Hi All,
I hope everyone is excited about the start of the NH Open Series because the tournament schedule is set and we anticipate some great racquetball this season. Greg Labrie has solicited the help of John Acampora and I with this season’s Open Series due to his new job (that has him travelling a lot). He is still very much involved with the event but feel free to reach out to John, Greg or I with any questions this year.
The dates for the event(s) are as follows:
Date Venue
October 2nd 2010 Nashua Athletic Club
December 4th 2010 Executive Health & Sports Center
February 5th 2011 Executive Health & Sports Center
March 5th 2011 Nashua Athletic Club
April 2nd 2011 Nashua Athletic Club
We have made a few modifications to the format this year that we would like to make you aware of (some stayed the same). They are:
1. Entry Fees - Will be $50 per person. The prize money that is offered in this event requires sponsorships and other forms of income. It is no easy task asking people/businesses for money during these economic conditions. We are trying to make this event as sustainable as possible based on entries and not outside money. Even at $50/person, we need a minimum of 27 entrants to break even. We will depend on all of you to help us get at least this many players to these events. Anything we get from sponsors will certainly help.
2. Olympic Format – This format will stay the same. It is proven to be a great format for this event.
3. Points – This area has changed slightly. We decided to adopt the IRT ranking system where every GAME you win you get points opposed to where you finish in the draw. The reason behind this decision is to make the rankings/seeding more accurate. So even if you lose the match but win at least 1 of the games, you will get points. The point schedule will be: GOLD – 20pts/game, BLUE will be 3 pts/game, RED will be 2pts/game and WHITE will be 1 pt/game. If 25 people show up then that 1st round in GOLD will not be full points until the 1st full round (which would be the round of 16’s). That ‘qualifying’ round will be 5pts/win. I hope that makes sense but feel free to email me with questions.
4. Prize Money – The prize money structure is subject to change based on sponsorships and other forms of income. But as of right now it is as follows. GOLD $250/$125/$75/$75 (yes we are paying into Semi’s!), BLUE $100, RED $75, WHITE $25. Again, this is subject to change (hopefully it will increase!). The Series winner of the GOLD will get $750 and 2nd place will get $250.
5. Food – It was decided to keep expenses to a minimal so fruit, bagels and gatorade will be provided at all events.
6. Referee – Referee’s will be provided for all matches starting in the round of 16’s (loser’s of their match will be required to ref). If you want to play your match without a referee, you are welcome to do so. Referee’s will not be paid.
7. Ball – This has been a big topic and all I can say right now is that a decision has not been made yet on which ball we will use for the NH Open Series. We are hoping to finalize that within the next week or so. An announcement will be made shortly.
8. Sponsorships – To be blunt, we need them in a big way. John and I will be reaching out to people to gather support. If any of you knows of anyone, please reach out to them or let John and I know and we can contact them. I am almost finished with the sponsorship proposals and we will send everyone a copy to review. Any help with this is much appreciated. We also ask that you use the services of our sponsors when needed so we can continue to get their support.
9. Raffle – As another form of income we have decided to work on a raffle with some pretty impressive prizes. John and I are working on items like golf equipment, ski passes, tennis equipment, cases of racquetballs, rounds of golf and many more items. It will be a raffle held at the end of the season at the last Open event in Nashua. The list will continue to grow. Prices haven’t been determined but will be figured out by the 1st Open Series. Feel free to contact me with suggestions or items you would like to donate. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to NH Junior racquetball.
10. Seeding – Before the first event is launched I will send out a list of the seedings. This list will be made up of previous years events, IRT rankings, USRA rankings and a little common sense. By the end of the 2nd event, the rankings will correct itself and will be based on the previous events finishes. There is no perfect system for rankings and I have no doubt someone won’t be happy but the way we look at it is simply to be the best you have to beat the best. If some IRT player decides to enter the event, we will discuss the appropriate seeding and evaluate his/her place in the draw. Basically it will be handled on an individual basis.
11. Events – As you can see there will be 5 events total. Your lowest performing event will be dropped which means 4 events will count.
12. Sanctioning – All 5 events will be sanctioned. We decided this is a good investment for 2 reasons. 1) It allows us to use the R2 software which makes our job substantially easier when running/recording the event. And 2) the insurance is a great thing to have for players. You have to be a member of the USRA to play in the NH Open Series. USRA Sign-ups will be available at all the events.
13. Sportsmanship – You all make up the top players in New England and our sponsors, juniors and affiliates will always be in attendance to watch you perform. Unsportsmanlike conduct will not be tolerated under any circumstances. If any incidents occur, they will be reviewed by the NHRA and a decision will be made on the course of action. Please act professionally at all times.
14. Advertising – I am working on posters to hang in each of the clubs. I will email you all a copy in PDF format hen I am finished. Can’t stress enough how important your word of mouth will help get people to attend. Please send me names and email addresses of people who should be added to the list. Right now I have about 85.
15. Communication – Our channels of communication will be through email, the NHRA website and facebook. Sign up for events will be through R2 via the NHRA website or the day of the event.
16. Draw – One thing we are going to look into is with every event change the draw so you all are not playing the same players every tournament. The IRT does this and I think it is a great idea. 1 and 2 seeds will stay the same but we will switch other seeds so everyone will have an opportunity to play different players.
I encourage all of you to find John Acampora, Greg Labrie and myself on Facebook and be our friend. John needs more friends. I will be setting up an event on Facebook today and will add as many of you as we can. I am hoping to get the website updated soon as well. John will also send out an email blast to the NH Membership. Remember, no applications will be mailed for this event.
If you need to reach John, Greg or I then our contact info is below. Feel free to reach out to us with any questions. We look forward to seeing you all and we wish you the best of luck this season.
Thanks,
Chris Zalegowski czalegowski@dekaresearch.com (603)235-1529 www.nhracquetball.com
John Acampora resourcent@aol.com (603)493-4228
Greg Labrie greg.labrie@gmail.com (978)319-3300