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Many people don’t even know what racquetball is, the Olympics included.
If you’re a sports fan, then get ready to clench your fists, because for the next five minutes you’ll be angry at the Olympics Organizing Committee for no apparent reason. Kind of like customers in customer care.
Ever since the last Olympics in February, and the last Summer Olympics in 2016, people have been hoping that the management will keep adding more and more games. Games like baseball and karate, which are two of the most recognized arts, have received little to no attention from the prominent game organizers. But do even lesser known games like racquetball and skateboarding stand a chance? We may think that the answer is a possible no, with a slight chance of “hopefully.”
Voting in IOC
There has been voting recently, and five new games have been added to the upcoming Olympics of 2020. On August 3rd, 2016, the International Olympics Committee (IOC) voted to add baseball, karate, skateboarding, surfing, and even sports climbing to their menu. But we don’t know that yet whether racquetball will gain any sympathy from the fierce censors of the IOC.
The reason behind the exclusion
But first, let us brief over why racquetball cannot be included in the Olympics. You see, for a sport to even be considered by the IOC, it needs to be widely known and played around the world. Even just the USA or Canada will do. But Racquetball has had little to no luck with the inclusion, as the exclusive game is known to a handful of countries. Usually, it tends to get overshadowed by its more significant halves: squash and tennis. And since the three of them are so alike, it’s hardly likely that even two of them will get separate recognition let alone all three.
The Olympics has always had a robust relationship with the three racquet sports. Tennis joined the First Olympic Games, which was around 1896. However, IOC quickly dropped the competition in 1924 due to disputes between the ILTF and the IOC. Luckily, 1988 saw a brighter year for tennis players, as the game made its appearance. Now it is a part of every Olympic game ever since. But we wouldn’t put too much trust in the bond between the two. After all, who knows what might go down in the 2020 Summer Games?
Squash has never actually been part of the games, and we still don’t know why. All we know is that the Olympics and their Committees love dropping squash in every game for some other sport. And we get it. All sports deserve a chance. But squash is favorite almost all around the world. Therefore, IOC better come up with a valid reason for turning a deaf ear.
What? Olympics doesn’t even know what racquetball is?
The Olympics Committee doesn’t even know what racquetball is, and we think they might never get to know. In all this time, the only game that has had success with them is badminton. And we’ll be seeing a lot of that in 2020. However, keeping two games in the spotlight will overshadow the others isn’t good sportsmanship.
One reason that the IOC gives for not including such games in their competition is that they are “too hard to keep up with.” The audience can’t properly see what’s going on, primarily through TV screens. You see, the bystanders have evolved in such a disadvantageous way. Their eyes are virtually incapable of focusing on more than one thing. And they need to look at the ball to enjoy the game. And the Olympics care so much about people and not just their money. That’s why they haven’t included fast and hard-to-see games like racquetball and squash. That’s also why they don’t include Usain Bolt. Oh, wait. They do.
We don’t know whether racquetball shots are too fast even to be visible to the naked eye. But we sure know that the ball can’t be too quick to ruin the entire game literally. Maybe the IOC does have a valid reason! Or perhaps they keep finding more and more excuses to delay a sport which the Pan American Games recognizes.
A glimpse of hope
However, we always like to be a bit more optimistic when it comes to our favorite games. After all, a sliver of hope never hurt anyone. The Olympics has implemented a new rule. It states that the host city in all future Olympic Games can nominate to add a few games of its liking. The IOC will fully implement the rule in the 2020 games. Though, we have seen some new games from 2014 to some extent. If the games to take place in a racquetball country, then there are some chances that this game makes its appearance in the big games.
With that being said, there’s still a long way to go. The next games will take place in Tokyo, Japan, and they haven’t even heard of racquetball. So we can only hope that the games after that will take place in a racquetball country. Somewhere say for example, anywhere in the Americas. The USA is a good candidate, as the state already has so many players in it. In fact, the United States itself has hosted the first three IRF World Championships. So it only seems likely that North America will nominate racquetball in the future Olympics.
Who will be the participants
Mexico is also a likely candidate. In recent years it has surfaced alongside America as the top host and player of racquetball. In fact, any of the major South American countries are likely to nominate it. It’s evident that all the other nations will vote for it. Now all there’s left to do if for the IOC to host its games in the American states. It might give racquetball a glimmer of hope.
If we do see racquetball in the big games, we can only assume how the contest might go down. There will be a lot of smaller countries, mostly from South America like Brazil or Argentina. But the two most significant stars of the show would be the USA and Mexico. The two countries already have so much heat, what with the recent deportation of Mexicans immigrants. And to think, seeing the two competitors head to head in a game that they both love. That will be a game that I’m willing to watch.
Wrap up
But we don’t think that racquetball would get much attention from the audience. Not many people know the sport, and an even lesser amount actively partake in them. And tennis and badminton will distract those who do love racquet games. Unless the Olympics decide to include squash, in which case all three of these games will take the spotlight. Racquetball might never even get a chance.
Still, we like to be a bit hopeful now and then. Who knows? Maybe someone will turn over new leaves. The IOC might be willing to capitalize off of your favorite pastimes. Cheer up; the sky’s still blue. Hope isn’t too unfamiliar, and Los Angeles could be the next stop for hosting the 2024 Olympics.
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