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How to Raise Funds for Your Club

If you are reading this, it is probably because your club is affiliated with Racquet Network under our Sponsorship Credits Program and somebody at your club wants you to understand how this program works.

How it Works

You are a member of an affiliated racquet sports club. Therefore part of your online purchases are rebated back to your home club every time you make an online purchase.

This super simple online system makes fundraising easy for affiliated clubs whose players shop at Racquet Network.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Players only need to remember two things.

1. Purchase online through this website.
2. Choose your club’s name from the list of affiliates when you place your order.

If you want to avoid shipping charges and just want to pick your order up in our store, choose LOCAL PICKUP from the list of shipping options. Or you can choose to have the order shipped to you.

We do the rest.

How Clubs Redeem Sponsorship Credits

At the end of the year, your club will have a number of accumulated sponsorship credits that they can spend on court equipment or prizes for tournaments or prizes for silent auctions or anything they choose.

The number of credits is entirely up to the members of your club who shop on racquetnetwork.com.

Help with Fundraising

Racquet Network gets fundraising requests from more than 200 clubs from across Canada every year. This program makes fundraising super simple for clubs of every size.

It is especially simple for clubs right here in Calgary because they already have members who shop here regularly anyway.

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Alberta Netball Shoes

Netball Alberta LogoRacquet Network’s southwest Calgary store is just a few minutes drive away from the Southland Leisure Centre, which is the birthplace of netball in Alberta. As a result, we see a lot of young ladies coming in for netball shoes.

What is netball, you ask? It’s a variation of basketball that was created accidentally in 1895 when a US sports teacher misinterpreted a letter outlining the rules of basketball sent to her by James Naismith — basketball’s inventor. Originally called “women’s basketball”, the sport’s name changed to netball as it crossed the North Atlantic and landed in Great Britain.

Fast forward a century and netball is played by 20 million people (mostly women) in 80 countries. In Canada, there are four provincial netball associations: in Quebec, Ontario, BC and Alberta. Calgary is home to Netball Alberta and most of the netball players in Alberta, but there are growing contingents of netball players in Edmonton and Drumheller as well.

As a court sport, netball is a perfect fit for Racquet Network. As with all of our other court sports, netball players are required to move athletically on hardwood floors. They run short distances — usually a few steps — and sometimes have to stop or change direction suddenly. Therefore traction is a primary consideration.

Racquet Network carries a large selection of court shoes for netball, badminton, dodgeball, squash, tennis and other court sports. Netball players can stop by anytime. We carry sizes and half sizes in ladies 5.0 to 10.5. We carry all three price points (competition, recreation and budget) and we are open 7 days a week. In fact, the only days we are ever closed are holidays.

Netball Shoes

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Discount Racquet Stringing in Calgary

With more than 150 kinds of string in stock at any given moment, Racquet Network is well-known in Calgary for offering custom racquet stringing.

Since the racquet sports player network was founded in 2004, the southwest Calgary racquet store has turned out thousands of customized tennis, squash, badminton and racquetball racquets to some of our city’s best players and coaches.

“We have built our reputation on customized racquet stringing,” says owner Brent Johner. “We have always offered our customers more options than anywhere else. We offer more kinds of string, more colours, and more brands. We also offer more turnaround options. Our customers have always had the option of getting their racquets back in an hour, a day or a week.”

Discount racquet stinging is new for Racquet Network. “Discount stringing is much cheaper,” Johner notes, “because it comes with fewer options.”

Home-based discount racquet stringers charge less than custom stringing stores like Racquet Network because they offer fewer options. Most stock only a few kinds of string and have very narrow windows for picking up and dropping off. A store like Racquet Network, by contrast, is open long hours which makes pick up and drop off very convenient.

“We don’t expect to get much in the way of discount racquet stringing,” says Johner. “We expect that most of our customers will still come to us because they want their racquets back fast and they want to customize their string beds to optimize performance, but we feel it is an important service to offer.”

Racquet Network is a family business that serves both players and their families, Johner notes. In a lot of cases, Mom or Dad are serious players and want everything customized. However, they may not want the same level of customization for their kids. Discount stringing gives players who are not ready for customized racquet stringing a low-cost option. At the same time, it gives Racquet Network the opportunity to serve their customers’ entire families.

“Discount stringing is a great option for players who aren’t in a hurry and aren’t looking for any performance enhancements,” says Johner. “It may be a backup racquet or an old racquet somebody found in a closet. We don’t judge. If that’s what people want, we are happy to serve them.”

Racquet Network now offers discount racquet stringing starting at $20.00, string and labour included.

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Squash Racquet Grip Size

Squash Racquet Grip Size
Squash Racquet Grip Size
Unlike tennis racquets for which grip size is critically important, squash racquets are not manufactured with different grip sizes. That is to say while there are differences between adult, junior and children’s squash racquets, one cannot purchase an adult racquet with a particular grip size.

Instead, squash players all start with the same grip size and then build their racquet handles up to the size they want by using a combination of grip and overgrip.

Many players are satisfied with a single grip. Some, with larger hands, will add an additional layer or two of overgrip while players with extremely large hands will often begin with two layers of grip followed by one or more layers of overgrip.

Only the highest quality squash racquets come outfitted with proper grip when you bring them home from the store. Most racquets, in fact, come with a very thin rubber wrapping that looks like grip. This is not a grip and should be replaced immediately. Even good quality racquets will usually require the installation of grip and string before you can play squash with them.

So how much grip and/or overgrip should you wrap around the handle of your new squash racquet?

To find out, hold the racquet in your hand as you would when you play. The squeeze the handle as tightly as you would if you were about to make contact with the ball.

The tips of your fingers should be barely touching your palm below your thumb. If they are pressing into your palm, the grip is too small. If they are unable to reach your palm, the grip is too large. Add or remove a combination of grip and/or over grip until it is the perfect size for your hand.

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Badminton Racquet Grip Size

Badminton Racquet Grip Size
The grip size of a badminton racquet is a matter of individual preference.
While grip size is critically important in tennis for health and safety reasons, grip size in badminton is largely a matter of individual preference.

Badminton players who like to rally and deceive will usually choose a smaller grip size because this allows them to nimbly switch between forehand and backhand grips as the situation requires. Power players, by contrast, will usually choose a larger grip because this allows them to get a firmer grip on the handle when smashing.

Unlike squash racquets, which are all manufactured with the same grip size, badminton racquets do come in different sizes. These are typically clearly marked on the handles as G2 though to G5.

Unforunately, grip size is not yet standardized. So while G2 indicates the smallest grip size for one brand, it can be the largest grip size for another brand.

Choose a badminton racquet that feels comfortable in your hand. If you are a beginner who does not know how to roll the racquet in your fingers to switch between backhand and forehand grips, avoid purchasing a racquet with a small grip size.

If, however, you have been playing for awhile and you do know when and how to change between forehand and backhand grips, you will want to buy a racquet with a smaller grip.

Racquet Selector For a full list of racquets in this category, please check out our ONLINE RACQUET SELECTOR. You can sort by sport, gender, brand, size, weight, balance and more.