By Ben Chodos
Improvisational skills, quick reaction time, and standard issue safety goggles are a few of the necessary prerequisites for Intramural Racquetball, held this quarter on Mondays and Tuesdays from 7PM to 9PM.
Racquetball differs from other racket sports because there are no nets or boundaries. One must simply hit the ball off the front wall before it bounces twice against the floor. However, such a simple task can sometimes get quite complicated, as Ty Logsdon, the coordinator for Intramural Racquetball points out.
“I was drawn to the fast pace and strategy of the game,” Logsdon said. “I played tennis in high school so I had some experience with racket sports.”
Many students, like Logsdon, get into racquetball during their time at UCSB, as it is the first time they have had convenient access to racquetball courts.
“I started working for Recreational Sports as a Gym Field Supervisor where my responsibilities included monitoring Intramural Sports,” Logsdon said. “After watching a few games of Intramural Racquetball, I began to play myself.”
Graydon Carr-Ramos, a third-year microbiology major, also took advantage of the facilities and picked up the sport.
“I began playing a little over a year ago,” Carr-Ramos said. “I played for fun with my friends.”
Carr-Ramos went on to describe the learning-curve for Racquetball novices.
“It’s pretty easy to play, but it’s hard to be good at it, he said.”
Carr-Ramos and his friends felt comfortable enough with the progression of their games to take their friendly competitions to a more formal setting.
“This is my first quarter playing Intramural Racquetball,” Carr-Ramos said. “All of my friends are in the same league as me.”
Fourth year cultural anthropology major Eoin Cunningham had a similar experience getting into the sport.
“I just picked it up this year,” Cunningham said. “I played a little bit during fall quarter and then started the racquetball class winter quarter.”
Cunningham proved to be a natural, and made it all the way to the Men's Singles A-League semifinals during winter quarter. But Cunningham's quick success is not indicative of a lack of competition on the courts.
“The atmosphere is pretty competitive,” Cunningham said. “But all the guys who go play are really nice. We exchange phone numbers so we can play outside of IM's, or if someone needs an extra player.”
Logdson is in full agreement about the general mood on the courts during competition.
“In Intramural [Sports] we emphasize fun, fitness and friendship,” Logsdon said. “We try to promote a comfortable athletic environment while still maintaining a certain level of competition. We keep track of players' records and hold playoffs at the end of the season, but have fun along the way.”
