The upcoming 2024 Outdoor Nationals tournament, held at Marina Park in Huntington Beach, CA on July 12-14th 2024, is the 50th anniversary of the event. Like this Rose Bowl in College Football, Outdoor Nationals is “The Granddaddy” of Outdoor tournaments in the sport, and for decades it drove the conversation about the top outdoor players in the sport.
Brief Oral History of the Tournament
On this seminal anniversary of the event, lets take a quick trip through time to give a history of the event, from its origins in the early 1970s to where it stands today, and what may happen in the coming years.
The first ever Outdoor Nationals was held in 1974, and was the brainchild of two professors at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California named Bob Wetzel and Barry Wallace. Wallace and Wetzel ran the first event on the Orange Coast campus and ensured that all the top indoor and outdoor players of the era were present. The first two singles champions, Charlie Brumfeld and Betty Weed, are also both WOR Hall of Fame members for their outdoor exploits. Brumfeld teamed with his fellow San Diego-based pro Dr. Bud Muehleisen to beat Wallace & Wetzel in the first Men’s Doubles final. The event was a hit, and leading indoor pros of the era like Brumfield, Serot, Hogan, and Keeley kept returning to Southern California every July to compete for the event for years to come.
The original Orange Coast courts were unique: instead of the regular 40x20 footprint we have grown to expect in the sport, they were longer and wider (23x46), the service line was further back than normal, and the front walls were taller than a typical court. This configuration led to very unique tactics and playing styles on the courts, factors that remain to this day as Southern California outdoor specialists grow up playing on these huge courts and develop playing styles specific to them.
After nearly a decade in charge of the event, Wallace & Wetzel handed over reigns of the event to Jim Carson, an outdoor legend who also happened to be the coach (and future husband) of the leading outdoor female pro in the area in Lynn Adams. Carson oversaw the event during most of the 1980s run as power came into the game and a set of outdoor specialists dominated the sport. Players like Mark Harding, Paul Olsen, Martha McDonald, Diane Heims, Dave Trent, Dan Southern, and Steve Fey (WOR Hall of Famers all of them) ruled the OCC courts every summer. The 1980s also started the Brian Hawkes era, as he took the first of his 20 Outdoor Nationals singles titles in 1981.
By the early 1990s, the tournament had to move, and new Tournament Director Mike Martinez (the same Martinez who now leads Pro Kennex) found courts at nearby Golden West College that had the same 23x46 configuration. The new courts at Golden West played host to a slew of new faces pouring into the game. Hawkes continued to dominate in Singles, but the likes of Tony Jelso, Greg Freeze, Dave Genevay, Greg Solis, and of course Rocky Carson started chipping away at the Hawkes dominance as the new century turned.
By 2005, a new movement was afoot in outdoor racquetball. Longtime IRT commissioner Hank Marcus had formulated a new association called the World Outdoor Racquetball (WOR) association in an attempt to bring together the dozens of outdoor racquetball communities spread around the country, and a new national focus came to the event. The tournament moved again, moving just down the road from Golden West to Marina Park in Huntington Beach, where the event has been ever since. The new courts are well kept and maintain the spacious dimensions that the tournament has had since its inception. The new WOR organization brought on board new Tourney Directors for Outdoor Nationals, and between 2004 and 2012 the event was run by people who often served double duty as the WOR national Event directors. In 2012, Vic Leibofsky passed the torch to the duo of Geoff Osberg and Jesus Ustarroz to run the event; these two local players are constant presences at Marina Park and remain the directors of the event to this day. Their decade-plus of work is set to be recognized at this event as the pair are set to be inducted into the WOR hall of Fame as the class of 2024. They have guided the event as it has gone back to attracting “indoor pros” after more than 20 years of not doing so, with top players like Daniel De La Rosa, Alvaro Beltran, Cliff Swain, Rhonda Rajsich, Aimee Roehler, Janel Tisinger, Michelle Key, Carla Muñoz, and Charlie Pratt have taken titles and become outdoor regulars.
Today’s competition has begun to swing back to the outdoor specialists though, especially on the Men’s side as Southern California-based outdoor specialists like Jason Geis, Micah Rich, Josh Tucker, Luis Avila, and Brandon Davis have taken back control of “their sport” and have proven worthy opponents for even the best indoor pros of the day.
2024 Outdoor Nationals Preview
As of this writing, the entry deadline for the event is still weeks away, but we have a good idea of who may be competing for the title. The defending champs are Brandon Davis & Josh Tucker, and the two-time defending champs before them were Jason Geis & Micah Rich. These two pairs are regulars at Marina Park and have fine-tuned their games for the big courts there, and will make for very difficult opponents for any teams who match up. Rocky Carson & Jesus Ustarroz are long-time partners who are always top seeds. Outdoor doubles legend Alvaro Beltran is back and healthy, and played last year with the 14-time IRT champ Kane Waselenchuk, but there’s no word whether he’ll be back this year.
Meanwhile, on the ladies side, a handful of women have been dominating the Outdoor majors for the past few years, and they all project to be in California for this event. Carla Muñoz teamed with Janel Tisinger-Ledkins last year to take the title after winning it each of the previous four years with Michelle Key. Kelani Lawrence may be a likely landing spot for Key for a partner for this event, and they’ll try to hold off other pros who generally travel (Rhonda Rajsich, Jessica Parrilla). Don’t count out the legendary Paraiso sisters, who are based in LA and who might come out of semi-retirement to mix it up with the regulars.
Reminder: Cup Series points are up for grabs
Outdoor Nationals is the 2nd leg of the three-part Outdoor Cup Series (along with March’s Beach Bash and September’s 3WallBall in Las Vegas). The leaders coming out of Florida are mostly east-coast based one-wall specialists, but a couple of names high on the leader board should be in California for the second leg. Look for Robert Sostre, Rocky Carson, and Rick Koll to move up the Men’s cup standings in July. On the Ladies side, Lawrence & Key sit 1-2 and are well positioned to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the pack.
Looking Ahead: WTR and 3WB 2024
Exciting stuff awaits even after the Outdoor Nationals. 3WallBall preparations are already underway, and this year’s event will feature the first ever World Team Racquetball event, featuring four teams of the best indoor and outdoor players in the world competing for the first time in an MLP-style team event. It’s never too early to get excited about the debut of a new format that could revolutionize the pro sport.
