USA Racquetball elects Booth and Freeze to Outdoor Hall of Fame class of 2026

USA Racquetball put Kevin Booth and Greg Freeze into the World Outdoor Racquetball Hall of Fame Class of 2026 on June 23, honoring two Orange County products whose best work came not in one hot streak, but across whole eras of outdoor play. The selection matched the way outdoor racquetball has always judged greatness: not just by trophies, but by who kept showing up, who kept adjusting, and who could still win when the bracket got deep.

Booth’s case was built on longevity and precision. His Hall of Fame profile listed five Outdoor Nationals doubles titles, won in 1995, 1996, 2000, 2009 and 2012, with Tim Ring, Mike Peters and Greg Solis at different points in a four-decade career. He also reached the Outdoor Nationals singles semifinals four times, in 1987, 1989, 1999 and 2000, putting him alongside the kind of players who defined outdoor racquetball’s toughest years, from Brian Hawkes and Dan Southern to Rocky Carson and Álvaro Beltrán. Booth’s last Outdoor Nationals title came in 2012 at age 49, when he also won the CPRT 40+ pro title, a late-career double that underscored how long his game stayed relevant.

The Booth profile also traced that run back to Orange County roots and the Orange Coast College outdoor scene that helped build Southern California outdoor racquetball. He was introduced to the sport as a young teenager, then connected with Mike Genevay after high school in 1981. Later, Booth carried that same competitive edge into pickleball, where he won senior gold medals before retiring in 2020 and starting Evolve Pickleball in Lake Forest.

Freeze carved out a different but equally durable Hall of Fame resume. He first played a tournament in 1979, won B Doubles before moving up to Open, and reached the California State singles final in 1980 before falling to his mentor, Dan Southern. His breakthrough Outdoor Nationals moment came the same year, when he beat Bobby Stocker, and his 1990 Outdoor Singles title arrived with a win over Craig “Clubber” Lane. Freeze’s profile said he reached at least the quarterfinals at Outdoor Nationals for nearly 20 years, a run that covered five more semifinal appearances across two decades.

His doubles work was just as rugged. Freeze and Southern won the 1994 Outdoor Nationals doubles title, beating Brian Hawkes and Clubber Lane in the final, and Freeze also teamed with Hawkes to win the 1991 Penn National Outdoor Championships in Florida, the only year AARA dabbled in outdoor national programming. His final competitive singles match came in 2006, when Rocky Carson beat him at age 47.

That kind of résumé fits the tournament that made both men. Outdoor Nationals began in 1974 at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, created by professors Bob Wetzel and Barry Wallace, and later moved to Marina Park in Huntington Beach in 2006. It celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2024, and Booth and Freeze now join the event’s history as players whose careers helped define what outdoor racquetball values most.