You meet a lot of people in racquetball. In the 90s I met a young guy who was a decent player. He told me he thought he was going into racquetball business full time and I totally encouraged him to do so.
Today that dude sits atop the RacquetWorld empire which is the largest racquetball retailer online. He has bought out other companies and is in the pickleball field as well.
Pat Benardo was president of the NY State Racquetball Association and I was on that board for years while he was president. It was a great experience as he was organized, business oriented, and knew that promoting racquetball was good business. In 2008 I came to him with an idea of coaching online with video analysis and he encouraged me to do so. He also included my business in several emailings. I am forever in debt for his help to get me started!
Which brings me to the reason for this post. Today I do business with other companies as well as RacquetWorld due to geography (I moved to Arizona) and people I know and the company, Pro Kennex, I represent.
But a few years ago I received in the mail, a gift from RacquetWorld and Pat with a nice card and personal note from him celebrating the 25th anniversary of RacquetWorld. That was unexpected and a cool thing for him to do. Rocky Carson, and Ruben Gonzalez have done a ton of work for RacquetWorld and I still send customers to RacquetWorld and even purchase items for athletes I coach at times.
So congratulations RacquetWorld on your 25th anniversary! We need more companies selling gear and promoting our sport! But we really need more companies like RacquetWorld and more people like Pat Benardo!
ps: The rumor is true that Pat teamed with an old racquetball guru named Stu Hastings, to win the national pickleball championships two years in a row in one of the geezer divisions! Pickleball Galaxy is one of Pat’s inventions too!