L-R: Carrie Reitmeier, Julie Dvorak, Lynette Farhart (NE Komen office), Eleanor Alston and Julie Brewer. Eleanor Alston and Lenora Vinckier. Great to have Eleanor feeling good enough to participate in the event. Participants hanging out (notice the silent auction tables in the background). Karim Khayati jumping for joy after placing the winning bid on an auction item.

It just keeps getting better!
Over $31,000 raised in our first three years! That’s what the racquetball community and Prairie Life Fitness members have donated through “Racquet for the Cure” events over the past three years - both to Komen for the Cure, as well as shared with two of PLF’s own employees battling breast cancer.

This year PLF conducted a silent auction with over 150 items from local area donors, which raised $6400. The auction featured Peggy Karr plates, UNO Maverick tickets, jewelry and gift certificates which were very popular. We also raffled off a 1 year PLF family membership and an Ektelon Pink O3 racquet which, combined, raised over $1200.

Several departments at PLF got involved this year. The spinning department took pledges for miles rode; the child care department collected coins; the masseuses offered chair massages as a donation. We wish to thank them all for their wonderful efforts.

Committee members hosted a wine and beer tasting event on Friday night, where four vendors donated their time and products and shared their expert knowledge with the 64 guests. Quality Brands of Omaha, Nebraska Wine and Spirits, Midwest Premier Distributing and Superior Estates Winery were all very generous. The PLF gym was transformed into an intimate candlelit setting with music and hors d'oeuvres that allowed our guests, including Miss Nebraska, Micaela Johnson, an atmosphere to enjoy their evening.

Eleanor Alston, a three-year RFC committee member, racquetball player, PLF employee, wife and mother of 3 shared her courageous story that started in June’07 when she was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer. Her determination is ever apparent and she inspired us all as she addressed the party-goers.

Saturday brought the racquetball tournament as all 50 players enjoyed awesome souvenirs donated by one of our major sponsors, Goracke and Associates. In addition to the regular divisions for the racquetball tournament, we included the 10 person TEAM concept for the 3rd straight year. Players are divided into teams distinguished by matching headbands and their points from their individual games are added up for a TEAM total. TEAM Yellow barely edged out the TEAM Blue.

Overall, the event was fun and beneficial to all. PLF would like to offer a special thank you to the RFC committee, Julie Dvorak, Jane Fleming, Julie Brewer, Eleanor Alston and Carrie Reitmeier, for volunteering their time and talents to make the 3rd annual Racquet for the Cure at PLF the best so far and leaving us with anticipation for next year’s event. We feel so fortunate to belong to such a strong, caring racquetball community and health club. 

Linda Covault presenting a RFTC visor to first place novice Cheryl Castaneda Women's doubles L-R: Tracy Burke, Lori Hill, Deb Evers and Anna Byers RFTC tournament committee check presentation (L-R): Deb Evers, Janet Zylstra (Komen Affiliate Board President), Linda Covault, Kathi Hartl, Lori Hill, Holly Szablewski, Sally Sheperdson (Komen Milwaukee Affiliate Executive Director), Kathy Roskopf, Penny Kroening and Anna Byers (not pictured).

2nd Annual West Allis RFTC brings in $15k
Great racquetball, great fun, great food, great fellowship all played a part in the huge success of the Second Annual Racquet for the Cure fund raising event. Because of the generosity of so many sponsors, donors, players, participants and volunteers the event raised $15,247.00 for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation! The Wisconsin Athletic Club of West Allis hosted the event again this year.

The event kicked off with a fun "Meet and Greet" doubles on Friday, October 5th, for men and women. Everyone participated in the 50/50 raffle that night which started the donations for the Cure. On Saturday, there were 67 women who participated in the racquetball tournament representing all skill levels. Players from throughout Wisconsin and Illinois came to play singles and doubles in a round robin format in their respective divisions.

During the week leading up to the tournament, over 100 donated items and services were on display and up for bid in a silent auction. The tournament also featured a full scale raffle with the chance to win at least one of the over 50 items on display. As evening approached, the final bids were placed on the auction items and all the raffle items were presented to the winners. Once prizes were distributed, a local DJ donated her time to play music Saturday night and the fun continued with dancing. New features to this year's event included a health fair which had information on breast cancer, court sponsors who had their logo displayed on the front wall of a court, and local TV news coverage which was aired on the evening news that day.

A gracious thank you goes to everyone for their contributions towards this very worthy cause. The success of the Racquet for the Cure lies at the heart of all of these people and their willingness to make a difference. There are so many ways to make an impact and we kindly commend those who have helped raise a two-year total of $25,367.00. We will not stop until there is a cure. Make a commitment to join us for the Third Annual Racquet for the Cure Tournament on October 3-4, 2008. Hope to see you there!

The following are the 2007 Racquet for the Cure sponsors. Thank them with your support by honoring them with your patronage: All American Graphics, Piranha Promotions, Ektelon, Aurora Women’s Pavilion, Promolux, Wilson, C & H Distributors, R. A. Smith & Associates, Chris Rox, Tres Locos, Genesis Jewelry & Art Gallery, Wauwatosa Savings Bank, Grasshopper Graphics, West Allis Animal Hospital, Great Wraps, Wisconsin Athletic Club, Melster Pro Shop.

The Fundraising Committee Casino Night At the Banquet L-R: Cheryl Kirk presents USAR Women's Committee check to Becky & Dave Auer and Pam Schubach.

Third Annual RFTC in Peoria donates $12k
Peoria, Illinois held its Third Annual Racquet for the Cure (RFTC) tournament on August 24 & 25, 2007 at Landmark Racquet & Health Club to support the Peoria Memorial Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. We exceeded our fundraising goal again this year, and a total donation in the amount of $12,000 was generated*, bringing our three year grand total to $27,000. [ read unedited summary ]

In order to achieve our fundraising goals, a Planning & Fundraising Committee, consisting of Pam Schubach & Jim Maroon (co-directors), Traci Steen, Karen Carter, Joann Kempthorne and Gail Goeppinger set objectives. To meet our goals, we added more local committee members including JoAnn Wickwire, Jim and Monica Freaner, John Snarr, Bob Schwab and Gary Steiger.

Pictured top right (L-R): Monica Freaner, JoAnn Wickwire, Jim Freaner, Karen Carter, Jim Maroon, Joann Kempthorne, Gail Goeppinger, Pam Schubach, Traci Steen and Gary Steiger.

We also had an Advisory Committee consisting of Cheryl Kirk (Naperville), Laurel Davis (Chicago) and Kelly Carter (Bloomington) to gain their input and pass the word to other local club players. With input from the Cheryl and Laurel, we had this tournament sanctioned for the first time by USA Racquetball. The sanctioning fees were underwritten by donations from the tournament.

We had 48 players this year consisting of 30 women and 18 men (Mixed doubles only), including entrants who came from Illinois, Iowa and Indiana. The format was a two-day racquetball tournament beginning Friday evening with Women's Singles, Women's Doubles, and to include the men, Mixed Doubles. Upon entering the tournament, all women were given an embroidered welcome bag (with the RFTC logo) full of items including Clinique, food coupons, etc. The men received a dri-release T-shirt with the RFTC logo.

The event also received local broadcast promotion from the NBC affiliate, that aired a video clip and voiceover, which reported: Passion for finding a cure for breast cancer hits the courts. On Saturday, more than 50 racquetball players from throughout the Midwest gathered at Landmark Recreation Center. In addition to the competition and camaraderie, they came together for Komen. Organizers say they couldn't think of a better way to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation than doing something they love. "Everybody has someone they know or themselves who have been impacted by Breast Cancer so that's really our driving force. We take our little passion of playing racquetball and turn it into a fundraiser," Event Organizer Pam Schubach says. This is the third year for Racquet for the Cure. Last year, they raised about ten thousand dollars from this event. [ view the clip ]

Thanks to the support of our sponsors, the tournament players, the Planning & Fundraising Committee, the Advisory Committee and the many volunteers for making this event a success! Plans are underway for the 4th Annual Racquet for the Cure tournament in Peoria to help fight breast cancer in 2008.

*Total funds donated to the Peoria affiliate included a $9,200 site donation from the Landmark event, plus a added $2,800 check, made up of funds collected by the USAR Women's Committee at the National Singles Championships in Houston, in May.

See the fundraiser Photo Album See the event Photo Album

Spectrum Club Hosts "Pay to Play" Fundraiser
The 2007 "Pay to Play" fundraiser and Women's Racquetball Tournament at the Spectrum Club in Canoga Park, California was enjoyed by all and succeeded in raising over $900 for "Racquet for the Cure".

The recently crowned Pan Am Champions, World #1 Rhonda Rajsich and her doubles partner, Janel Tisinger, highlighted the "Racquet for the Cure" fundraiser by taking on all challengers. Players made donations for the opportunity to play the world champs in seven point games. Many of the teams played more than once, and one player enjoyed it so much that he played four times.

The annual tournament added a twist this year, allowing men to play by offering mixed doubles. Janel Tisinger and Sherron Boyea won first and second place, respectively, in the Women Open Singles, and Vivian Schneider and Kim Glansberg won first and second place, respectively, in the Women "A" Singles, but the real excitement was in the round robin doubles as the winners were decided by the final matches that were played. Janel Tisinger and Debralyn Kahikina edged out Debbie Tisinger-Moore and Oralia Ellswoth-Lara for the win in the Women Advanced Doubles. Then Debralyn Kahikina teamed with Rick Betts to squeak by Vivian Schneider and Ernie Dominguez in the Mixed Advanced Doubles.

Thanks to all who helped make the weekend the success that it was and a special thanks to Ektelon for their support of the "Pay to Play" fundraiser.

USAR Women's Committee L-R: Cheryl Kirk, Malia Bailey, Linda Mojer, Lorraine Galloway (chair).    Raffle winner Steve Cook accepts his prize painting from the artist, Ruben Gonzelez. Photo: Geoff Thomsen

USRA Women's Committee Hosts
Reception & Artwork Fundraiser for RFTC
The USAR Women's Committee hosted its second "Ladies Night" reception for women who had traveled to compete at the National Singles Championships in Houston. The May event was a follow-up to last year's successful social that was driven by Committee Chair Lorraine Galloway.

With support from Ektelon, Wilson and USA Racquetball, attendees were treated to a full buffet of hors d'oeuvres and cocktails, along with racquetballs, wristbands, grips, posters and Racquet for the Cure t-shirts. Guests answered trivia questions to win an assortment of beautiful door prizes jewelry and an on-site raffle drawing awarded signature racquets to Laura Brandt of Florida, and Marcia Richards of Colorado.

Informal remarks were presented by each of the Women's Committee members in turn, along with USRA Executive Director Jim Hiser, WPRO tour regular Brenda Kyzer, Women's Senior/Master spokeswoman Terry Rogers, NMRA President Tom Curran, and USAR Board President Randy Stafford. Closing remarks were delivered by Racquet for the Cure organizers Linda Mojer and Marcia Richards, who reported the near-successful collection of just under $100,000 for the Komen for the Cure Foundation over the past twelve months. Only just shy of the mark (at ~$95,000), Linda recognized the very hard work of the RFTC committee, and retiring chairwoman Jean Gallagher in particular, with sincere thanks and appreciation.

To close out the evening, racquetball legend Ruben Gonzalez unveiled his original painting entitled "Spirit of the Journey" which was dedicated "In honor and memory of those who have dealt with the challenges of breast cancer in their lives." Brisk sales of raffle tickets followed, and an impressive $2,790 was raised in just 48 hours time. The winner was Steve Cook of California, who claimed the artwork at the banquet on Saturday evening, and committee member Cheryl Kirk later rounded up the total to $2800 and presented the proceeds to the Peoria affiliate of Komen for the Cure.