As the Tucson Memorial & WPH R48Pro Stop #2 nears, November 10th-12th, 2017, we have comprised a list of answers from questions asked throughout the past few weeks. This is such a big event with moving parts that could keep any schedule-keeper busy. Hopefully below, we can answer some of your questions. Keep in mind, most of these answers are all available to you by using your Tabs on the event webpage, HERE, to include Hotel, Fees, Divisions Offered, Club Address, Prize Money and more!
Event: 3rd Annual Tucson Memorial & WPH Race4Eight Professional Indoor 4Wall Men’s & Women’s Stop #2 (Plus, Big Ball 4 Wall Pro Stop)
Where: Tucson Racquet Club 4001 N Country Club Rd, Tucson, AZ, 85716 (On R2sports Info Tab)
Why: WPH is honoring those handball players that have passed in years past, plus those that were close to the WPH that left us this year; more specifically, WPH Cameraman, Ben Manning and former Board of Director, David Chapman. This event is also a JR WPH Development Charity tournament where all donations or funds raised will go to developing the game of handball. (Read about the Memorial) (Read more about Junior WPH). The Memorial trophy will be on display inside the Clubhouse for those that want to pay respects to Ben Manning, Dave Chapman, plus the names already on the trophy or others that were close to the handball community. Times for remembering and celebrating will be from 10am-8pm Friday and Saturday, with limited times available Sunday. Special Memorial celebration will take place between the men’s pro semifinals on the main court from 5:30pm-6:00pm (approx time) on Saturday night (to air on ESPN).
Registration: This is a rare event where you do not have to pay to play. It is a free tournament with no entry fee. Although the WPH does ask for a donation from each person in attendance, that donation goes toward Junior Development. Anyone can play and registration is either on line or with paper. Deadline to enter is November 2nd. If you have family members or friends that want to support the event, but not play, then please have them register on line as a Non-Player. Their registration will bring them continuous food and Tournament Souvenir, plus some Show Court Viewing. A player can play in three events only if one of those events is the small ball pro qualifier (Pro qualifier begins Thursday, see below under Qualifier, for more details).
Deadline to Enter: November 2nd, 2017 (HERE)
Starting times: To find your starting times and to follow the draws during the event, click HERE>
ESPN3 & WatchESPN App: WPH film crews, along with ESPN, will be airing blocks of handball action from 10am Arizona Time, Saturday and Sunday, November 11th & 12th, to 7pm and 1:30pm, Respectively. As always, you can get more info at www.race4eight.com, or just check the front page of the WPH Website for broadcast schedule and updates (week of the event). (ESPN Coverage of handball to air on ESPN3 & WatchESPN App from 10am-7pm, Saturday & 10am-1:30pm, Sunday)
Food, Hospitality & Live Band: Provided by “Conflicted” Jim Verhaeghe (Breakfast), the TRC & WPH Board of Directors w/continuous food being offered from sunup to sunset on most days. Continuous food ends at 3pm on Saturday, as the outdoor lawn will first bring a Open Cash Bar, then Saturday night BBQ @ 6pm ($15 per person) just a few feet from the handball courts. Live Music by Desert Reggae Band, Rilen’Out! will be on the lawn (in the WPHLiveTV/Tucson Rolling Shutters Gazebo) just after the food starts. Bringing family members? We ask that you make a small donation to the WPH for those wanting hospitality as part of their visit. Those that are registered as a Non-Player can have the luxury of knowing that they will be treated just like a participation in the event. Go Here to register, then select Non-Player. Following the BBQ, WPH will hold a fun Mixed Doubles Pickleball tournament and/or Mixed Doubles Handball Tournament and have Ping-Pong challenges.
Registration & Merchandise: Registration will begin on Friday at 8am. Merchandise will also be available on site during some tournament hours
Main Court Access & Viewing: VIP seats, bleacher seats and additional viewing available by contacting WPH Event Team Member, Jeff Healam @ Jeffh@tucsonrollingshutters.com (These seats could sell out before you even read this post – First Come First Serve)
Junior Clinics and Games: Saturday JR WPH Clinics for youth and collegiates at 2:30 pm w/JR matches starting at 3 pm. WPH will track the Team Juarez vs. Team Tucson (Fred Lewis Foundation) matches and include as part of the Battle of the Border. Sunday, JR matches start at 9 am w/JR matches ending at roughly 12 pm; where potential Battle of the Border matches could occur between 1p-3p (possibility of adding pro players and coaches for a fun doubles) – Do you have a junior player that wants to be involved? Contact David Fink @ Fink@race4eight.com. 1pm Sunday, Battle of the Border Cup presentation to winning team, w/pictures of the juniors with their medals.
TRC Club Rules: The Tucson Racquet Club is a private club, behavior rules are based on Club Administration’s Rules. The TRC has a quick trigger and low tolerance on rudeness, behavior issues, excessive drinking, unmonitored children, loudness, etc. We expect everyone to be on their best behavior. Although the club allows fans and friends into the facility, this doesn’t mean everyone has full access to the facility. Players only can access the Handball Club House, Lawn, Restaurants; Non-members CANNOT access the Swimming Pool, Tennis Courts, or Basketball Courts (and more). No outside food or drink is allowed into the club; the TRC has a full service bar on campus and only 100 feet from the Handball Clubhouse. TRC serves Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.
R48/WR48 Rules: Eyewear mandatory for practice matches and in competition. 1-strike and you’re out rule.
· All main draw matches: 15-15-15, win by two in all games, two 60-second timeouts per game, one 30-second timeout per game, 4 minutes between games
· All Qualifier and Playoff matches: one game to 25, win by 2, three 60-second timeouts, four-minute Halftime when the first player scores 15 (the player serving to start the match will be receiving after Halftime, regardless of who scored the 15th point)
· Instant replay: Players are given one incorrect instant replay in games to 15 and 25
· Only the referee can call slides and bad bounces (cannot be appealed to line judges): only blatant rally-changing bad bounces and/or slides will be replayed
· If possible, referee should have line judges in place to start matches
· To ask for a video replay, the player must request a video replay after the rally and specify what is being challenged (short serve, server can appeal on a foot fault call against him immediately but not after the rally)
· There can be no coaching unless during an official timeout or between games. “Coaches” will be removed from the gallery if they are seen coaching in between points or during towel timeouts
· To see all pro player rules, GO HERE>
Referee Clinic (Friday): Mandatory for ALL RANKED PROS, as USHA Rules Chairman Tom Sove will be leading two referee’s clinics on Friday, November 10. Each clinic will be the same and all ranked pros are required to attend one, or forfeit any prize money earned at The Memorial. The clinic times will be 10am and 1pm. Please let David Fink know which clinic you will be attending. This clinic will help all of the pros and administrators to better referee matches, from dealing with stalling to calling hinders and avoidable hinders and everything in between.
Memberships: All players entering The Memorial must be current WPH members before playing their first match in order to participate (for pro players, in order to receive prize money: No Exceptions) To renew or start your WPH membership and receive the special $20 player rate, you can Paypal $20 to extremehandball@cs.com. Please include your name, mailing address, and email address attention WPH membership in the Paypal message. You can also renew/start your WPH membership here. If you are not able to register on Paypal or online, please see David Fink or a WPH staffer before starting your first match. If you wait until the event to register or renew your membership, you will have to pay $40 (cash) on site. Please make it easier on yourself and the WPH staffers and join before arriving in Tucson. If you are not sure if you are a current member, please email the WPH (info@wphlive.tv)
Refereeing: Losers must referee on the same court or find a suitable replacement or will forfeit prize money earned
Thursday Night Manning Cup & Standby Qualifier: WPH will hold a special Manning Cup team competition on Thursday night, November 9, to honor the loss of our film crew member Ben Manning. This is not mandatory, but will be a lot of fun. Hoping to field teams from Tucson, LAAC, Ireland, NYAC, Olympic Club, Canada, Mexico and more (Already confirmed are Team Mexico, Team Canada, Team Tucson). Men’s and Women’s pros will be part of the teams. There will be singles and doubles. All matches will be one game. This will be a great way to warm-up for the event and represent your home city/country. The winning team will be presented with the Manning Cup, a trophy the winning team will hold for one year. All Manning Cup players will be treated to a special VIP dinner after the competition. Contact me David Fink if interested in participating (Fink@race4eight.com). The Manning Cup will start at 4 pm on Thursday, November 9; soon after, the WPH Standby Qualifier will kick off with either one or two players being inserted into the 44-person qualifier Friday Morning. By entering the Standby Qualifier, it will be your last chance to get into the Pro Singles Bracket.
Prize Money: Trophies will be awarded for all divisions, to include the Manning Cup, Battle @ the Border III, Yellow Jerseys for pro divisions, cash and ranking points. To see how the $60k in cash & prizes breaks-down, go to the event page and use the tab that says prizes, HERE>
Hotels: After locating the closest hotel to the facility and gathering the special handball discount rate, we discovered that you could even get a better rate by going through travel sites like hotels.com, for example. The Homestead Suites, by Hilton, is located at 4250 N Campbell Ave, Tucson, AZ, 85718. From the back door, walk east .08 of a mile on the river walk, cross the river and you are at the TRC (Athletic Club) back door. Here’s a Google, Snapshot>
Women’s Elite Pro Stop #1: Top women’s stars from all over the globe will be on hand, to include #1 Catriona Casey (IRE) and #2 Martina McMahon (IRE). 2017’s National Finalist, Tracy Davis (CA), #5 Aimee Ulbert (GA), Suz Koehler, Ashley Moler, and Hilary Rushe, plus one of the greatest to ever play, Jenny Schmitt, making her first WPH Start (We cannot be more happy). Anyone can play in this event and registration will close November 2nd, so get in! Women’s pro rankings, HERE>
Men’s Elite Pros @ Stop #2: Top Men’s pros will call this stop two, but for fans it will be the first ESPN-filmed event of the season. Killian Carroll is not only #1, but is the two time defending national champ and defending player’s cup champ twice removed. David Fink comes in at #2, followed by each of the next top 10 ranked pros, including: Luis Moreno (AZ), Mando Ortiz (CA), Luis Cordova (GA), Sean Lenning (WA), Daniel Cordova (GA), Emmett Peixoto (CA), Vic Perez (CA), Robert McCarthy (IRE), Jon Iglesias (CO), Stephen Cooney (NY) and more! Rankings HERE>
Qualifier Capped at 44, however: A special “pre-qualifier” called the Standby Bracket, is in affect. The main 44-man pro qualifier begins Friday morning at 9am; however, up to two players will be inserted into this popular draw by first playing in the Standby Qualifier that begins Thursday afternoon after 4pm. Do you want to get in this event? Email Dave Vincent at info@wphlive.tv
Big Ball (WallBall) 4 Wall Pros: Big ball will invade the TRC and so will the pros. Samzon Hernandez, Timothy Gonzalez, Shorty Ruiz, Chava Cordova and more will put on a show that you will not forget. Come get into one of the most exciting brackets that the game has to offer.
Directors: Outdoor & Junior/David Fink fink@race4eight.com, Outdoor/Tom Flores flores@wphoutdoor.com, Local/Scott Cleveland scleve1411@yahoo.com 208-941-7975
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