Happy New Year from Pro Racquetball Stats and Todd Boss. It ahs been a tumultuous year for the Men’s Pro tour and the sport in general. Here’s a quick run through the seminal events to this observer of the 2025 year, along with some commentary/Retrospective after the fact.
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– 1/21/25: The World Team Racquetball concept debuted at the 2024 3WB event is officially pulled underneath the IRT umbrella, with the blessing of Mike
Coulter. Mike Kinkin will become the president of the WTR. The group plans WTR events at each of the three outdoor majors in addition to other 2025 spots.
In retrospect, this announcement didn’t have the impact we thought it might at the time. WTR did run an event at the 2025 Warhawk Open, but it was mostly Amateur teams (albeit with fantastic names). That event was overshadowed by fixture congestion that badly impacted the attendance of both the Warhawk Open and the Beach Bash outdoor major, which led to bruised egos amongst the various event directors involved. This problem, coincidentally, returns again in 2026, as the two events will conflict again and will overlap with the first weekend of the Pan Am games. We just have to figure out how to stop this from happening year after year.
– 1/21/25: the new IRT commissioner Dave Negrete wants to revert back to some of the tour rules that were the norm during his time. Most notably, he wants
to return to protected top 8 seeds into the round of 16 and to go back to a fall-to-spring multi-year season. This may end up meaning that the 2025 “season”
is just six months long, comprising just those events that are held between the beginning of the year and the August World Singles and Doubles event.
In retrospect, we have not seen the “top 8 get byes into the 16s” but we have seen the conversion of the schedule to a fall-to-spring. Instead of giving a 2025 half-season champ, they decided to have a super-sized 18-month season to determine the 2025-26 champion this coming June.
– 2/28/25: Dan Jaskier, owner and President of the Glass Door Swim & Fitness club in Lombard, Illinois, announces that the club is closing after 48 years.
The 3/16/25 tournament will be the last major pro stop at the club, ending a decades-long association with both pro tours.
Update: there was a Nov 2025 post on the Glassdoor Facebook page intimating that the club was possibly re-opening. I have no idea if they’ve remodeled the inside, who’s involved, or if there’s the possibility of the return of the Geoff Peters legacy event that was one of the most popular stops on tour. IRT commissioner Negrete lives in the Chicago area, so i’m sure he’s on top of it.
-3/6/25: The IRT introduces the “IRT Club,” a monthly subscription service that gives access to a 2nd stream plus other benefits. https://irttour.com/irt-club/
Notes: this is one of the new ideas from the new IRT ownership group, and is spearheaded by Adam Manilla. They offer fantasy racquetball and a new podcast series hosted by yours truly alongside Brian Pineda. It’s $15/month and also gives access to alternate streaming at IRT events.
– 3/21/25: Months after Swain’s 10/4/24 announcement, the USAR officially announces the 2026 US Open return in June to Missouri State University.
Notes: in the months since, we’ve seen a couple of updates from the organizers, and all organizations are working as if this event is happening. So, make plans to visit Missouri in June 2026.
– 3/23/25: Cliff Swain and Jeff Collins release a new video on the US Open. They’ve confirmed dates (June 10-14th 2026). Details include:
– Portable court is to be used, will be at the Springfield Expo center
– 12 courts at Missouri state University
– all within 5mins of each other; hotel, university, showcourt
– Richard Eisemann onboard as tourney coordinator, Tillbury hospitality/vip liaisons.
– Straight draw; no qualifiers in pros
– going to old-school scoring 3/5 to 11
– Dedicated referee staff on showcase on court; 5 officials planned
– winners ref on amateur side.
– Looking to raise $300k. Gives breakdown of what that revenue goes for: $40k IRT, $40k LPRT purses, $80k court, $50k facility rental
Notes: the transparency and advance planning is refreshing. Putting out these numbers in plain sight for those who have consistently questioned why the portable court isn’t constantly in use should resolve criticism of event planners. It costs a ton to transport, install, configure, tear-down, store, and insure the court.
– 4/18/25: Mike Coulter of 3WB publicly announces that the 3WallBall in Las Vegas has to be “paused” in 2025 due to the drastic rise in costs that the economy has seen in the early parts of 2025. They’re looking for a site in Southern California to host the 2025 version of the event on courts that can be rented, not built.
Retrospect: the writing was on the wall for this announcement for a while; costs and inflation have crushed the country, attendance has dwindled at 3WB for a bit, and it stopped being a viable tournament for Coulter to host. My big worry with something like this is, once Mike loses the spot on the schedule with the hotel, it’s going to be doubly difficult to ever get it back. I hope we haven’t seen the last of 3WB in Vegas, but don’t have high hopes.
– 5/3/25: #5 Alan Natera has a knee operation. Per Natera, he had knee arthroscopy, ACL, and meniscus reconstruction. He had been playing with pain for months and it was time to do it before it got worse. No word on recovery time or how long he’ll be out, but the next scheduled event isn’t until September. Update: Alan plays in the early September 2025 World Singles & Doubles.
This injury/surgery was well timed for Natera, who didn’t miss a ton of events and still is maintaining his top 10 status. He’s taken some tough losses as he’s stuck in the 8/9 seed spot right now, part of which may still be due to him testing out the knee. I’ve had multiple knee operations, and in one case it took me two years to return to the court.
– 5/8/25: Mike Coulter/3WB announces that 2025’s Outdoor Nationals will join forces with 3WB for 2025.
This collaboration made sense, as 3WB was already heavily involved in Beach Bash and it can only help with sponsors and splitting the workload.
– 6/3/25: Jeff Collins, Cliff Swain, and others hold a press conference in Springfield, MO to discuss the 2026 US Open.
– 6/23/25: Pan Am Games organizers officially release the 2027 slate of sports, and Racquetball has been cut.
Commentary: for a few weeks this looked like a dagger for the sport’s reputation … but read on for an update in early August.
– 8/7/25: IRT releases its fall/spring slate of events and its massive: there’s nearly 20 full stops and satellites planned, a return to Mexico, and a return to a number of old stops that have lost their sponsors over the years. Great news.
In the months since, the slate has been pared a bit, but there’s still been a ton of IRT-350 satellite events held and the Tier 1 slate is bigger and better than it has been in years. The new ownership group is having a major impact on the tour.
– 8/7/25: Racquetball gets back into the 2027 Pan Am Games! Despite not being included in the original slate of games IRF President Osvaldo Maggi had been working with Pan Am behind the scenes and secured a return of the sport today.
Commentary: initially, the loss of racquetball from the Pan Am games had been predicted for years by insiders, and it would have been a real disappointment for the sport. Peru took over as host from Colombia , and when Lima hosted these same games in 2019 they had Racquetball … but for some reason chose to initially eliminate it this time around. All due credit to Maggi for politicking behind the scenes and making this happen.
This is one of those seminal events that has outsized impact; if we’re out of the Pan Am Games, we as a sport may lose accreditation with our own USOPC, which cuts funding and reduces our legitimacy as a sport. I think we’re well past any pursuit of getting into the Olympics at this point in the sport’s history (and, lets be honest, when the sport was ignored for the 1984 Olympics in LA, and again in 1996 in Atlanta … both big-time racquetball towns and at the absolute height of our sport’s popularity and participation, we should have realized there was never a shot), but the Pan Am games still remained the highest honor we had internationally, and we hold onto participation for one more cycle.
– 8/8/25: Bobby Horn, who attempted a comeback last season, undergoes shoulder surgery
You hate to see these long-term injuries, which rob players of months at a time.
– 9/2/25: New president Dave Negrete releases an “Update” on the new season, naming the new official IRT staff.
Keith Minor – Owner
Dave Negrete – President
Adam Manilla – Vice President
Pablo Fajre – Director of Media and Commissioner
Jared Harding – Chief Marketing Officer (Fractional)
plus key sponsors:
KWM Gutterman
Black and White Energy Drink
Frank Hotels
PapaNicholas Coffee
Gearbox Sports
My Pillow
Note: Negrete’s re-involvement brings back a ton of connections he maintained from 20 years ago, and the group is adding new major sponsors like the Black & White and Frank Hotels.
– 10/21/25: Pro Kennex announces that they’re reuniting with long-time PK player Kane Waselenchuk.
Notes: The two parted ways in Sept 2021 when a Pandemic-
afflicted company and Waselenchuk couldn’t come to an agreement on outstanding payments as the tours cancelled events for nearly a year. It bad at the time, but the two sides buried the hatchet and are working together again. Kane was reportedly using a blacked-out Gearbox to compete and now gets his trusty old sticks back.
– 10/29/25: 3-time champ Daniel De la Rosa reportedly has his PPA contract terminated for lack of performance. Will he return to Racquetball?
Notes: this was an ill-kept secret in the pickleball world, but as of this writing we haven’t seen DLR return to any known racquetball stuff. And, in the most recent post on his page he had a ton of hashtags for MLP, so maybe DLR has negotiated his way back to a pay as you go contract with the PPA instead of the salary based one. Either way, he hasn’t played a pro event since Jan 2024, but is the reigning US National singles champion. Will DLR defend his title? Well, there is a PPA event the same weekend as USAR Nationals, so he’d have to skip it … but if he’s not under contract it won’t matter. We’ll see what happens.
– 12/7/25: Erick Trujillo has missed every event for the past 6 months; is he officially stepping back? He’s now a 5.5 DUPR rated pickleball competitive player; could he be making a push towards pro pickleball instead?
comments: Trujillo’s DUPR rating is on the rise, but I don’t see him traveling to any US-based events thus far. It’s also possible that he’s made the very rational decision that losing in the 16s at IRT events isn’t worth the money it takes to get there.
– 12/20/25: Mike Kinkin is named the President of FormulaFlow Racquetball. He joins forces with Mauricio Zelada’s budding racquet manufacturer
Notes: this is an interesting move; FormulaFlow is now one of 3-4 remaining manufacturers in the space. I haven’t had a chance to catch up with Kinkin about the move or what they plan, but it is good to see a brand pushing further into the sport rather than walking away from it.
– 12/29/25: IRT announces that the new ball of the tour is the Formula Flow Blue. This replaces the thicker, slower Gearbox ball.
Notes: no word yet on how the FF ball plays; is it faster, slower, thicker, bouncier? No idea.
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Phew; that’s it. Did I miss any major events worth noting?