An email sent by USA Racquetball on Monday night confirmed the cancellation of the 2021 USA Racquetball National championships Festival.
Copy of the email text:
Dear USA Racquetball Family,
We are sorry to have inform you that due to unforeseen ongoing COVID-19 restrictions in the St. Louis area, the 2021 USA Racquetball National Championships Festival has to be canceled.
The St. Louis Sports Commission, in partnership with the Missouri Racquetball Association, the Missouri High School Racquetball Association, the Jewish Community Center, Vetta Racquet Sports, and Explore St. Louis built the bid for this event in January. USA Racquetball selected the bid from St. Louis due to the number of courts in close proximity, the centralized location nationally, and the city’s rich history history. During initial acceptance, there was a high probability that reopening measures were going to take place in the middle few weeks in March and that St. Louis County guidelines would move forward to lift the mask mandate for Racquetball play by the end of March 2021.
In mid-April, a few changes in St. Louis County included lifting the mask mandate during play for “low frequency” indoor sports like Tennis, and this created optimism for a continued positive direction for Racquetball. Today, May 3, 2021, state regulations have moved forward, but St. Louis County’s have not. The result of this gridlock, and the lack of assurance that the mask mandate for Racquetball will be lifted, makes this decision very difficult, as so many decisions have been over the past nearly 14 months.
Now being over seven weeks behind on anticipated reopening measures, USA Racquetball lacks enough time to confidently market the event, provide clear information to attendees on event logistics, and give players the overall experience they deserve for their investment of time and money.
So, where do we go from here?
Regarding hotel reservations, if you booked through our GroupHousing portal, all hotel reservations will be cancelled for you and refunds processed -- you do not need to contact them directly! If you made your hotel accommodations independent of using the GroupHousing portal, you should now move to cancel them yourself.
All entry fees will be refunded with credit processing fees absorbed by USA Racquetball.
If you booked flights through the United Olympic Desk, change fees have been waived. This email can be used as supporting evidence for cancellation or change if booked through any other airline.
USA Racquetball is currently working on activating our contingency plan we formulated in the case of event cancellation. Further information on a future National Team Qualifying option for both Adults and Juniors will be out soon. With the IRF World and IRF World Junior Championships still slated for later this fall, it is important that we identify our U.S. National Teams. Beyond the IRF events themselves, the IRF World Championships are the only qualifier for the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
We are also creating a plan to honor and induct the Hall of Fame Classes of 2020 and 2021. We have reached out to the Hall of Fame Committee as well as our five Hall of Fame inductees. Once a plan is firmly in place, an announcement will be forthcoming!
In conclusion, this announcement weighs heavily on us all after a long period of canceled championships, confusing changes in regulations, and disheartening news across the United States. The 2021 Festival was slated to mark a return-to-play national celebration for our community, and the decision to cancel was not made lightly.
Our Hall of Fame inductees, US Team athletes, and indeed every member of our Racquetball family deserve our best efforts going forward, and that’s exactly what you will have.
USA Racquetball deeply appreciates the teamwork and partnership afforded by the St. Louis Sports Commission and so many other organizations and businesses in the St. Louis area that participated in our Festival planning. The Commission has expressed that they have a very positive vision for the future of Racquetball events in St. Louis, and we feel just the same way!
For any questions regarding this announcement, please contact Connor Shane, USA Racquetball National Events Director, at cshane@usaracquetball.com or 719-635-5396 ext. 1.