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British Racketlon Open - Ipswich Sports Centre - 17th/18th May 2008
(World Tour Challenger)

This will be the third British Open, and the first of three UK based
world ranking events in 2008 with the English & Scottish Opens
following in August and September. This is also the fifth domestic
tour event of 2008, after the successes of Gidea Park (Romford),
Cambridge, Bristol & Dudley.

In addition to the racketlon regulars & recent converts, approximately
20 local entries are expected with the possibility of Ashley Watling,
2005 World U-16 Champion also taking part. Ashley is now full time on
the Tennis circuit, still as a junior, and would certainly provide
some local press interest.

Step 1 - Register here first:
http://www.resultreporter.com/player
- If you are not registered on the system as a player, complete the
above first, then the below:

http://www.resultreporter.com/event
- click on the link for "British Open Challenger". Register first on
the racketlon players corner

Step 2 - Payment & event details
http://www.activeeurope.com/Events/index.cfm?AC=EventDetails&E=53219
- or contact Jane Cook/Martin Levens directly regarding cheque payments:
jkc@... / squash@... /
martin@...


T-shirts & sports drinks available for all entrants, as well as great
prizes for the main events and a prize draw.



Racketlon Featured on the BBC & on the BBC Website!

A recent edition of CBBC Sportsround featured Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes,
trying out Racketlon & taking on Alexander & Rhodri Oliver. Lizzie put
up a brave fight, but the 'Murray Brothers' of Racketlon were
victorious. Hot on the heels, the BBC have added details about
Racketlon to their sports pages. Currently there are a few errors,
which have been reported, but to view the pages, click on the links below:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_7350000/newsid_7354700/7354718.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_7350000/newsid_7354700/7354744.stm


Racketlon on Facebook

The UK RACKETLON PORTAL group, after only a couple of months, now has
over 100 members on facebook & a new 'fan' page has been created,
which can be viewed by non-facebook members. Currently group members
are automatically invited to UK tour events & can be kept updated with
all the latest happenings in the world of Racketlon. Please take the
time to join & help with the 'viral' spread of Racketlon.

UK RACKETLON PORTAL:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9495401163

RACKETLON 'FAN' PAGE:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Racketlon/15258320718


The Future Development of Racketlon

The International Racketlon Federation (FIR) has promoted the setting
up of national bodies & it is hoped that bodies in UK constituent
countries will shortly be ratified. The UK tour & the World tour are
now well established with monthly events. Around the world other
national tours exist, along with satellite events in countries from
the USA to Hong Kong. There are ever increasing national ranking
systems in place, international team championships & in some
countries, racket clubs have developed inter-club competitions.

National & International junior events are flourishing & the sport is
seeing renewed interest from those tasked with 'racket development' in
the club and schools environment. In the UK university students have
started to take to racketlon in ever greater numbers. Racketlon has
been a 'best kept secret' for a number of years, but now with signs of
real grass roots interest it is seen as set to take off!

Next step for the UK is a beneficial membership scheme that would lead
to greater recognition of the sport & open up funding opportunities &
other benefits.


CSSC Racketlon Championships

This event, taking place on the 10th May 2008 at Redbridge Sports
Centre has been organised by Matt Taylor of CSSC Sports & Leisure. The
closing date for entries has now passed, but many of you may have been
eligible, so look out for future events. A report on the event will
follow next month:

http://www.cssc.co.uk/Events/RacketlonChampionships_TableTennis.aspx

Who is entitled to Join? - Anyone who is an employee in a government
department or agency, Royal Mail, BT, and other public bodies such as
museums, research councils and companies carrying out ex-civil service
work and past employees of these organisations who are retired on pension.


Racketlon Website Updates

The internet home of British Racketlon has just been updated with the
latest event reports from Cambridge, Bristol & Dudley, as well as the
updated player rankings including points from these events.
Improvements by Gareth Shaw will mean that the site will be more
regularly updated with news & content & will effectively become the
informal tabloid for UK Racketlon. At the same time, the English
Racketlon Association now has a site of it's own, which will have a
more formal broadsheet look & feel.

Official Homepage of the British Racketlon Federation:
http://www.racketlon.co.uk

Official Homepage of the English Racketlon Association:
http://www.englishracketlon.org


Finally, if you have any ideas, suggestions, observations, or just
want to get involved, please take the time to provide your feedback
by replying to this email or by opening up a discussion, using the
relevent links.