Colorado State University–Pueblo’s men club racquetball team has taken home 17 national titles since its creation in 1992. The success of the men’s team has the coaches bringing in elite females players in hopes of establishing a women’s racquetball team.
The founder of the program, Richard Krinsky, reached out to Carla Munoz who won the singles title at intercollegiate nationals in April 2016. Munoz agreed to attend CSU-Pueblo seeing it as the perfect fit with its notoriety for quality players over the last 20 years. She is excited to help build a women’s team that can compete in the 2017 intercollegiate nationals in California.
Coach Jim Hiser, a former CEO of US Racquetball, joins the team each Saturday for practice and said his goal is to have a complete team of six girls and have them competitive by March. Even though his goal is a team of six, Hiser said he has room for 12 girls.
To get the team started, Krinksy brought Munoz from where she had been living in California to spearhead the women’s team growth. Munoz plays on the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour and has won countless medals in various tournaments and championships.
Munoz is originally from Santiago, Chile. “I was 14 in Chile when my dad took me to a tournament he was playing. I got in the court and I completely fell in love with the sport, and it has been my passion since then,” she said.
Krinsky considers racquetball a sport you can do throughout your life and the least technical of the games played on a court. “You don’t have to chase the ball. It simply stays in the room with you,” he said.
Racquetball is a great opportunity for those who don’t want to get involved with other collegiate sports, Hiser said. It offers a great aerobic workout, a chance to be part of a team and compete. Krinksy said the sport can be played year round since the court is indoors.
The nature of the club sport at CSU-Pueblo allows both elite and new players to enjoy being active. Munoz and the coaches expressed their willingness to teach inexperienced players. “I invite all the women on campus to come play racquetball, it’s a very good workout but at the same time is extremely fun,” Munoz said.
Krinsky said they hope to host other collegiate racquetball teams during the fall semester as the players prepare for the nationals in April. In previous years, the racquetball team has partnered with the United States Olympic Training Center to build strength and conditioning routines, which the coaches hope to continue this year.
The men and women practice on Saturdays in the Student Rec Center at 10 a.m. and often meet throughout the week to practice on a more individual basis. Students interested in becoming a part of the club racquetball team should contact Jim Hiser at [email protected] or Richard Krinsky at [email protected].
Edited by: Theresa Wolf
