Outdoor Nationals returns to Huntington Beach with new leadership and divisions

Outdoor Nationals will return to Marina Park in Huntington Beach, California, on July 10-12, 2026, and the 52nd edition of the sport’s signature outdoor tournament will do so with new leadership and two new age-group divisions. The 3WallBall team will run the event after longtime directors Jesus Ustarroz and Geoff Osberg stepped back for a well-earned break, while familiar names such as Mary Schoumaker, Dorcy Norton, Stephen Fitzsimons and Lou Orosco remain part of the organizing group.

The tournament will keep the format that has made it as competitive as it is social. Most divisions will use pool play before feeding into playoffs, which should give players more matches and set up championship Sunday afternoon with something still on the line. The outdoor setting will stay part of the product too, with an ice cream social, complimentary pizza and the Pacific Ocean backdrop that has helped define Huntington Beach as more than just another racquetball stop. The official ball will be the ProKennex Elite Orange.

The 2026 draw also adds two divisions designed to widen the field without diluting the level of play. The new 75 Pro division will be for players competing in Pro divisions, while the 75 Warriors division will be for players outside the Pro ranks who still want elite competition. Rob Craig, Jennie Cohagen, Kristin Wattz, Mike Grisz and Karen Grisz are joining the organizing crew as the event tries to keep the competitive core intact while opening more entry points for older players and doubles specialists.

That balance between heritage and adaptation has defined Outdoor Nationals since its first edition in 1974 at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, where professors Bob Wetzel and Barry Wallace created the event on 23x46 courts that were larger than the standard indoor 40x20 setup. The tournament later shifted to Golden West College in the early 1990s before settling at Marina Park, and Brian Hawkes’ run of dominance began there in 1981 with the first of his 20 Outdoor Nationals singles titles.

The 2025 event in Huntington Beach marked another turning point, serving as the Outdoor World Championships for the first time after the annual 3WallBall World Championships in Las Vegas were canceled because of financial constraints. That 51st-anniversary edition carried $10,000 in prize money and showed how quickly the Huntington Beach stage can absorb the sport’s biggest moments. 3WallBall now describes the Marina Park stop as its longest-running premier event, and the 2026 field will test whether the next chapter can expand the game without losing the outdoor identity that made the tournament a fixture in the first place.