November -
December 1997
Vol. 8, No. 6

CAMPING OUT ...

My Experience at the Junior Team Trials
By Christina Lewendal
I have been playing racquetball for seven years, but this year was the first year I attended the Junior Team Trials at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. When I was selected to be a participant this year I was excited about the chance to learn new racquetball skills, as well as spending a week with old and new racquetball friends.

For years I had heard stories about the camp from veterans who had gone through the "week of hell," as they called it. Despite what everyone had told me I didn't really know what to expect. I knew that I had to spend a big part of my summer preparing physically for the camp, though. For me this involved running several times a week, plyometrics, many, many, push-ups and sit-ups, and also working on my racquetball skills.

Coming into the camp, the only goal that I had set for myself was to put out the best effort that I was capable of. What else could I ask of myself? Of course, I also wanted to meet and spend time with new friends. I definitely accomplished this. It was amazing how close we all had become by the end of the week. Everything at the camp was made easier by all of the support from other participants. We all helped each other make it through the week.

As the camp drew to a close, I understood why the veterans always had so much difficulty explaining exactly what the camp was all about because it is difficult to put into words. We were definitely pushed to the limit both physically and mentally. When I was selected to be on the USA Jr. Team it was an incredible feeling. It showed me that hard work and determination really does pay off because I felt that I had accomplished my initial goal of doing the very best that I was capable of. I feel very honored to be part of this team because every other member is both a great person and player. I am looking forward to an exciting year of playing racquetball and representing the U.S. with them.

A Hard Working Bunch ...
By Jed Bhuta
This year's camp experience was slightly different. With new coaches for the team, the camp set-up went through some minor changes. The training center had also been totally redesigned, so I found myself in a totally different atmosphere from the year's before. After the first couple of days of my body being completely sore, though, I realized that not much had changed after all.

We arrived in Colorado Springs on the 15th of August. The campers arrived at various times and it was exciting to see who had come on the next shuttle from the airport. That night we had a welcome meeting and a couple of ice-breakers to help get us acquainted with campers we didn't know. These two things really helped the camp get started in terms of the campers knowing each other. After the meetings we went to the dorms for a little free time.

The next four days were all basically the same. After a restless sleep my alarm woke me at 6:30 am. I would get up and run with my fellow campers to and around the lake. We met the coaches at the tennis courts and began a series of stretches. The run and stretches, along with various other exercises, comprised our morning workout. After our workout we would have our morning physical test. These tests included push-ups and sit-ups, the 1.5 mile run, the 40 yard dash, and even the dreaded simulation run. After the morning workout we would go back to the Training Center for a shower and some food. At 10 o'clock everyday we would go to Lynmar Athletic Club where we would have coaches instructing us on many different skill and teaching modules. Since we were allowed to pick which modules we needed help in, the campers were able to vastly improve on their playing and teaching skills. After the modules we were allowed to play on challenge courts. Some campers played to see if they could de-throne the newly crowned national champions and some played for fun. I personally played for fun, trying to put my national's memories behind me.

The first couple of days started out fun, but as the third day passed, the tension began to build. Aside from the fact that we were at the camp to learn, I couldn't help to think about who was going to make it and who wasn't. We even had a player's meeting that night to cut some of the mounting tension. The fourth day came fast. On the morning of the 19th we had the simulation run, quite possibly the single most difficult thing in the whole camp. For those of you not familiar with the run, I like to call it Hiser's "20 minutes of torture." I think Jim Hiser invented it to get back at all the juniors who had caused him problems from the year before. Anyway, the run is supposed to simulate a racquetball match, even though you don't get three timeouts or ten seconds between rallies. Basically it is twenty minutes of sprinting and jogging until you throw-up. After the run we went back to the training center for some recuperation time and some food. After breakfast we went to the club for a final skill module and the coaches then left to make their final team cut. At 6:00 pm we started to watch movies and waited for word from the coaches. This final three hours proved to be one of the longest times of my life. I have had the pleasure of being appointed to the team, and the disappointment of not making the team — and either way is not easy. We waited and waited and the tension grew as every second passed. At about 10:30 the coaches came in, announced the team and quietly left the room. After the initial cries of joy and of sadness filled the room we gathered for a group hug and went our separate ways.

This camp was especially memorable to me 'cause it was my last one. I will remember it because I was one of the older guys trying to help bond the campers together. Aside from the hard work, the camp was also a lot of fun. We even caught most of it on tape thanks to Erin Brannigan's brilliant idea of bringing a video camera. The camp was also brightened by many practical jokes and even surprises. One day we got a visit from the USRA's PR genius Kevin Vicroy, who gave us a great inspirational talk. He left us with words of wisdom to make us try even harder at the camp. From hanging out with old friends like Mark Bloom and that treehugger, Erin Brannigan, and having deep conversations with Liana, Sara, Katie and Vanessa, to meeting new people like Adva, Foster and Elan, the camp was as much fun as it has been in the past. The camp experience is one of the greatest that racquetball has to offer.

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