Mario Mercado Awarded the Mark Griffin Sportsman of the Year Award

The IRT has instituted a new award, presented in honor of Mark Griffin, a long-time supporter of racquetball and the IRT. The award will be presented annually to the player who most exemplifies the spirit of fair play and outstanding athletic performance. The first award was presented at the Saturday night banquet during the 43rd Lewis ProAm racquetball tournament.   Tournament Director, Mark Gibbs began by presenting an honorary award to Mark Griffin, to commemorate his 45 years of support for professional racquetball.   Griffin first started the Lewis Drug Pro/Am tournament in 1978, and it has been a fixture on the IRT schedule every year with only a slight pause during Covid. The tournament is widely believed to be the longest running professional racquetball tournament in the sport.

After a brief description of the significance this award has, and why Mario was chosen, the Mark Griffin and Mark Gibbs presented the award to Mario Mercado with resounding applause from the crowd.  An emotional Mercado struggled to get his words out after being given the microphone for an acceptance speech.

“In the world of sports, when most competitors think only of themselves, the Sportsman Award stands out.  Those that receive the award have exhibited extraordinary, unselfish qualities to the sport of racquetball.” Mark Griffin.

This will be an annual award given out at the Lewis Drug Pro/AM banquet, based on voting and conversations with influential people within the sport of racquetball, tournament directors, sponsors, and players.

“I’ve struggled for years to come up with a way to honor Mark Griffin and all that he has done for racquetball.  We hit the jackpot with this one, as both recipients were quite emotional, as well as myself.  To present an award like this was truly an honor and will continue to be for years to come.” Mark Gibbs.