Team Elmwood June Classic returns to Harahan racquetball scene

Harahan’s Ochsner Fitness Center hosted the 35th Annual Team Elmwood June Classic Racquetball Tournament on June 26-27, keeping one of Louisiana’s steadier indoor venues active on USA Racquetball’s sanctioned calendar. The weekend gave the New Orleans area another tournament stop built around match play, not a one-off exhibition.

The setting matters because Elmwood is running racquetball as a year-round program, not just opening the doors for a tournament weekend. The club says it has four racquetball courts total, including three glass-enclosed courts and one closed court, and it lists five leagues throughout the week for all levels of play. Lessons are available for children and adults, giving the facility a steady flow of players who can move between league nights, instruction and sanctioned events. Al Schof manages the racquetball program, and Al Reagle manages the leagues.

That structure helps explain why the June Classic has lasted long enough to reach its 35th edition. Elmwood’s 2026 tournament calendar also included the LA Black & Gold Superbowl Shootout on Feb. 7, a canceled Spring Fling, a canceled Worldwide Racquetball Day and a planned Summer Jam Shootout in August, showing a schedule built around recurring tournament dates rather than a single annual draw. The club’s Wednesday Intermediate/Advanced league was set to run from June 10 through Oct. 7, and its Saturday Mixed Singles plus Pickup Doubles league was scheduled around the June 27 weekend, putting regular league players in the same building as the tournament action.

USA Racquetball’s event listings placed the June Classic on the sanctioned schedule, and R2sports listed it alongside other late-June 2026 racquetball events, including the USA Racquetball Junior National Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. That kept Team Elmwood’s event inside a broader competitive stretch for players trying to stay sharp through the summer.

For Harahan, the annual June Classic is more than a date on the calendar. It is another sign that the sport still holds ground where a club can keep courts busy, leagues organized and tournament weekends moving through the same doors.