RACQUETBALL Magazine: How did you get started playing racquetball? 
My mom started me playing when I was two years old. She played in all the tournaments when Jim Hiser used to run the "Super Seven" tournament series in Michigan and used to take me to all of the tournaments and I just grew to love it.

When did you get the idea that you were pretty good? 
Well I, uh, first of all my mom started me in just about every sport, hockey, baseball, just about every kind of sport. She let me run from there, which I am thankful for. She took me around to different instructors, Jim Hamilton, some different guys in the state, Jimmy Floyd, Mike Johnston, eventually Chris Cole. I just developed over the course of many years and I just loved it and I just wanted to stick with it.

What was the first 
tournament that you won? 
Ummm, the first tournament that I played in was when I was three and I actually won a consolation match. In fact the very first national that I played in was when I was five at this club [Lakewood Athletic Club] in 1988 and I won a consolation match in that as well. The first tournament that I won ... I have no idea. I played in all kinds of tournaments since I was three years old and just love to play.

Who are some of the people that you looked up to and tried to emulate their games?
When I was really little, I idolized Jimmy Floyd because he was charismatic. I don't know if you know who Jimmy Floyd is but he used to dive a lot and he's funny. He's almost kind of like Sudsy in the way in that everyone likes him so I idolized him more for his person rather than his game. I grew up being taught by Leonard Carpellis who was Mike Yellen's coach. He's passed away since. I was only taught a little bit by Leonard, but his students, most of his students, that's who taught me and who I learn from so I try to mimic my game after Mike Yellen.

What type of training regimen do you go through to keep your game up? What's in a week for Jack Huczek?
It's a grueling week, not to sound conceited or anything. But when I'm in school -- I'm out of school now as you know; when I was in school I would wake up at five in the morning and do about an hour to an hour and a half of weight training then go to school. When I came back from school, if it wasn't cross country or track season I would go to the club and do my cardio, do my foot drills and practice for an hour so that would be roughly an hour and a half. I don't do foot drills ever day but roughly an hour and a half after school or after cross country practice. I do that five days a week and on the weekend, if I am not in a tournament, I'll cut it back a little bit. I usually don't do weight training on the weekends but I will do some type of training whether I go for a long run or something, play squash. So total I do about three hours a day of training.

When did you start to seriously train for racquetball?
I started training seriously when I was in 8th grade, however old that is. So when I was in 8th grade that is when I started to go to the club in the morning and got into weight training and cardio and all that stuff.

When did you become aware of Sudsy's record of winning each of the junior divisions, once -- and when did you realize that you had a chance to top that record by winning each of those same divisions twice?
Well I was aware of his accomplishments at a young age but it not, uh, I have to be honest with you, it's not something that was like my only goal in racquetball. When I was younger it was more of an emphasis but now that I am older my goal is to be the number one player in racquetball. And if I win every age group twice or whatever then that's great but that's not necessarily a goal of mine. Yeah, it is in essence a goal of mine but it's not my highest goal.

What are some of your goals?
Well, I reached one of those goals a couple of weeks ago in Houston. Winning Houston (USRA National Singles Championships) has been a long time goal of mine. It was a dream come true. Making the adult team, as well, but like I said before my top goal, my number one goal is to be the number one player in the world. Also I would like to go back to Houston next year and repeat, that is definitely up there. I also want to have a successful year on tour, starting in August, and hopefully finish in the top four. That is my goal for the year.

Where do you feel you are towards accomplishing your goals? On schedule, ahead of schedule, or behind schedule?
Well, that's a very relative question because to me a goal doesn't necessarily relate towards time. You know you can say that you want to win Houston when you are ten years old and if you don't reach it until you are 20 then to me that is still a goal accomplished. Yeah you would like to have won it sooner but that is how I look at it. I had my goals set up and how I want to do it and my expectations of when I think I am going to reach those goals but time is not necessarily a thing that I look at.

Even though it's not necessarily something that you look at you still have to have some kind of timeline, for example you said that you want to be top for by the end of the season.
That's right.

Well ... when do you see yourself number one?
Well I mean, uh, I don't know how to answer that question. I don't have a time frame for that, the sooner the better. I mean if I could do it the first time through then that would be great. I want to eventually be the number one player in the world and whether I do it the first year on tour or the second year or whatever the time may be then that's just something that I am going to work hard for and whenever it comes, then that is the time that it was meant to be.

Who is your coach now?
[Chris Cole] coached me in Houston. He was there for the semi's and finals. I don't really have a coach and I haven't had a coach for many years. I have been fortunate to have a lot of friends like Jim Hiser, Chris Cole, Dave Peck, Aaron Katz, Eric Muller, and many more people who I have gone to for help and picked their brain, asking them questions of when they were on tour and what mentally and physically what I should be doing. I just pick their brains and I take what is useful for me and my game and apply it to my game.

You beat Cliff Swain earlier this year, how big of a win was that for you?
I mean it was ... whenever you beat the number two player in the world it is an awesome high but I wasn't shocked to have beaten him. He is ranked number two in the world and he is older than me and has a lot more experience than me but I was not surprised to have beaten him. I have never played him before, up to that time in Minnesota, so I went out there and had nothing to lose. All of the pressure was on him so I had nothing to lose. That is a big difference because I can honestly say here (at junior nationals) it's the other way around. I have all of the pressure on me and everyone else can just rip away. I mean it's a lot easier playing that way when you have less pressure on you. Beating Cliff was awesome. I just played my game and had a good result.

Are you going to be attending college next year?
Yes, I will be attending Oakland University, which is in Rochester Hills about five miles from my house.

So will you be playing intercollegiates for them next year?
I have to look at the tour schedule. If they fall at the same time as a pro stop then it will be something that I have to consider. Because right now my goal is to be the number one player in the world and winning intercollegiates is not something that is up there on my list.

What are some of the ways you are going to go about trying to accomplish your goal to be the number one player in the world?
 I think that the regimen that I am on now is great; it pushes me and I think that I have to work harder than anyone else. I am going to work as hard as I can. I am going down to Houston for a couple of weeks to work out with Aaron Katz and Eric Muller. I think that if I can stay on my game, achieve consistency, and just be able to run and outwork everyone that I play then the odds are in my favor but it's definitely not going to be easy.

How would you describe your game style?
My game style is definitely more control. At this point in time I don't think that there is any such thing as a control player right now because everyone is hitting the ball much harder with bigger racquets that are more powerful. You definitely have to have some power, I definitely wouldn't classify myself as a power player. I would say that I am a power/control player. I have the power if I need to, if I get into a situation, and I have the ability to control my opponents.

Do you feel that racquetball is something that you will do full-time for a career?
Definitely. Starting in August, like I said, I will be full time on the tour and a full time student, which isn't going to be easy to do. I try not to think of it as work or a job because I love playing racquetball and have fun with it. But since I am going to be full time on the tour I am going to be, hoping that I will be making a decent living at it. Yes, I will be a full time tour player and make it my career. 

You won the male Junior Athlete of the Year in what was pretty much a slam-dunk, is that still important to you?
Yeah, I mean any, the best or junior athlete of the year of 2001 is a heck of an accomplishment. I mean, only a handful of people have ever gotten that award and got their name up on that plaque. I think that it is an awesome achievement to get and I am definitely proud of it.

I don't know if you noticed it or not but you have given up more points here [Junior Olympics] than you did in Houston.
I am definitely aware of it. You know, Junior Nationals is definitely not Houston and Houston is not Junior Nationals. They're two completely different tournaments, as you know. Pressure has definitely influenced the results and outcomes of matches. I don't know what else to say but they are two completely different tournaments at two completely different times and different opponents, different people and just plain different.

Were you at all surprised at how you dominated at Houston? Rocky [Carson] was the only player to score double-digits on you and that was only 10.
Yeah, I mean surprised is not really the right word that I would like to say. All I can say is that I went in and I still go into each match thinking one point at a time. You know the majority of the guys that I played in Houston are older than me, are more experienced than me, they have played the tour, they've played Sudsy and Cliff, and have had a lot more experience than myself but I try not to think of that - it's me against them, it's a brand new day. I have to play it one point at time. Whatever the score is, is really is not to concerning for me. Whoever has the "W" after the match is all I am concerned about. So scoring-wise, yeah, you obviously want to keep your opponents scoring as few points as possible but whoever ends up with the "W", that is what is most important.

You played some pro-stops last year. Do you think that your focus will be greater now that you are going to be playing on the tour full time?
Yeah, well I didn't play a lot of stops, I played four stops last year. It's definitely going to be a little different playing every single pro-stop at that kind of intensity for 15 weeks or however many pro-stops we end up having for the year. That's going to be a definite change. But I don't see myself being shocked or doing many things different. I'm used to playing a lot of tournaments in the year. I normally play about 25 tournaments a year and the majority of them are all tough and competitive. I just have to go into each tournament thinking, uh, go into each match thinking one point at time and whatever the outcome is, that's what it is going to be.

How much have your sponsors helped you and who are some of them?
I have three sponsors. Mike Martinez with Pro-Kennex racquetball who I have been with for the past three years. I have been extremely happy with them; they are a great company and have treated me very well. I'm disappointed that my contract is up this next December because I have been very happy with them; however, my next contract is going to be, hopefully, a contract that enables me to play the tour full time. All I can say is that Mike has treated me very well and fairly. Two of my other sponsors are Steve Crandall with Ashaway string and Doug Smith with Python Racquetball. I have been very happy with all three of those companies. I have been with Ashaway and Python a little longer than Pro-Kennex but I am extremely happy with all three companies that I have been with and I hope to have a long-term relationship with them.

What do you picture happening at the U.S. OPEN this year?
As far as playing wise?

Yes, what do you visualize happening for yourself?
First of all, the U.S. OPEN is an awesome event. If it is not the most prestigious event of the year then it is second next to Houston. Everyone comes to play at that tournament. That's one of the major tournaments of the year so everyone comes with their "A" game. It's an extremely tough tournament. I lost to Ellis in the round of 16 this past year. I played well but John played better than I did. Hopefully when I get there this year I will be playing much better than I did last year and hopefully I make it a little farther this year.

There are a lot of younger players coming up who made a significant impact at the U.S. OPEN this past year. How do you see things shaping up? Do you see a changing of the guard?
Yeah, I think it's wonderful to see a lot of young players stepping up into the pro, not necessarily the pro rankings but the pro tournaments and putting up their guard next to Sudsy and Cliff and a lot of these other top guys. It definitely keeps them on their toes and it raises the bar a little bit. Because I think the younger kids normally have a little bit more fire and again I bring up the pressure issue. Sudsy, Cliff, and the other guys have been there forever and they have a lot riding on their shoulders. Us younger players don't have as much, as time progresses that will probably change. I don't like to compare myself with people, with other players and what they do and who they've beaten or whatever. That doesn't matter to me. The only thing that matters to me is who I am playing against on the court, how to play them, and taking it one point at a time. I'm definitely looking forward to this year on the tour; I think it is going to be an exciting year. It's going to be a year that the racquetball industry and people have not seen in awhile. I think it's going to be very competitive and there are going to be some changes.

Who are some of the players that you will see yourself competing against down the road?
In regards to who?

What other younger player do you think has the talent and is going to be able to step up their game? Now we have the Sudsy-and-Cliff rivalry, so who do you see as the Jack-and-?
I don't really know how to answer that question. You have to really put it into perspective at a junior tournament versus a pro-stop. I don't think, if I am not mistaken, I don't think any one of these kids at this tournament have even played in a pro stop. You have to check that but I don't think they've even played in a pro stop. McElhiney, Miller - no, Cory Martin, well maybe Cory because there is a pro-stop in Chicago. Maybe Cory. But other than that these guys have not, not seen top level racquetball play and they are not used to the different, uh, it is just a whole different atmosphere at a junior tournament versus a professional tournament, as you know. I mean, I could guess at who I think would be up there but I don't think it would be a fair guess. I think whoever it is and if there ever will be someone up there, they're gonna have to work extremely hard because it is not easy to be a top level athlete in any sport. At this point in time it's not a fair judgment to say who, if anyone, will be up there.

Who are some of the people that you would like to thank for helping you achieve your accomplishments thus far?
I would like to thank my mom, she introduced me to the sport and really has taught me how to win. My mom is a very hard worker and very dedicated and she has taught that all to me plus much, much more. Plus she has paid for me to go to all of these tournaments so that's kind of nice too. When I was younger and wasn't able to drive she lugged me around to all of the tournaments, she drove me to Ohio for a day to work out with [Doug] Ganim and David Hamilton. She drove me all over the place and there's not really enough thanks to be given. Definitely my sponsors - Pro-Kennex, Ashaway, and Python - they've helped me out a great deal over a number of years. And all the people that have contributed and an impact on my game, that's dozens of people that I couldn't even begin to get a start with. I am just thankful to be where I am at, to be healthy, and have the opportunity to go full time on the tour next year.