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U.S. Junior National Racquetball Championships Held In Fridley

FRIDLEY, Minn. (WCCO) -- It's a game of speed, finesse, agility and footwork. And, more often than not, middle aged men.

But there's a push in the sport of racquetball to grow the game for the next generation.

If your image of racquetball is two guys with grey hair trying to stay in shape over their lunch break, these kids would like to change that.

"It's really intense," said Aidan Tu. "Everyone's really good. I mean, this is nationals. They come here because they're good."

Thirteen-year-old Tu came all the way from California to play in this weekend's tournament in Fridley.

"We actually have 40 kids from California here," said Steve Czarnecki, USA Racquetball's executive director.

Here is the U.S. Junior National Championships, featuring 208 players from all over the country -- 28 different states, including 29 players from Minnesota -- all vying for spots on the U.S. Junior National team, which will head to the World Championships in Mexico in November.

"Well really, this is the premier junior racquetball championship in the country," said Czarnecki.

Sure there's a trip to Mexico on the line, but a big part of this is also developing the next generation of players.

"Absolutely. That's one of our big areas of focus at USA Racquetball, is to help bring new players into the sport, and to help bring these young players up into the sport," Czarnecki said.

Of the 3.5 million racquetball players in the United States, only 10 percent of them are age 18 and under.

"We're working to expand that," Czarnecki said. "We're working with clubs across the country to try to develop more junior programming and get more young kids involved. But obviously as demonstrated here this week, there's lots of young people playing around the country."

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