Photo: File photo

Some of the best racquetball players in Canada will be in Vernon this weekend for the first Racquetball Canada National Team selection event of the season.

The tournament is being held at the Rosters Sports Club from Nov. 24-26 and will feature 26 athletes.

The high-performance athletes will compete in men's and women's open singles events.

It's expected the competition will be intense as the results from this tournament have an impact on which athletes are selected to Team Canada for the 2018 Pan Am Championships and the 2018 World Championships. As well the results also are part of the criteria for nomination for Sport Canada funding. 

Several national team and national development team athletes who have been away from active competition or who have not participated in a national event for a while, have entered the Vernon competition. 

"I'm eager to see the level of play from our high performance athletes and from those returning to competition".” said Geri Powell, Racquetball Canada's administrator of high-performance and sport development. "There's a lot on the line for upcoming international events and our athletes are highly motivated."

Play starts Friday at 11 a.m. and continues until 8 p.m. 

Saturday play goes from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

The Women’s Open Gold Final is scheduled for Saturday evening at 5 p.m. 

Sunday play starts at 8 a.m. and is scheduled to wrap up with the Men’s Open Gold Final at noon.