WORHOF is pleased to announce the induction of probably the Greatest Outdoor racquetball doubles team of all time: Dave Trenton and Steve Fey.
The dominant and feared doubles team of Trenton and Fey were physically and mentally intimidating, but equally lovable off the court too. These two beloved personalities transitioned first from dominating handball and ended up dominating outdoor racquetball competition during the heyday of racquetball in the era of Brian Hawkes and Dan Southern and over many famous pro and outdoor players.
Their career highlight happenedin 1979. Dave Trenton and Steve Fey won the Outdoor National Doubles champions. In the Pro/Open division, they beat two Hall of Famers--outdoor racquetball founder’s Barry Wallace and Bob Wetzel 21-15 and 21-16. The pairing also made multiple pro Outdoor National finals and were a dominant force on the court for most of the 1980s.
The World Outdoor Racquetball Hall of Fame (WORHOF) Committee is honored to induct these legends together as a team as part of the class of 2021-2022 Outdoor Hall of Fame.
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WORHOF wishes to thank all past inductees, key WOR staff, past inductees and/or their representatives who can vote. The committee includes WOR co-head Darold Key, Todd “The Boss” Boss, Brett Elkins Co-founder and Chairman and Greg Lewerenz- former head of WOR.
Inductees include Hank Marcus, inductee and WOR co-founder and past inductees… Brian Hawkes-our forst inductee, Dr. Bud, Martha and Greg McDonald, Freddy Ramirez, Robert “The Iceman” Sostre, Barry Wallace and Bob Wetzel-the founders of Outdoor Nationals, Charlie Brumfeld, Craig Clubber Lane, Marty “Smoking” Hogan, Scott Hirsch, Vic Leibofsky, Mike Peters, Mark Harding, Paul Olson, Diane Heims, Betty Weed, Budd Held- founder of Ektelon, Dan Southern, Mike Coulter and Davey Bledsoe.
WORHOF is actively seeking new (and completed) resumes/applications for 2021-2022. Please review the WORHOF site at http://worldoutdoorracquetball.net/worhof and send a completed resume to brett@trafficeducation.net
Public nominations do move to the front of the line. We are nominating players from the 1960’s to 1999.
Thank you WORHOF (Hall of Fame)
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2022 WORHOF Nomination for Dave Trenton and Steve Fey
The Record Books for Fey and Trenton:
1977- Dave Trenton is Outdoor National Singles Pro/Open runner up to Rich Kossler (it was called “open division” back in the day). Trenton in the semis beats Hall of Famers Barry Wallace (likely) or Davey Bledsoe. Historical Note: the first outdoor nationals were held in 1974 in Orange County, CA at the venerable Orange Coast College.
1979-Dave Trenton loses in the Outdoor National Singles semifinals to pro indoor star Richard Wagner 21-18, 21-17. Marty Hogan wins the singles title this year. Historical Note: Marty Hogan soon is not allowed to play outdoor due to his sponsors forbidding it. Hogan played Outdoor Nationals in year one and upon retiring also played it through the late 2015’s until an injury and is one of the sport’s true ironman.
1979- Dave Trenton and Steve Fey are Outdoor National Doubles champions. In the Pro/Open division, they beat Hall of Famers--outdoor racquetball founder’s Barry Wallace and Bob Wetzel 21-15 and 21-16. (We believe this to be accurate, but it has an asterisk as memories fade).
1980- Dave Trenton and Steve Fey are Outdoor National Doubles finalists losing to Paul Harding and Mark Olson 15-21, 21-19 and 21-9 in Costa Mesa, Ca. Trenton and Fey beats either Jim Carson/Chadwick (or Rimmer/Duarte) in Semis. Historical Note: It is believed that Duarte took the tournament director baton from Wallace and Wetzel and directed many future Outdoor Nationals.
1984-Dave Trenton and Steve Fey are Outdoor National Doubles finalists in the Pro/Open division losing to Hall of Famers Brian Hawkes & Dan Southern 12-15 ,15-9, 10-15, 15-9, 15-12.
Quotables:
“Trenton and Fay were awesome.” (Hall of Famer Craig “Clubber” Lane).
“Trenton would yell at his partner Fey if he skipped the ball or made a mistake. And I am talking about stopping the entire match in front of 700 or so spectators and YELL! Then, to prove his point, Trenton would simply grab the ball and flat roll it over and over again into the right corner while he yelled to Fey, "Can you do that",” how about that?" The amazing thing is Fey would start playing better and their” back and forth” banter would more importantly frustrate their opponents. “MAN, THE GLORY DAYS! “(Steve Belmonte, noted racquetball outdoor historian).
“Trenton’s partner Steve Fey was a short muscular guy and Fey also won all sorts of outdoor events as well won that were not at the Nationals. “(Steve Belmonte).
“Dave Trenton was probably the most feared player out there for years and he was a former Green Beret (special forces) ... He was the most feared guy on the courts and always my favorite player to watch. In fact, Dave was one of the best left sided players ever and I believe he made the singles nationals finals (he did). He lost to Kossler. But in the semis, in 1977, that year, he took out Barry Wallace (the 1976 singles champ) pretty easily.” (Steve Belmonte).
“Dave Trenton (nicknamed “The COBRA”) should be in the Hall for sure along with his partner Steve Fey. Dave is the most feared player ever. In 1977, he was the Outdoor National Singles runner up and has many other titles and runner ups. He also won events like States back in the day which was considered a national title when the game was huge. Everyone back then knew who Trenton was. They called him Cobra because of his beard, and he won a lot of outdoor tournaments in the 1970’s to 1980s. And was a great handball player too. (Steve Belmonte).
“I watched the changing of the guard when Brian Hawkes took down Dave Trenton ... out with the old and in with the new so to speak. :)” (Steve Belmonte)
“The best early racquetball players were handball players, and they were winning everything and at the start. Dave Trenton was dominate. He won virtually every tournament early in racquetball and handball and destroyed the field completely in those early days. He won 3-4 states championships in outdoor handball… and his play was groundbreaking. He absolutely deserves to be in the outdoor Hall of Fame.” He was better than anyone back then.” It even said, “handball only on the courts.” (Dan Southern).
“He was called the Cobra… he bludgeoned ball into the corners and owned us all. He was called Cobra because he rolled out everything. (Dan Southern). Note: Dan said he was called “Cobra because of his play and Steve Belmonte because of his beard.” Perhaps because it was because of both or maybe that you simply stay away from deadly snakes.
“Diane Heims and Dave Trenton were at the grass roots.” They were there when handball transferred to racquetball at the competitive level. “(Dan Southern).
As a team, the way Trenton and Fey played and the switches they made, made them the best team. Both had beautiful strokes. But their biggest strength was mental. They never gave it away and they were that tough.” (Dan Southern).
“You talk to anyone there at the beginning and he (Trenton) was better than anyone in singles and doubles. He refused to lose. I finally got to play with him in doubles. He was a tough partner because he hated to lose, and we played great together. He told me, “Dan, the negativity has to go, or I can’t play with you.” (Dan Southern).
“Of the people at the beginning, Dave Trenton was the most dominate player.” (Dan Southern).
“In the black ball era, the undisputed king of the courts was none other than Dave Trenton (along with his partner Steve Fey). Trenton was winning state handball tournaments well before there was racquetball. (Dan Southern).
“Steve Fey used the” F-bomb” in every sentence. He offered to shoot my video for my wedding, so I said to him, “I don’t know Steve, you swear an awful lot.” He replied, “I promise you that I will not swear... “Watching the video near the end, I got up to sing and guess what Faye says,” I didn’t F ___ know that she can sing.” [So much for wedding vows, right?] (Hall of Famer indoor and outdoor star Lynn Adams).
“Trenton and Fey are what outdoor racquetball was all about and why I personally lobbied for them. They are the epitome of outdoor Racquetball. They are what you want in the outdoor Hall of Fame: Top players who were fearless, guys you never wanted to lose to and good guys who you loved hanging out with after the match. Fey was a linebacker playing racquetball and Trenton was a Green Beret. They worked well together.” Trenton would put the ball away on almost every shot.” (Brian Hawkes, the most winning singles outdoor national player in history with 20 outdoor titles (one was held in Florida)).
“It is a tremendous honor to honor essentially the true pioneers, the founders of outdoor racquetball in a sense who were there at the beginning and perhaps the greatest doubles team who dominated at the beginning during the sport’s transition from handball.” (Darold Key, C0-Executive Director WOR).
“Our records are light on details, our memories are fading, but according to the fellow Hall of Famers and spectators who watched the game being played in the 1970’s and 1980’s, the doubles team of Trenton and Fey were among the best, usually completing dominating the competition during racquetball’s heyday. They instilled fear at every level due to their intensity, notoriety, and ability to dominate all players. These are probably two of the most colorful players in the history of the sport… as in a Green Beret. Congratulations. You earned it.” (Brett Elkins, Co-founder & Chair, WORHOF).