Winning trophies wasn’t the original goal of the founding members of the racquetball club but they’re not complaining about their early success as an official ETSU club.”We started as a group of friends who hung out all of the time playing racquetball,” says Ryne Druery, president of the ETSU Racquetball Club. “As we played more and more with each other we realized that we could get in more playing time by becoming an official ETSU sports club. Getting the funding to go play other schools allowed us to expand as a team.”

Winning several first and second place trophies at the Mountain Madness Racquetball Tournament in Gatlinburg, Tenn., and the Golden Eagle Shootout in Cookeville, Tenn., the founding members of the ETSU Racquetball Club are proud of the initial success they’ve accomplished and plan on building on that success this year.

“We’ve doubled our reserved time to play at the Basler Center for Physical Activity and will soon be bringing in a coach,” says Druery. “More playing time and more players will make us improve our chances of winning at competitions.”

Druery says he encourages all students to join the ETSU Racquetball Club because of the opportunities it offers members.

“Students should get involved with the racquetball club for so many reasons,” says Druery. “We take a lot of trips to different tournaments in the mountains and at the beach. Not only are the trips fun but I think having the opportunity to learn a new sport is fun.”

Students interested in getting involved with the Racquetball Club should know that no racquetball experience is required, says Druery.

“We run free clinics to teach the ETSU community the rules and skills it takes to play racquetball on a competitive level,” says Druery. “We also host a tournament every semester that anyone can be involved in. Everyone is welcome to come join us any time and get in some good exercise and friendly competition.”

Students interested in joining the ETSU Racquetball Club can contact the president at ryne_druery@yahoo.com or attending a meeting on Tuesday or Thursday night at 8 p.m. in the racquetball courts at the CPA.

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