The game of racquetball evolved from other racket sports like French court tennis, Spanish Jai alai in the seventeenth century, Irish immigrants introduction of handball to the United States in the 1900s, English squash in the 1850, and the British game of Rackets played in the early 1800s.  The evolutions of these various racket sport was inevitably racquetball in the 1950s.

In the early 1950s, Joe Sobek, a squash and tennis pro from the Greenwich, Connecticut YMCA, began playing an early version of racquetball called paddle rackets. Sobek formulated a new gaming concept by developing a paddle racket with a string face rather than a wooden one to increased velocity and control. Sobek rules were drawn from squash, handball, and paddleball rules. In 1968, Larry Lederman organized the first National Paddle Rackets Tournament in Milwaukee.

The popularity of paddleball led to the formation of the International Racquetball Association in 1969 under the management of Robert Kendler. The first order of business was to change the name from paddle rackets to racketball. Then with a touch of French nonchalance, the “k” was dropped in favor of “qu”, and thus the new name of Racquetball.

Go to Comparison:  RB is NOT tennis!!4

Kendler and Chuck Leve formed Racquetball Magazine in 1972. The first official Racquetball Championship was organized in 1969 in St. Louis and won by a San Diego dentist named Bud Meuhleisen. 

By 1970, the women had their own division and Fran Cohen was the first national champion. And since 1973, there has been a traveling circuit of professional racquetball tournaments and the United States Racquetball Association was formed as an amateur organization.

Today, the game of racquetball has over eleven million players and has settled in as one of America’s favorite recreational activity with over 15000 courts. The United States Olympic Committee has granted Group A membership to racquetball, making it the youngest sport ever to achieve that status. In 2002, the sport of racquetball went prime time with the showing of the premier United States Racquetball Open on ESPN.  Go to RB Time-Line 4

Sources:  (1) Racquetball: Steps to Success. Stan Kittleson. 1992  (2)Sports Illustrated Racquetball. Victor I. Spear. M.D. 1979  (3) Skills and Strategies for Winning Racquetball. Turner and Hogan. 1988
 

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