The Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour is the latest name for the women's professional racquetball tour. It features the world's best players and several events each season - running from September to May - that are mostly played in the USA.

History

Women's professional racquetball has existed since the 1970s but the women's pro tour began in 1980, when the Women's Professional Racquetball Association (WPRA) was created. The tour was run by

International Management Group IMG, originally known as the International Management Group, is a global sports, fashion, events and media company headquartered in New York City. The company manages athletes and fashion celebrities; owns, operates and commercially represents ...

, and did well in the early 1980s in part due to the great rivalry between Lynn Adams and

Heather McKay Heather Pamela McKay (née Blundell) (born 31 July 1941) is an Australian retired squash player, who is considered by many to be the greatest female player in the history of the game. She dominated the women's squash game in the 1960s and 1970 ...

. The WPRA lasted until 1994, when the Women's International Racquetball Tour (WIRT) was created. In 2000, the United States Racquetball Association (USRA) took over administration of the WIRT, and renamed it the Ladies Professional Racquetball Association (LPRA). This led to significant growth under the supervision of the USRA, which had a three year plan for the LPRA. In 2005, the players took over control and ownership of the tour, and again it was reorganized and rebranded as the Women's Professional Racquetball Organization. Shannon Feaster, a former player and marketing executive, served as the WPRO Commissioner from February 2006 to May 2011, when she stepped down to focus on her family. Gigi Rock was then hired as the new commissioner in July 2011. In 2012, the players decided to reorganize and created the LPRT with T. J. Baumbaugh as President and Andy Kulback Deputy Commissioner. Kulback resigned in October 2016.

Current season

2024-2025 (Tier 1 and Grand Slam Events)

Season Summaries (Tier I and Grand Slam Events)

Note: The

US Open U.S. Open or US Open are open championship sporting tournaments that are hosted in the United States and in which anyone, especially amateur and professional, or American and non-American, may compete. The term may also be applied to non-sporting ev ...

began in 1996.

Rankings

Season ending top 10 rankings

* Note -

Christie Van Hees Christie Van Hees (born July 5, 1977) is a Canadians, Canadian retired racquetball player. Van Hees won two Racquetball World Championships, World Championships in women's singles and was the number one Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour, women ...

announced she was retiring at the end of the 2000-01 season, and was omitted from the season ending rankings despite winning two tournaments that season and being in the finals of two others. She certainly would have been in the top 10 that season.Racquetball magazine, July–August 2001 * Note - Marcy Lynch and Anita Maldonado tied for 4th in 1995-96. * Note - Toni Bevelock and Molly O'Brien tied for 7th in 1992-93. Note: In the 1986-85 season, Terri Gilreath and Bonnie Stoll tied for 5th and Molly O'Brien and Sandy Robson tied for 7th.

Most seasons in top 10

Players ranked #1 at season's end

* 1980-81:

* 1981-82: Lynn Adams * 1982-83:

(2) * 1983-84:

(3) * 1984-85: Lynn Adams (2) * 1985-86: Lynn Adams (3) * 1986-87: Lynn Adams (4) * 1987-88: Lynn Adams (5) * 1988-89: Caryn McKinney * 1989-90: Lynn Adams (6) * 1990-91: Michelle Gilman * 1991-92: Jackie Paraiso Gibson * 1992-93: Michelle Gould (2) * 1993-94: Michelle Gould (3) * 1994-95: Michelle Gould (4) * 1995-96: Michelle Gould (5) * 1996-97: Michelle Gould (6) * 1997-98: Michelle Gould (7) * 1998-99:

Jackie Paraiso Jackie (Jacqueline) Paraiso (born September 14, 1966) is an American racquetball player. Paraiso was the #1 player on the women's pro racquetball tour at the end of the 1991-92, 1998–99, and 1999-2000 seasons. She is a seven time World Champio ...

(2) * 1999-2000:

(3) * 2000-01: Cheryl Gudinas * 2001-02: Cheryl Gudinas (2) * 2002-03: Cheryl Gudinas (3) * 2003-04: Cheryl Gudinas (4) * 2004-05:

* 2005-06:

Rhonda Rajsich Rhonda Rajsich (born October 7, 1978) is an American racquetball player. She has been World Champion in Women's Singles twice, and Pan American Champion 6 times (4 times in Women's Singles & twice in Women's Doubles), as well as US Open champ ...

* 2006-07:

(2) * 2007-08:

(3) * 2008-09:

Paola Longoria Paola Michelle Longoria López (born 20 July 1989) is a Mexican racquetball player. She is the current Women's World Champion in Singles and the Team event, winning both divisions at the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) 2024 World Ch ...

* 2009-10:

(2) * 2010-11:

(4) * 2011-12:

(3) * 2012-13:

(4) * 2013-14:

(5) * 2014-15:

(6) * 2015-16:

(7) * 2016-17:

(8) * 2017-18:

(9) * 2018-19:

(10) * 2019-20:

(11) * 2020-21:

(12) * 2021-22:

(13) * 2022-23:

Montserrat Mejía Montserrat Mejía (born December 4, 1999) is a Mexican racquetball player. Mejía is the current World Champion in Women's Doubles (with Alexandra Herrera), and helped Mexico win gold in the Women's Team event at the 2024 World Championships ...

* 2023-24:

Maria Jose Vargas Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

References

External links

* *

International Racquetball Tour The International Racquetball Tour (IRT) is the leading professional racquetball organization for men's competition. It was founded in 1991 and is the successor to previous iterations of the tour by different names. Professional Men's racquetbal ...

{{International sports tours Racquetball competitions Sports competition series