Good ideas generate good partners … and it was only a matter of time until the successful NMRA round-robin format became an international franchise. Details are being ironed out, but the LATIN AMERICAN Masters Racquetball Association has been formed and the debut LAMRA Championships are set for Guatemala City in November.
The NMRA hosts an International Championship annually, and Board President Cindy Tilbury has been closely involved in running it for well over ten years. Over that decade, she had given a lot of thought to the many 40+ Spanish-speaking players in Central and South America. “I wanted to create an event, and eventually an organization, that celebrated these players. When Guatemala finished its new 10-court Domo Complejo de Racquetball Club, I knew that would be the perfect spot to hold the first-ever Latin American Masters event.”
A resident of Guatemala City and one of the NMRA’s most dedicated players, Marie Gomar was the perfect choice for local tournament director and is set to become LAMRA’s President when everything becomes official. For the first year, the standard NMRA events template has been adopted for ease in the start up. It’s hoped that all of the 40+ Spanish-speaking players will try round-robin, self-refereed racquetball with back-to-back match scheduling that allows plenty of time for socializing and sightseeing.
As a destination, Guatemala offers plenty of the scenery we love, from volcanoes, highland lakes, turquoise waters, lush rainforest and Mayan ruins, to colorful indigenous markets that express a vivid culture and the region’s intriguing history. The club welcomes all international events and has already held world competitions, so the venue and host hotel arrangements are tried-and-true. It all adds up, so wish us luck in getting the word out to the target audience, and to establishing our core group in Latin America.
Next stop? Ireland? European Masters? We shall see … !