HEALTH & FITNESS
April 2008
From journalist to racquet-teer
Shannon Feaster makes Silver Spring her home court
by Lauren Williams
Ever since Shannon Feaster was six and able to hold a racquet, she has been engulfed in the game of racquetball. Even when she was younger she would accompany her father, Kenneth, to the local gym in her Louisiana hometown and sit in the corner, fascinated, while he practiced.
For years Feaster was either a national champion or a title contender in the sport. She won her last championship in 2004 and, a year later, after settling down to live in Silver Spring, she was appointed commissioner of the Women’s Professional Racquetball Organization (WPRO).
One of her first acts as commissioner was to make Silver Spring the world headquarters for racquetball.
The WPRO governs professional female racquetball players worldwide, representing 200 ranked players globally in more than a dozen countries. Most come from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Japan, Chile, Venezuela and Bolivia.
No woman tops Feaster’s career of accomplishments. She started by winning the U.S. Junior Nationals and World championships, in singles and doubles, in three divisions. In 1994, she won the U.S. High School Nationals and, in 1997, the 24-and-under U.S. Open, then the U.S. National Singles in the 25-and-over division, and the U.S. Open for three consecutive years from 2003 to 2005.
In 2004, a car accident put her on the sidelines for a while. “It happened in one of the best amateur seasons of my career,” she says. “I’d just won the national singles in August. I had 22 matches in eight months and won 90 percent of them.”
At the same time she pursued a career in journalism and public relations, gaining degrees from Howard University and Columbia University and working at CNN and in congressional offices on Capitol Hill. Still, she says, “I never left the game completely. In between school and work, I’d be playing.”
Feaster started her own marketing and public relations consultant firm in 2005 and continues to work as a consultant in addition to her duties as WPRO commissioner.
One reason for her public relations career is that even the world’s best women racquetball players cannot earn a significant income on the professional tour.
“The money is decent, but almost everyone holds down another job,” she says. The sport lacks television exposure, and corporate sponsorships are difficult to come by.
Feaster’s goal as commissioner is to bring more mainstream attention, and the accompanying dollars, to the sport. She wants to enhance the quality and quantity of the tour events, secure partnerships and sponsorships, raise the media profile of the players, and develop more opportunities for girls to get into the sport at an early age.
As with most professional sports, racquetball favors the young. “Once you start a family, your focus becomes the family,” Feaster says.
The WPRO world championships will be held in New Orleans this month, and Feaster will be on hand to drum up as much promotional support as possible. “I want the sport to go major-league and attract more women to play,” she says.
Now 31, she herself has not fully retired as a player. “I’m still trying to get back into the game,” she says.
Looking to watch some professional raquetball your self? Check out www.pro-tour.com for tour events and news.
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