RECREATION / IRENE GARCIA : Racquetball Bounces Back

Racquetball’s popularity has had ups and downs in the last decade and lately the sport has been on the rise, especially among recreational players.

The game’s popularity peaked in the early 1980s and plummeted around 1990, according to Jim Hiser, associate executive director of the American Amateur Racquetball Assn.

Now racquetball is almost as big as it was during its boom.

“It leveled off around 1992 and there’s been a gradual increase every year since that,” Hiser said.

The AARA estimates that 10 million people played racquetball when it was most popular 15 years ago. By 1990 that figure was seven million. Now it’s up to about eight million.

The latest Sporting Good Manufacturers Assn. report stated the number of racquetball players has increased 22% nationally since 1993. Among women there was a 64% increase in the same time frame.

“I’ve seen it firsthand,” said Debbie Tisinger, director of racquetball at Racquetball World in Canoga Park. “There’s more demand for leagues, especially among women. I think the sport is starting to peak again.

“I figured it would be a matter of time before it did. I knew it was coming.”

Tisinger is the director of a 32-player women’s professional tournament that runs Friday through Sunday at Racquetball World. She also is organizing a 300-player, five-division, amateur tournament at the club on the same days.

The women’s pro event has a $6,000 purse.

Thursday at 6:30 p.m., Chris Evon, the sixth-ranked player on the Women’s Professional Racquetball Assn. tour, will conduct a free clinic at Racquetball World.

“We’ll have a question and answer session then we’ll go through the fundamentals,” Evon said. “And people can play me.”

The women’s tour conducts free clinics at each of its eight stops and Evon says they’re very popular, especially among beginners who are curious to learn about the game.

Evon believes many people use racquetball as an alternative to aerobic classes and exercising on equipment such as stationary bikes.

“They like the game because it’s a great workout and it’s fun,” Evon said. “It’s also easy to pick up. It’s not that easy to be real good at it, but it’s easy to learn.”

Evon began playing racquetball 14 years ago while she was attending Southern Illinois University. She immediately got hooked and started competing in tournaments shortly after purchasing her first racquet.

Evon recently took a lengthy sabbatical from her job as a high school teacher in San Diego to dedicate more time to the game.

“I’ve noticed tournament play is down all over the country, but the number of people playing racquetball for fun has increased,” Evon said. “It was so hot for a while it had to slow down.”

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Good luck trying to get a court at Racquetball World during peak hours.

From 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays, all the club’s 21 available courts (two are undergoing earthquake repairs) are booked, Tisinger said.

That wasn’t the case a couple of years ago.

“I think the biggest reason it’s grown recreationally is because families can play together,” Tisinger said. “I see a lot of younger people out there for exercise and fun. And you can tell they’re really having a good time out there.”

Tisinger, a racquetball player for the last 15 years, has a theory on why the sport’s popularity faded in the first place.

“I think it was the big surge of aerobics and step classes,” she said. “And a lot of clubs were using the space for those kinds of activities instead of racquetball.”

Tisinger runs year-round leagues at the club Monday through Thursday and lately they have been filled to capacity. Attendance has almost doubled from a year ago, she said.

About 100 to 150 players participate in Tisinger’s leagues and the number grows weekly.

“There’s a lot of new people and many of them are just old-timers who keep coming back,” Tisinger said. “There’s all levels and ages. It’s for everybody.”