The 36th Annual KWM Minnesota Racquetball Hall of Fame Tournament In Minneapolis, MN
By Rob Sabo
Grassroots racquetball is alive and well in the state of Minnesota – and beyond.
The 36th annual KWM Minnesota Racquetball Hall of Fame tournament, held March 6-9 at the University of Minnesota, is the single-largest fundraising event for junior racquetball in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. It’s the third year the event is a full International Racquetball Tour pro stop and the second IRT event of the year following the season-opening Lewis Drug ProAm in Sioux Falls, S.D. at the end of January.
KWM Minnesota Racquetball Hall of Fame tournament organizers Karen and Bill Bredenbeck, parents of IRT pros Jake and Sam Bredenbeck, said the banquet held on Saturday night features both silent and live auctions and raised more than $5,500 in 2024. Those funds are used to promote grassroots programs with an emphasis on junior racquetball programs in the state, Karen Bredenbeck said, as well as to help junior racquetball players from Minnesota and surrounding states travel to and play in national and international tournaments.
Longtime Minnesota residents and racquetball enthusiasts Ted Rohlwing and Broque Brew have run a junior racquetball program for the past decade at Lifetime Fitness in Bloomington. Rohlwing said there’s usually more than a dozen junior-level players participating in the program, which runs from October through April. The program also hosts multiple shootouts so junior players can get a taste of competitive racquetball.
Rohlwing said that as participation grew – especially following a brief lull during the Covid-19 pandemic – Lifetime Fitness management began allowing non-members to participate in the racquetball instructional program.
“It’s good exposure if more kids who aren’t members play,” he said. “We have grown our program substantially, and the main reason for that during the last few years are grants from the Minnesota Racquetball Legacy Group and Minnesota Racquetball Association.
“We pay Lifetime from those donor monies, and we have a great relationship with them because they are making additional revenue from their racquetball courts,” Rohlwing added. “We are able to run our program independently, and we have a lot of support at the club level. It’s a win for everybody.”
Page Kern, meanwhile, typically has more than 40 juniors in her community racquetball program in Windom, and the program has had as many as 55 junior players enrolled. Kern said the support from the Minnesota Racquetball Legacy Group and Minnesota Racquetball Association have been a blessing to growing junior racquetball in Southern Minnesota.
“Their support has provided not only financial aid, but also equipment and group lessons by individuals like Bob Adams and Nick Arntz, who are willing to leave the Twin Cities and come the 2.5 hours to southern Minnesota to meet with the kids and provide insight on skills and game strategies.”
“Minnesota, like other states, has had a lot of junior players in the past,” Karen Bredenbeck added. “Racquetball has been in decline in many parts of the country, but because of Page’s and Ted’s programs, there’s a resurgence of kids coming into the sport in Minnesota. It’s the best you can hope for, really.”
The Minnesota Hall of Fame tournament was founded in 1988 by Bob McNamara and was originally held at Greenway Health Club in Minneapolis. It was a state-level tournament for decades and was held for many years at Central Courts Racquetball Club, which was run by the Bredenbeck family for 15 years.
McNamara’s legacy continues through the Minnesota Racquetball Legacy Group, which runs the KWM Minnesota Racquetball Hall of Fame tournament. All junior players receive free entry into the tournament, and there’s also a free juniors’ clinic during the tournament. Last year, about 20 juniors took pointers from the tour’s top touring professionals, Karen Bredenbeck said.
“Minnesota has a really rich history with racquetball, and we’ve tried to keep the legacy of Bob McNamara going through fundraising for junior racquetball,” she said. “But it’s not just for Minnesota anymore – we’ve sponsored players from South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin.”
In addition to grants to help keep junior racquetball programs thriving, the association has given stipends to top junior players from Minnesota and other states. Minnesota junior Ava Kaiser of Lake Elmo, for example, received stipends in 2024 to play in the USA Racquetball National Junior Festival & Championships at Bay Club in Pleasanton, Calif., as well as the International Racquetball Federation World Junior Championships in Guatemala City in December.
The Bredenbecks said it takes a village to run this event. The Minnesota Racquetball Legacy Group and Minnesota Racquetball Association have teamed up to run the tournament. The group includes Matt Miller, Vallana Perrault, Page Kern, Mike Dittrich, Greg Hayenga, Dave Hart, MRA President Felipe Sousa and Vice President Nick Arntz. Miller is a primary driver for event promotion and sponsorships. Perrault is the tournament director for amateur events for the amateur side of the HOF tournament, while IRT commissioner Pablo Fajre runs the pro side.
“It takes a team. There’s no way we could do this on our own,” Karen Bredenbeck said.
When the tournament starts on Thursday, it remains to be seen if the top IRT professionals can stop the late-career resurgence of Kane Waselenchuk, who won the McNamara Minnesota Racquetball Hall of Fame tournament in 2024 after beating Conrrado Moscoso 15-13, 15-2. Waselenchuk comes into the HOF tournament on a white-hot streak after taking first place in the Lewis Drug ProAm and the Golden State Open in Pleasanton in November.
