four of them and they were Racquetpower in Jacksonville, Ballwin Athletic
Club in St. Louis, Merritt Athletic Club in Baltimore and Orlando Fitness and
Racquet in Orlando.
WHICH TOURNAMENTS HAD
OVER 100 ENTRANTS?
Los Angeles (1998) 113
San Francisco (2004) 109
Chicago (1999) 107
Baltimore (2000) 106
Orlando (2007) 103
WHY IS MY DIVISION
THE ONE THAT ALWAYS HAS THE MOST ENTRANTS????
OK REALLY? WHATÕS THE DEAL? WHEN I FIRST ENTERED THE 35ÕS 18 YEARS
AGO WE HAD THREE FLIGHTS OF WOMEN AND THAT TREND HAS CONTINUED. THE 55ÕS HAVE THE MOST PLAYERS IN THIS
EVENT (AS OF THIS WRITING I DONÕT KNOW IF IT WILL BE 2 OR 3 FLIGHTS BUT
GEEZ???? WHY CANÕT WE GET SOME YOUNG WOMEN OUT TOO???) HELP US OUT SO OUR TOURNEY SURVIVES
– BRING A YOUNG FRIEND NEXT YEAR!!!
WHY DOES KENDRA GIVE
AWAY COW PIES EVERY YEAR?
ITÕS JUST A CHEESEHEAD THING
NOTHING ELSE!!! BUT I LOVE HAVING
THAT COW PIE FOR A SNACK ON THE PLANE RIDE HOME SO KEEP THEM COMING KENDY.
WHY IS THE WS/MRA
SPONSORED BY WILSON??
In 2004 Chris Evon of Wilson
Sporting Goods came to this writer to see if the WS/MRA would be interested in
a sponsorship by Wilson. Being the
small tournament that we are (most participants ever was 113) it was a
wonderful opportunity for the WS/MRA.
Wilson has provided us with much of their sporting equipment for our
auction as well as balls for our tourney plus $$$ to run the event. THANK YOU CHRIS EVON & WILSON!
HOW MANY MEMBERS DOES
THE WS/MRA HAVE?
The WS/MRA has about 290 members
who are 35 years plus. What that
really means is that 290 crazed senior women racquetball players have donated
money to the WS/MRA. The WS/MRA
Board decided that our association would not require membership to play in our
tournament but of course you must be a member of the great USAR. So
any woman who has ever given us a donation (no matter how much) is a member
forever. As far as I know only one
member has passed away and that was Mary-Low Acuff who made every effort to
attend all our tournaments except once when she and Earl could not get through
the snow. You will note she was at
the very first tournament!!! Is
that history?
So we do depend on your generosity
and try to reward it with a wonderful directory of members every two years as
well as a newsletter at least once a year.
THANKS
TO ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE MADE THE WS/MRA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT A CONTINUING
SUCCESS.
Sorry I canÕt end here –
Kendra wanted me to add who made it to both the first & the 20th
tournaments – of course she did but so did Linda Covault and Pauline
Kelly – THATÕS ALL FOLKS!!
Yes I was all done but Merijean
Kelley has the last wordÉ.she asked that I name all the locations that we have
held our tournament over the past 20 year so Merijean youÕve been on this board
long enough that your wish is granted – HERE IS WHERE WE HAVE BEENÉ.
Madison,
WI (2) Charlotte,
NC St. Louis, MO
Jacksonville,
FL Atlanta,
GA San Francisco, CA (2)
Chattanooga,
TN Canoga
Park, CA (3) Chicago, IL
Baltimore,
MD Detroit,
MI Orlando, FL
Indianapolis, IN Arlington,
TX
Kansas City, KS
AND YOU THOUGHT IT
WAS OVER- KENDRAÓS UPDATE AS OF JAN 18, 2009
Who has attended the most
tournaments? Kendra has now been to all 20; Lola, Margaret, Pauline and Nancy
have been to 18; Merijean and Renee have been to 16; Mildred, Reta, Linda Moore, Carol Gellman, and Paula Sperling have
been to 15!
Which state has had the best
participation over the 20 years?
California is first with 258 players, followed by Illinois with 195, and
Florida with 183.
THATÕS ALL FOLKS!! (FOR NOW)