State Association Website Review #3 – Arizona Racquetball

On October 12th, 2017, I published a list of questions that I feel every racquetball association website should in some way attempt to answer if they want to be the destination website for their area. I’ll score each question up to a maximum of 8 points, and I’ll give a base score of 4 so that every association with a website will be able to get up to 100 points on the review.

The next organization to go under the microscope is Arizona Racquetball. Note: There appears to be some history of divergent efforts in Arizona. There are two websites that claim to be the official website, and a completely separate website for outdoor racquetball.
http://www.azracquetball.com/
http://www.rbinaz.com/
http://www.azoutdoorracquetball.com/

TL:DR — 37 points out of a possible 100

1) Where can I play in/near city X?

Both of the indoor sites have lists of courts, with addresses, phone numbers, etc. RBinAZ also has a link for each court on a map, but not a full map with all of their facilities.
http://www.rbinaz.com/courts.php
http://www.azracquetball.com/courts
The outdoor site also has a different list of court locations specific to outdoor.

5 points.

2) What events are happening in/near city X?

AZ Racquetball has a page for tournaments that looks to have been abandoned after 2015.

RB in AZ has an up to date tournament page.

AZ Outdoor has an up to date event page.

None of the 3 sites appear to list anything for leagues or special events that aren’t fully sanctioned tournaments.

5 points.

3) Are there players at college X?

None of the three websites detail college programs. The two indoor sites do reference the courts at a trio of colleges. The outdoor site does mention high school programs, as many of their outdoor courts are on high school campuses.

“With 2 racquetball clubs and 5 high schools, Arizona Outdoor Racquetball has started the first High School State Championship during the final battle of the outdoor season.”

1 points.

4) What is the rule for this situation?

None of the three websites address rules or referees at all.

0 points.

5) How do I get better at X?

None of the three sites discuss how to improve or how to find instruction.

0 points.

6) Which racquet should I use?

None of the three sites address locations to purchase a racquet, or provide advice for how to determine the best racquetball racquet to purchase.

0 points.

7) How/where can I get a racquet restrung?

None of the three sites provide information about stringers in their area.

0 points.

8) Can military members find a place to play?

RB in AZ has two military base facilities listed.

AZ Racquetball has two military base facilities listed.

There is no additional mention of the military on any of the three sites.

2 points.

9) Are there places to play outdoors?

This is strongly addressed by AZ Outdoor Racquetball, and minimally by the other two.

6 points.

10) How do I contact these people?

RB in AZ has a contact page with an email form, a Facebook page, a Twitter account, a Google+ account, and a YouTube channel.

AZ Racquetball has an email contact form.

AZ Outdoor Racquetball has a contact page with phone numbers, an email address link, a Facebook page, and a Twitter account.

8 points.

11) What is this organization about, who makes it up, what are their goals and processes?

The delineation between the three sites doesn’t make it clear if one site was abandoned for technological reasons, ideological reasons, or if there were competing organizations all trying to support racquetball in Arizona. Each site could do better to detail what their goals are and how they go about meeting their goals.

2 points.

12) Is this organization still active?

Two of the three sites are up-to-date with their tournament listings, so they appear active.

4 points.

Bonus points opportunity: Are there ways listed to volunteer or for new players to get started?

None of the three sites address this at all.

0 point.

What are your opinions of the review and the site?
Drop me a line on my Contact page, my Facebook Page, or via this Reddit thread.

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